a first ; USA/Iran

Iran is ready to revive talks with the West but tougher sanctions will not force it to give into demands over its nuclear programme, its president says.

A report by a Washington think-tank focuses on the pros and cons of a "long game" between the United States and Iran, centered on sanctions, arms control and regime change. The authors argue - not necessarily on a sound basis - that time will give Tehran the opportunity to march toward nuclear weapons capability. This underestimates the likely short-term Iranian retaliatory reaction to the mounting economic warfare against it.

China said Thursday that EU sanctions on Iran announced this week in response to Tehran's suspected nuclear drive were "not constructive", echoing Russia's reaction to the measures.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey and Russia had a similar stance on ending the bloodshed in Syria, adding that Turkey is ready to work with Russia on solving the crisis.

Davutoglu and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov also said the two countries have almost the same position regarding Iran.

Unfazed by the US and EU sanctions, India on Thursday said that it is open to all mechanisms for payment, "whatever it takes," to buy Iranian oil as it contributes around 12 per cent of New Delhi's oil imports and it's difficult to find replacement on this scale.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Thursday that the military alliance is not involved in the Iran issue, but urged Iranian authorities to keep the strategic Strait of Hormuz open.

European poodles will soon discover they have cocked their legs in high wind after playing fetch to the United States on the Iranian oil embargo. The blowback is high oil prices, and the strong possibility of a Greek government bond default sparking renewed catastrophe in the eurozone. The rest of the world is dismissing sanctions and all across Eurasia trade is fast moving away from the greenback.

A number of influential members of the United States foreign policy establishment - including prominent liberal interventionists who had supported the Iraq war - are now warning against "letting a bunch of ignorant, sloppy-thinking politicians and politicized foreign-policy experts" further escalate tensions with Iran.

Iran’s parliament could ban oil exports to Europe as early as next week, in a move that could hit economically weak southern European countries.

Iran would consider Russia’s proposal for a gradual loosening of sanctions against Tehran in exchange for a gradual increase in access to the country for international nuclear inspectors, a senior Iranian lawmaker said Friday

Russia and Turkey have called for the resumption of nuclear negotiations between the G5+1 and Iran.

Ria Novosti reported on Wednesday that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu held a joint press conference, announcing their support for using "diplomatic means" to resolve the nuclear disputes with Iran.

Iran’s foreign minister was reported on Monday to have offered to extend a three-day visit to his country by United Nations inspectors in what seemed a further attempt to lower the strident tone of a crisis with the West over Tehran’s nuclear program following the imposition of new economic sanctions.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expresses concern over Iranian nuclear program but urges Israel to resolve situation peacefully

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday met with President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem and told him that the situation with Iran must be resolved in peaceful ways.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has described the talks recently held between Iranian and International Atomic Energy Agency officials as a step forward.

A high-level delegation of the IAEA, headed by Herman Nackaerts, the IAEA deputy director general and the head of the IAEA Department of Safeguards, arrived in Iran on Sunday for a three-day visit and held talks with Iranian officials on the issues of concern to the UN nuclear watchdog.

In an interview with the Persian service of the Fars News Agency on Tuesday, Salehi said that the meetings were “positive”, adding, “It was agreed that consultations will continue.”

A senior U.N. nuclear expert on Wednesday announced plans to revisit Tehran soon after a “good trip,” indicating progress on his team’s quest to probe suspicions that the Islamic Republic is secretly working on an atomic arms program.

The announcement from mission leader Herman Nackaerts came shortly after his group landed at Vienna airport after three days of discussions with Iranian officials in Tehran.

United States Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has reignited the brouhaha over an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington. In doing so, he revives the notion of an "Iran threat" at a time that debate would be better focussed on Tehran's moves towards nuclear transparency.

Bedouins of the Negev will soon witness a Chinese-built railway line snake its way through the desert to the Mediterranean and Levant Basin oil and gas reserves. The "Med-Red" plan is symbolic of China's bold Middle East advance on three tracks: Iran, Gulf states and Israel. The geopolitical implications are profound and pose unsolvable riddles for other outside powers.

In an unexpectedly low-key visit, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey has explicitly warned Israel's leadership that the US won't defend Israel if it unilaterally strikes Iran. However, Israel knows it can count on the US right-wing to pressurize Washington into falling in line over an attack, particularly in an election year.

In roughly one month, no less than three US aircraft carriers and their strike groups will be sloshing around the American Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The only good thing among all this weaponized orgy is that Tehran and Washington are still talking - sort of - using the proverbial back channels.

The results of Friday's election for Iran's parliament, the Majlis, generate a political climate in Tehran that augurs well for the commencement of talks over the nuclear issue. The US administration senses this. The big issue is whether President Barack Obama can carry the United States' two key allies - Saudi Arabia and Israel - in the quest of finding a "permanent" solution to the US-Iran standoff. ...................

Global powers on Tuesday offered to resume in coming weeks long-stalled talks with Tehran over its contested nuclear drive, seen as key to defusing tension between Israel and Iran.

"On behalf of China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, I have offered to resume talks with Iran on the nuclear issue," said EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

A time and venue for what are variously known as the P5+1 or E3+3 talks -- five UN Security Council members plus Germany, or three EU powers plus China, Russia and the US -- still needs to be agreed, added Ashton, who represents world powers in the talks.

But a senior EU official speaking on condition of anonymity said exploratory talks were expected "in the coming days" though the negotiations proper were unlikely to kick off before Iran's New Year celebrations, later this month......

[link to iran.usembassy.gov]


US steps into a virtual Iranian world


[link to www.atimes.com]

What is stopping Iran from not allowing access to this virtual US Embassy?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will give international sanctions against Iran a chance to work, and is not planning an attack on its nuclear facilities in the coming "days or weeks."

Speaking to Israeli television on Thursday, Netanyahu said he prefers a peaceful solution of the dispute with Iran, but insisted that his country will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.

Encouraging words are coming from both Iran and the European Union ahead of another round of talks on Tehran's nuclear program, with "very concrete results" anticipated. Israel, though, maintains its hard line, placing the United States in the difficult position of having to work towards a compromise with Iran while at the same time keeping the powerful Israel Lobby happy.

Foreign Minister calls previous round of talks a "beginning for ending the nuclear dispute,' expresses hope for further progress in May 23 meeting between Iran and six world powers.