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Thursday February 23, 2012

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Irans UN Inspectors Snub Dims Prospects for Nuclear Accord

February 23, 2012, 8:35 AM EST

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By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan

(Updates with Iran UN letter in 21st and 22nd paragraphs.) Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Irans refusal to let United Nations experts investigate allegations of illicit nuclear activities at a military base doesnt inspire confidence for a return to negotiations with the international community, U.S. officials and nuclear-proliferation specialists said. An International Atomic Energy Agency team visiting Tehran was denied access to the Parchin military base during two days of meetings that ended Feb. 21. IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano expressed disappointment that the team engaged in a constructive spirit, but no agreement was reached. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Irans refusal to allow access to sites where Western intelligence agencies have reported suspected nuclear weapons work suggests that they have not changed their behavior. It is another demonstration of Irans refusal to abide by its international obligations, he said yesterday. The U.S. is consulting Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia -- the six nations that have labored for years in on- again, off-again talks with Iran -- over how to reengage. Last week, Iran sent a letter expressing readiness for talks at the earliest opportunity. The disappointing outcome from the IAEA visit underscores the need to move in a very cautious, but coherent and deliberative fashion, said Mark Toner, deputy State Department spokesman. Oil Prices President Barack Obama has said there is time for diplomacy to resolve the nuclear dispute and avoid a military confrontation. Still, senior officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have said new talks must address concerns about possible nuclear weapons activities, rather than serve as a delaying tactic. The U.S. and Israel havent ruled out air strikes against Irans nuclear facilities, escalating tensions in a region thats home to 54 percent of global oil reserves. Iran is OPECs secondbiggest producer. Oil rose to a nine-month high yesterday with futures climbing for a fifth day on the IAEA news. Crude for April delivery increased 3 cents to $106.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since May 4. Futures have gained 14 percent in the past year.

Were just watching the Iranian story play out, said Tim Evans, an energy analyst at Citi Futures Perspective in New York. What occurs in the market will depend on the developments there. Long-Standing Questions The IAEA has pursued questions about Irans activities at the Parchin base for much of the past decade. In a Nov. 8, 2011 report, the IAEA cited information provided by a member state and satellite-imagery analysis indicating Iran may have conducted high-explosives tests of components for a nuclear weapon at Parchin, 18 miles (30 kilometers) southwest of Tehran. Because it isnt a declared nuclear facility, inspectors need special authorization to visit the base, which the IAEA report said may house a test-blast chamber built in 2000. After the IAEA raised questions in 2004 about suspect activities at Parchin, Iran allowed access to parts of the sprawling facility twice in 2005. The UN agency reported in 2006 that inspectors didnt find anything. Ocean of Mistrust The agency visited the complex in 2005 but did not get to the specific building where these suspected experiments were going on, Peter Crail, a nonproliferation analyst at the Arms Control Association in Washington, said in an interview. If Iran wants to prove it hasnt carried out any nuclear weapons related activities, it would allow the agency the access it needs. The fact that it is not just helps to confirm suspicions about their misdeeds. The refusal to grant inspections at Parchin undermines hope for productive international talks, said analysts such as Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. The IAEAs failure to get access widens the ocean of mistrust between the West and Iran, Sadjadpour said in an interview. Mehdi Khalaji, an Iranian politics specialist at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, called the latest IAEA visit evidence that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sees no reason for engaging in a serious negotiation at this point because it would be seen as a sign of weakness should he be forced to do even a minor compromise. The ayatollah said in a statement yesterday that Iran has never been after nuclear weapons and never will be. Harmful and Dangerous

The Islamic Republic considers possessing nuclear weapons, from an intellectual and religious point of view, as a big crime and believes it to be unnecessary, harmful and dangerous, Khamenei said. While Iran says its program is for civilian energy and medical research, Western intelligence agencies say there are numerous indications of military dimensions and weapons work. The U.S. and EU have imposed a series of tightening energy, financial and trade sanctions over the last three months in an effort to force the regime to make concessions, such as halting domestic uranium enrichment and allowing unfettered inspections of military facilities, mines and workshops. The risk of a military conflict was underscored when Mohammad Hejazi, deputy head of the general staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, was quoted on Feb. 21 by the state-run Fars news agency saying Iran might take preemptive action against enemies who intend to strike. Playing for Time In an interview in Moscow yesterday, Iranian Ambassador to Russia Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi contradicted Hejazis remarks, saying pre-emptive attacks are against Irans policy. Tensions between Iran and Israel are escalating. Iranians arrested last week after blasts on a Bangkok street aimed to attack Israeli diplomats and the devices used were similar to earlier bombs targeting Israelis in India and Georgia, according to Thailands police chief, Priewphan Damaphong. Iran categorically rejects the allegations concerning any involvement of its officials or organs whatsoever in alleged recent terrorist operations against Israeli targets, the countrys ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammad Khazaee, said in a Feb. 22 letter to the UN Security Council. Ephraim Sneh, a retired Israeli general and former deputy defense minister, said in an interview that a military strike on Irans nuclear facilities should be a last resort. Still, he thinks talks with the current Iranian regime are useless. All these attempts of engagement are futile; they allow the regime to gain time and get closer to making a bomb, he said.

Unfinished Business Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council and author of a book on Obamas diplomatic efforts on Iran, said Irans refusal to allow access to Parchin may also be an effort to take a hard-line position prior to new negotiations with the U.S., Europeans, China and Russia. Its exactly the same pattern weve seen before, he said in an interview. In 2009, before the last negotiations with the international community, Iran tested missiles and revealed a secret underground nuclear site at Fordo, near the holy city of Qom. Parchin remains unfinished business, said David Albright, a physicist and former weapons inspector who is founder of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington. Newer information provided to the IAEA suggests that an indoor explosive test facility at Parchin could have been used to test important subcomponents of a nuclear weapon. If the inspection had occurred, Albright said, the IAEA could have claimed a concrete result, which might have lowered tensions going into new talks. The IAEA has cameras installed and conducts routine as well as unannounced visits at all of Irans declared nuclear sites, including Fordo and Natanz enrichment centers, the reactors in Bushehr and Tehran, and a uranium metallurgical laboratory in Isfahan. Inspectors regularly measure Irans declared nuclear material, and the IAEA has verified Iran hasnt diverted those existing uranium stockpiles to weapons use. --With assistance from Jonathan Tirone in Vienna, Mark Shenk in New York, Ladane Nasseri in Dubai, Stepan Kravchenko in Moscow and Kate Andersen Brower in Washington. Editors: Terry Atlas, Jim Rubin, Andrew J. Barden To contact the reporters on this story: Indira Lakshmanan in Washington at ilakshmanan@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: John Walcott at jwalcott9@bloomberg.net

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Chris Colbert

REUTERS 02/23/2012 14:28 Diplomats: Iran "working toward full installation" of uranium enrichment centrifuges at underground facility, "the time when Iran's efforts to build a bomb will become immune to a strike is fast approaching..."

if Israel launch a devastating strike of this heap of Iranian sh it they weill have preformed the noblest of services to humanity on record... ever...

never would so many owe so much to so few...

Like Reply 1 hour ago

Gwen Simmons

The U.S. Treasury Department designated the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) for its sponsorship of terrorism. Among the terrorist groups Treasury said MOIS supports: Hamas, al-Qaida, Hezbollah, Syria "engineers", Shia in Iraq...

Like

Reply 1 hour ago

May Lomley

Best Question From CNN Debate: Why Not Declare War on Iran?... we need a better coordination with Israel and UK...

Like Reply 1 hour ago

Mark

Senior Obama officials have been calling a spade a spade: Last week, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper described the relationship between Iran and al-Qaida as a "longstanding ... marriage." US and European officials are aware of alarming allegations made by Russia and China that Iran and al Qaeda have recently stepped up cooperation in preparation for possible attacks on US and other Western targets...

Like Reply 1 hour ago

Clifford M

The George W. Bush administration waged what it called a Global War on Terrorism. Yet against Iran, the world's leading sponsor of terrorism, no serious actions were ever taken. President Barack Obama is waging what he calls a "war against al-Qaida and its affiliates." Yet he and his advisers are reluctant to articulate what has become indisputable: Iran and al-Qaida are affiliated.

Like Reply 1 hour ago

Gwen Simmons

Iraqi officials blamed Iranian IRGC in a wave of attacks across the country has killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 200 others in one of the deadliest days this year.

Iran's refusal to let United Nations experts investigate the manufacture of illicit nuclear materials at a military base doesn't inspire confidence for a return to negotiations with the international community...

China on Thursday urged Iran to cooperate with UN nuclear inspectors...

US and European officials are aware of alarming allegations made by Russia and China that Iran and al Qaeda have recently stepped up cooperation in preparation for possible attacks on US and other Western targets...

Like Reply 2 hours ago

Mark

are we going to let these Iranian degenerate continue...????

Like 2 hours ago in reply to Gwen Simmons

JohnWV

Israel tolerate a UN nuclear inspection? No way. The Jewish state won't even talk to UN. Iran cooperates with UN but is suffering from both debilitating sanctions and threat of imminent war. Of course it withheld confidential military information. Israel did too and is the bigger snubber by far.

Like Reply 2 hours ago 1 Like

Gwen Simmons

"a series of attacks spread over a wide swath of Iraqi territory killed at least 50 people on Thursday, targeting mostly security forces in what appeared to be another strike by Iranians bent on destabilizing the country..."

"Iran fomenting hatred against the US in Afghanistan... demonstrators destroy a US flag during a protest against Quran

desecration in Helmand province... Two US troops have been shot to death and four more wounded by an Afghan soldier..."

Now you know why the Iranian regime must be destroyed...

Like Reply 2 hours ago 1 Like

Mark

what are we going to do about these Iranian bas tards???

Like 1 hour ago in reply to Gwen Simmons

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Reuters) - Iran has stopped selling crude to British and French companies, the oil ministry said on Sunday, in a retaliatory measure against fresh EU sanctions on the Islamic state's lifeblood, oil.
"Exporting crude to British and French companies has been stopped ... we will sell our oil to new customers," spokesman Alireza Nikzad was quoted as saying by the Ministry of Petroleum website. The European Union in January decided to stop importing crude from Iran from July 1 over its disputed nuclear program, which the West says is aimed at building bombs. Iran denies this. Iran's oil minister said on February 4 that the Islamic state would cut its oil exports to "some" European countries. The European Commission said last week that the bloc would not be short of oil if Iran stopped crude exports, as they have enough in stock to meet their needs for around 120 days. Industry sources told Reuters on February 16 that Iran's top oil buyers in Europe were making substantial cuts in supply months in advance of European Union sanctions, reducing flows to the continent in March by more than a third - or over 300,000 barrels daily. France's Total has already stopped buying Iran's crude, which is subject to fresh EU embargoes. Market sources said Royal Dutch Shell has scaled back sharply. Shell had no comment on the announcement. Among European nations, debt-ridden Greece is most exposed to Iranian oil disruption. Motor Oil Hellas of Greece was thought to have cut out Iranian crude altogether and compatriot Hellenic Petroleum along with Spain's Cepsa and Repsol were curbing imports from Iran. Iran was supplying more than 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) to the EU plus Turkey in 2011, industry sources said.

By the start of this year imports had sunk to about 650,000 bpd as some customers cut back in anticipation of an EU ban. Saudi Arabia says it is prepared to supply extra oil either by topping up existing term contracts or by making rare spot market sales. Iran has criticized Riyadh for the offer. Iran said the cut will have no impact on its crude sales, warning that any sanctions on its oil will raise international crude prices. Brent crude oil prices were up $1 a barrel to $118.35 shortly after Iran's state media announced last week that Tehran had cut oil exports to six European states. The report was denied shortly afterwards by Iranian officials. "We have our own customers ... The replacements for these companies have been considered by Iran," Nikzad said. EU's new sanctions includes a range of extra restrictions on Iran that went well beyond U.N. sanctions agreed last month and included a ban on dealing with Iranian banks and insurance companies and steps to prevent investment in Tehran's lucrative oil and gas sector, including refining. The mounting sanctions are aimed at putting financial pressure on the world's fifth largest crude oil exporter, which has little refining capacity and has to import about 40 percent of its gasoline needs for its domestic consumption.