Up to Iran to prove its nuclear intentions: British FM

Monday, 16 January 2006

Agence France Presse, LONDON - It is up to Iran to reassure the international community that it really is not pursuing the development of nuclear weapons, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Monday. Speaking at a security conference in London, where senior diplomats were holding a closed-door meeting on Iran, Straw underlined the danger of weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of terrorists.

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Rice Wants Quick Vote on Iran Referral

Monday, 16 January 2006

The Associated Press - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wants a vote as soon as possible on whether to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program and is working to line up support. "We've got to finally demonstrate to Iran that it can't with impunity just cast aside the just demands of the international community," Rice said Sunday while traveling to Africa for the inauguration of Liberia's president-elect, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

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Iran: Diplomacy and Force

Sunday, 15 January 2006

Interview: The United Nations' top inspector is prepared to issue a report on Iran's nuclear program that will 'reverberate around the world.' Newsweek, Jan. 23, 2006 issue - The man in the middle of the escalating tensions between Iran, Europe and the United States is Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency. ElBaradei and the IAEA, recipients of last year's Nobel Peace Prize, are charged with verifying Iran's compliance—or lack thereof—with international safeguards against nuclear-weapons proliferation. In his first interview since Iran broke the seals on nuclear research equipment last week, ElBaradei spoke bluntly at his Vienna headquarters with NEWSWEEK's Christopher Dickey about his frustrations with Tehran, and his ideas on how to avoid further escalation.

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Bush Warns Against Nuclear-Armed Iran

Saturday, 14 January 2006

U.S. Presses Allies for U.N. Action The Washington Post - President Bush declared yesterday that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose "a grave threat to the security of the world" as he tried to rally support from other major powers for U.N. Security Council action unless a defiant Tehran abandons any aspirations for nuclear weapons.

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Britain pushes for action against a defiant Iran

Friday, 13 January 2006

By Philip Webster, Political Editor and James Bone in New York   The Times - BRITAIN hinted at tough sanctions against Iran yesterday as it prepared to persuade France and Germany today to back an early referral of Tehran to the UN Security Council. Tony Blair expressed deep dismay at Iran’s decision to resume nuclear fuel research and said that it would cause alarm across the world. Nothing was ruled out, he said. But Iran’s hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad brushed aside growing condemnation and said that it would pursue its course regardless.

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We should be very worried about Iran

Friday, 13 January 2006

By John Keegan The Daily Telegraph - I supported the Iraq war as, with reservations, I still do. Its opponents have a great deal of self-justification to do, all the more as the details of Saddam Hussein's iniquities unfold in the Baghdad courtroom where he is being tried. A true Machiavellian would use the trial to argue, however, that the West's mistake was to make an enemy of Saddam when he could have been a useful ally. Indeed, during the 1980s, when he was fighting a war almost to the death against Iran, he was a useful ally. How useful, at this time when Iran has blatantly announced its resumption of its nuclear weapons programme, is becoming apparent.

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Protesters in Berlin call on EU leaders to be tough on Iran regime

Thursday, 12 January 2006

NCRI - Europe's leading powers ratcheted up the pressure on Iran regime over its nuclear ambitions, urging UN Security Council action and saying two years of delicate negotiations had reached a dead end. Speaking after a crisis meeting in Berlin, the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany called for an emergency meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog to refer the dossier to the world body's executive. It follows a storm of international criticism after Iranian regime broke the seals at three nuclear plants in order to resume research on uranium enrichment.

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Rice Presses U.N. to Confront Defiant Iran

Thursday, 12 January 2006

The Associated Press - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, coordinating with European allies, called on the United Nations Thursday to confront Iran's "defiance" and demand that Tehran halt its nuclear program. Rice, at a news conference, declined to say whether the United States has the necessary votes at the U.N. Security Council to punish Iran — or would even try at this stage. But she said impatience with Iran was growing and that Tehran was out of step with advances in democracy in the region. And she repeated that she believes there are enough votes for the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. agency that monitors nuclear activity, to refer the issue to the Security Council.

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Statement by EU trio and High Representative on Iran nuclear issue

Thursday, 12 January 2006

Berlin - The Foreign Ministers of Germany, France and Great Britain, Mr Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Mr Jack Straw and Mr Philippe Douste-Blazy, and the EU High Representative Javier Solana met today to consider the situation following Iran‘s resumption on 9 January of enrichment related activity.

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