Tag Archive for Iran nuclear

| November 18, 2013
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Sounds good: Iran agrees Arak halt, uranium freeze, tough inspections – but, bad deal

Obama plans to brief Congressional leaders on Wednesday of talks in Geneva, as Israel’s Prime Minister maintains criticism of ‘exceedingly bad’ cosmetic proposals.

 

The P5+1 proposal that will be discussed at Wednesday’s talks with Iran at Geneva includes a halt on any further construction at the Arak heavy water plant as well as a freeze on Iran’s current stockpiles of enriched uranium.

Iran nuclear Arak - AP - Archive

Heavy-water production plant in the central Iranian town of Arak, .- Photo: AP

According to informed U.S. sources, the proposal also includes the imposition of an unprecedented inspection regime aimed at ensuring that Tehran keeps the commitments that it will undertake in the new nuclear deal.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| November 3, 2013
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U.S. negotiator on Iran: No sanctions lifted – Israel’s security is a priority

Chief U.S. negotiator for Iran, Wendy Sherman, says White House is committed to stopping Iran from advancing its nuclear program.

By

 

 

U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, who is also chief U.S. negotiator for Iran‘s nuclear program, assured Israel that the U.S. has not offered Iran any sanctions relief and that Israeli security is a priority.

Wendy Sherman

Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 3. – Photo: AP

“Israel’s security is bedrock. There is no closer security relationship than what we have with each other.”

In an interview with Channel 10’s Tamar Ish Shalom Sunday, Sherman said the Obama administration is committed to stopping Iran’s nuclear program from advancing as a first step, “while we negotiate and offer limited, temporary reversible sanctions relief, but keep in place the fundamental architecture of oil and banking sanctions.” Continue Reading »

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| October 1, 2013
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Video & Complete Transcript of Israeli PM Netanyahu’s UNGA speech

Watch Video: Focusing on Iran’s nuclear program, Israel’s PM strikes defiant tone: ‘If Israel is forced to stand alone, it will.’

PM Netanyahu went on to say Palestinians must recognize the Jewish state to achieve peace.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Thank you, Mr. President.

 

I feel deeply honored and privileged to stand here before you today representing the citizens of the state of Israel. We are an ancient people. We date back nearly 4,000 years to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We have journeyed through time. We’ve overcome the greatest of adversities.

Netanyahu addresses the UN General Assembly. October 1, 2013.

Netanyahu addresses the UN General Assembly.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , , , ,
| September 30, 2013
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Peres: ‘All options open on Iran’ just hrs before Netanyahu-Obama meeting

At his visit to the ICJ in The Hague, Israel’s President Peres reported that economic sanctions may have impact but threat of force could be necessary.

By , and

 

 

Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Monday “all options” are being kept open in forcing Iran to give up its nuclear program.

Peres in The Hague

Israel’s President Peres delivers a statement at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday Sept. 30, 2013. – Photo: AP

Speaking at The Hague, Peres said the economic sanctions against Iran now have not dissuaded the country from enriching uranium or building long-range missiles, although it may have affected Tehran’s public statements. Continue Reading »

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| September 16, 2013
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Der Spiegel: Rohani ready to close Iran nuclear plant if U.S. halt sanctions

 

Iran’s new atomic energy chief Ali Akbar Salehi, says Tehran is optimistic about the outcome of negotiations with U.S. & Europe.

By and Reuters

 

Iranian president Hassan Rohani is reportedly prepared to shutter the Fordow uranium enrichment facility, as part of a possible deal with the United States and Europe.

Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi

Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi. – Photo: AP

In exchange, Rohani would seek the removal the harsh economic sanctions facing the Islamic Republic, according to Der Spiegel, the German weekly news magazine.

According to the Der Spiegel report, Rohani plans to announce his offer before the United Nations General Assembly, scheduled for the end of September. Continue Reading »

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| March 22, 2013
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Iran’s Khamenei: We will destroy Tel Aviv & Haifa if attacked

Islamic republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened Israel against attacking Iran, which Israel hinted to in the past, unless Iran abandons its nuclear aspirations.

 

Iran’s most powerful authority said the Islamic Republic would destroy the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa if Israel launched a military attack against it.

Khamenei

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. – Photo: AFP

“At times the officials of the Zionist regime threaten to launch a military invasion but they themselves know that if they make the slightest mistake the Islamic Republic will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said during an address, broadcast live on state television. Continue Reading »

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| March 3, 2013
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Amb. Oren opens AIPAC: PM has taken risks for peace, Palestinians also must

Ex-U.S. diplomats Elliot Abrams & Dennis Ross also speak at opening session of AIPAC conference in Washington.

Abrams jokes, on Obama’s upcoming visit, the  president needs to convince Israel he’s undergone a ‘kishke transplant.’

 

Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren opened AIPAC’s 2013 Policy Conference on Sunday, telling delegates that the Palestinians must follow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lead and take risks for peace.

People arrive to attend the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual policy conferenc

People arrive to attend the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual policy conference in Washington on March 3, 2013. – Photo by AFP

Oren and former U.S. diplomats Dennis Ross and Elliott Abrams were the first to speak at the opening plenary session of the three-day American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference at the Washington Convention Center on Sunday. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
| February 12, 2013
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Israel advocates ‘swift’ world condemnation to North Korea nuclear proliferation

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that a ‘Clear message must be sent to North Korea & to other countries that such activities are unacceptable’, and can not be tolerated.

By Reuters

 

Israel said on Tuesday that the international community must make clear to North Korea after its latest nuclear test that such activities cannot be tolerated.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

An undated file photo released by the Korean Central News Agency of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. – Photo by AP

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said the test, North Korea’s third in defiance of UN resolutions, and a ballistic missile launch in December raised “grave concerns” about proliferation of nuclear and ballistic technologies.

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| January 28, 2013
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Israel’s PM: Iran is preparing for another Holocaust

Netanyahu, ‘Israel must not make the mistake of underestimating the Iranian threat to destroy Israel’, adding that his gov’t’s 1st & foremost mission remained to prevent Tehran from becoming a nuclear power.

By DPA

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday accused Iran of planning another “Holocaust,” as the world marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – Photo: Reuters

“Holocaust denial is continued energetically by a central state in the world,” he told his cabinet in Jerusalem.

“Not by groups. Not by single individuals. Not by marginal elements. But by Iran, whose leaders on a daily basis and at the United Nations and any other platform deny that the Holocaust occurred, while at the same time they prepare what they believe will be an additional Holocaust: The destruction of the Jewish state.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| October 30, 2012
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Yair Lapid says in Ariel address, he won’t join cabinet that stalls peace talks with PA

Yesh Atid party head Yair Lapid, attacks Netanyahu for saying Palestinians were not a ‘partner’ for peace & says Israel must retain control of an undivided Jerusalem.

By Revital Hovel

 

The Yesh Atid party won’t join a government that continues to avoid resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, party head Yair Lapid said in a speech at the Ariel University Center of Samaria on Tuesday.

Yair Lapid speaking in Beit Shemesh

Yair Lapid speaking in Beit Shemesh, Oct. 28, 2012. – Photo by Olivier Fitoussi

Lapid’s comments and criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies came a day after Netanyahu’s Likud party voted to approve a merger with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu, finalizing the move first announced by the two party leaders last week. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| October 18, 2012
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Revolutionary Guard commander: Iran will Destroy Israel, if Attacked

Acting commander Gen. Hossein Salami claims Israel’s ‘defense mechanism is not planned for big & long wars’ 

Asserts that Israel’s ‘threats are only psychological.’

By Reuters

Israel will “definitely” face fierce retaliation if it attacks Iranian nuclear sites, the acting commander of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard warned Thursday.

The remarks by Gen. Hossein Salami appear to be part of Iranian efforts to portray any strike against it as the trigger for a regional conflict that could draw in Iranian proxies, such as Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group, on Israel’s borders.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard troops - AP

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard troops march, during a military parade, in front of the mausoleum of the late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran, Sept.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| October 9, 2012
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Are the U.S. and Israel considering a joint ‘surgical strike’ on Iran’s nuclear facilities?

David Rothkopf, a former Clinton administration official, writes attack which could not be carried out by Israel alone, in his opinion, would neutralize Republican criticism.

The United States and Israel are considering the possibility of a joint “surgical strike” against Iran’s nuclear facilities, according to a Foreign Policy report by David Rothkopf published Monday.

A U.S. Air Force long-range B-52 bomber - AP.

A U.S. Air Force long-range B-52 bomber arrives in western England, March 3, 2003. – Photo by AP

While Israel and the U.S. still don’t entirely agree on the “red line” which would trigger a military response, the report said that the Israelis are now suggesting a more limited attack than was previously debated. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| October 2, 2012
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Azerbaijan likely to help Israel with Iran attack

Reuters quotes local Azerbaijan sources say Azeri authorities explored with Israel how their air bases and spy drones could aid Israel in Iran strike.

By Reuters

Israel’s “go-it-alone” option to attack Iran’s nuclear sites has set the Middle East on edge and unsettled its main ally at the height of a U.S. presidential election campaign.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exudes impatience, saying Tehran is barely a year from a “red line” for atomic capacity. Many fellow Israelis, however, fear a unilateral strike, lacking U.S. forces, would fail against such a large and distant enemy.

Heron TP drone

The Israeli army Heron TP drone, also known locally as the Eitan, flies during a display at the Palmahim Air Force Base.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| September 29, 2012
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White House reports Netanyahu & Obama ‘in full agreement’ on Iran’s nuclear program

Following a phone conversation between Netanyahu & Obama, the WH did not say whether Obama gave any ground on giving a ‘red line’ towards Iran.

Romney called Netanyahu afterwards.

 

 

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday expressed solidarity on the goal of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, the White House said, amid signs of easing tensions over their differences on how to confront Tehran.

President Barack Obama talks on the phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

President Barack Obama talks on the phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the Oval Office, September 28, 2012. Photo by Official White House – Photo by Pete Souza

Obama, who opted not to meet Netanyahu on his U.S. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| September 28, 2012
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Iranian delegation to UN General Assembly in New York on major shopping spree

Report: Iranians have trouble buying imported goods back home since sanctions imposed over its nuclear program.

 

Iranian delegates to the United Nation General Assembly went on a shopping spree during their visit to New York, the Daily Mail reported Thursday, citing a source saying sanctions imposed on Iran make it harder to get foreign goods back home.

A sign marks the spot for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at UN HQ - AFP - September 25, 2012.

A sign marks the spot for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ahead of the annual UN General Assembly meeting in New York, September 25, 2012. – Photo by AFP

 

The American chain stores that the Iranians visited include Payless shoe store, Costco, Walgreens and Duane Reade, the report said, adding that the men accompanying President Ahmadinejad were interested in cheap clothing, shampoo, soap and vitamin supplies. Continue Reading »

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