Iran to go ahead with nuclear enrichment

[cal04]

Iran will not stop its nuclear enrichment activities, despite mounting international pressure, a top official said on Friday. "Iran is determined to go ahead with its nuclear enrichment work for peaceful purposes," the deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Saeedi told Iran's students news agency ISNA.

His comments came before major world powers were to deliver on Friday a pivotal proposal to Iran combining incentives to halt work that could produce nuclear weapons with a threat of U.N. Security Council action if it refuses. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Iran had
weeks, not months, to respond. But Saeedi reiterated that Iran's nuclear enrichment activities were non-negotiable. "Iranian nation will not let us give it up," he said.

Rice also held out the possibility that she meet Iranian officials if Tehran halts atomic fuel work and agrees to talks with major powers. Saeedi repeated Iran's official view, saying Iran was open to talks with Washington, which broke ties with Tehran in 1980, but it would not agree to the U.S. precondition that atomic fuel work be frozen first.

"America's wanting to enter nuclear talks is like someone who wants to play football ... but sets conditions before his qualification is approved," Saeedi said.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060602/ts_nm/nuclear_iran_dc

[redirish28]

1. So the Glove has been thrown down sort of speaking...

[babylonsister]

2. And dimson, Rice, Cheney, Bolton, et. al., continue to salivate. nt

[Don_1967]

3. Iran says it will wipe Isreal off

the map if they get nukes it could be war if the U.S. doesn't even fire a shot.

[babylonsister]

4. So how 'bout this? Let's not START another one. nt

[Tesha]

6. Don't believe it. Israel would retaliate with *THEIR* 200+ nukes.

It will simply be a new balance of terror, yet another product
of Bushworld.

Tesha

[Warren Stupidity]

7. OK Don now provide a link for that assertion.

We've been over this quite a lot here, and despite what you may believe is true, Iran has not said that they will wipe Israel off the map if they get nukes.

[Bandit]

8. Show a link or some source for your comment because I do not believe it

I know they have said Israel should be eliminated but I don't recall them ever saying they would do it and were activly seeking the means to do so. I think you are propagating a falsehood here.

[Az_lefty]

9. Here's a link from Aljazeera

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B882E879-1F7C-4CC0-B94E-2EF6310AAD9A.htm

I'm jumping into the middle of this but it looks like Iran has threatened Israel

[meganmonkey]

11. I read an analysis

(don't have time to find the link at the moment)

that explained the context and the translation very well, and indicated that it wasn't meant as saying they would nuke Israel off the map, rather it was a reference to Israel's borders being illegitimate. It meant that they would literally not be on the map as they are currently.

FWIW.

Peace.

on edit: also, given the current reality of Israel's huge nuclear arsenal and Iran's total lack thereof, in addition to Iran feeling threatened by some of the world's biggest nuclear powers, it sort of makes sense that there would be some bullshit rhetoric, no? Not that I think Ahmedinijad is a peachy character, but I think in context it makes more sense...

[daleo]

12. That was from Thursday 27 October 2005

They claimed a few days later that they were mis-interpreted and had said that the idea of a Jewish state was historically unsustainable. That's different from saying they would attack Israel and wipe it off the map.

I would consider their claim similar to the one that Reagan made about the U.S.S.R. - that it would soon fall apart as it was ideologically constructed, not that the U.S. would wipe out Russia or commit genocide against the Russian people.

You may or may not believe their sincerity on this point. I have no problem thinking that propaganda is being stirred up to support an attack and/or invasion of Iran by the U.S.

[Tesha]

5. Any other decision would have been politically foolish. (NT)

[daleo]

10. Nothing they are doing has gone against the NPT

So, why should they stop? Bush would just find another pretext to attack them.

[twaddler01]

13. Just what * wants, plans are going well

Just wait and see, I can picture it already, Iran is next...

:nuke: