Iran legally entitled to develop nuclear energy, says UK MP

[Sanat-e-naft]

London (IRNA) -- Iran is legally entitled to develop nuclear energy under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, according to a British MP visiting Tehran for the first time.



George Galloway, who was expelled from Britain’s ruling Labor Party for his outspoken opposition to the Iraq war, also criticized the hypocrisy of Israel’s belligerence towards Iran, which has its own illegal stockpile of nuclear weapons.

Speaking before his visit, Galloway said that during his trip to Iran, he hoped to meet parliamentary speaker, Ali Larijani, former secretary general of the Supreme National Security Council.

“Larijani proved beyond even the CIA’s attempt at contradiction that Iran is acting entirely within her legal rights to develop nuclear power,” he said in his weekly column for the Scottish Daily Record newspaper.

“As a signatory to the treaty governing the development of nuclear weapons, Iran has done nothing wrong under it either, at least according to the watchdog maintained by the international community, the IAEA,” said the 54 year old Scottish MP.

“Israel, on the other hand, refuses to sign the nuclear weapons treaty and thus, with a chutzpah which takes the breath away, claims it’s not in breach of it,” he said.

After being expelled from Labor, Galloway was re-elected in 2005 as a MP for Bethnal Green and Bow constituency in east London for the anti-war Respect Party, which he set up.

He said that in his column next week he would write about “the great civilization that is Persia, which hasn’t attacked another country for more than 300 years, not a boast we can make ourselves.”

http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=172089

[Snoshi]

That moron? I wonder why Iranian press dint report this

President Abd Al-Nasser, one of the greatest men of the 20th century, was described in the British Parliament by the British prime minister, in my lifetime, as the "mad dog of Cairo." Of course, Eden's plan failed, just like Blair's plan in Iraq has failed. They too want to deal with somebody they described as a mad dog. But President Abd Al-Nasser and Saddam Hussein will live in history long after these dogs are forgotten.
And awesome Galloway quotes like this

I want to be very clear. I was clear in July, and what I said in July has followed me all over the world by the American and Israeli propaganda machine, so I want to be very clear again. All dignified people in the world, whether Arabs or Muslims or others with dignity, are very proud of the speech made by President Bashar Al-Assad a few days ago here in Damascus.

[...]

For me he is the last Arab ruler, and Syria is the last Arab country. It is the fortress of the remaining dignity of the Arabs, and that's why I'm proud to be here and addressing you this evening.

I am speaking for tens of millions, and maybe more, around the world, who know the truth about Iraq. Who know that the real criminals are in Washington. Not in the United Nations. The real criminals are in the White House, not in the Elysee Palace. The real criminals are in the Congress, not in the anti-war movement. So I have no respect for this...

This is one of the reasons why we need Al-Jazeera in English, so that we can reach the people who, if you can reach them, you can win their hearts. They are not bad people. The American people are not bad or evil people. But they are ruled by bad people.

Bush, and Blair, and the prime minister of Japan, and Berlusconi, these people are criminals, and they are responsible for mass murder in the world, for the war, and for the occupation, through their support for Israel, and through their support for a globalized capitalist economic system, which is the biggest killer the world has ever known. It has killed far more people than Adolph Hitler. It has killed far more people than George Bush. The economic system which these people support, which leaves most of the people in the world hungry, and without clean water to drink. So we're going to put them on trial, the leaders, when they come. They think they're coming for a holiday in a beautiful country called Scotland; in fact, they're coming to their trial.

I can't mention, I'm sorry to say, any Arab leader... Where is the... Nasser? Where is the Arab leader who will stand up and tell these people the truth? This is what we are waiting for.

We want to make reparation to the Palestinian people for the crimes of Balfour which were committed in the building behind me, when one person, on behalf of one country, promised a second people the lands of a third people - the Palestinians. We are determined that we should stop the privatization of basic services of the British people. We are determined to defend the liberty of the British people which is being taken away day by day under the name of anti-terrorism. Ancient freedoms, which we had for hundreds of years, are being taken away from us under the name of the war on terror, when the real big terrorists are the governments of Britain and the United States. They are the real rogue states breaking international law, invading other people's countries, killing their children in the name of anti-terrorism, when in fact, all they're achieving is to make more terrorists in the world, not less, to make the world more dangerous, rather than less. These are our priorities.

The people who invaded and destroyed Iraq and have murdered more than a million Iraqi people by sanctions and war will burn in Hell in the hell-fires, and their name in history will be branded as killers and war criminals for all time. Fallujah is a Guernica, Falluaja is a Stalingrad, and Iraq is in flames as a result of the actions of these criminals. Not the resistance, not anybody else but these criminals who invaded and fell like wolves upon the people of Iraq. And by the way, those Arab regimes which helped them to do it will burn in the same hell-fires.

[socom6]

Of course Iran has a right to develop nuclear energy nothing is wrong with that. But Iran should allow inspections from international bodies for verification.

[seraosha]

Of course Iran has a right to develop nuclear energy nothing is wrong with that. But Iran should allow inspections from international bodies for verification.

Absolutely. I have no doubts that Iran can build and operate nuclear power plants safely and efficiently, but without regular inspections and compliance to the treaties they signed, it's not a good idea. Iran has no one to blame for their atrocious reputation except themselves.

[Sanat-e-naft]

I don't want nuclear armed Mullahs any more than most, granted I dont live as close to the blast radius... but, to me, the argument of "we know you are doing it but we cant show the people our proof" stopped working 6 years ago. Fool me once...

I am all about stopping them, but how about some more proof than the Bush administration and Israel simply saying it is thus. Not to mention the latest NIA said they stopped weapons development in 2003. Prove otherwise and I am all for action. Until then, innocence until proven guilty...n'est pas?

[Snoshi]

I don't want nuclear armed Mullahs any more than most, granted I dont live as close to the blast radius... but, to me, the argument of "we know you are doing it but we cant show the people our proof" stopped working 6 years ago. Fool me once...

I am all about stopping them, but how about some more proof than the Bush administration and Israel simply saying it is thus. Not to mention the latest NIA said they stopped weapons development in 2003. Prove otherwise and I am all for action. Until then, innocence until proven guilty...n'est pas?

NIS report was political at best.. Even other EU countries disputed it. And again proof was shown to the IAEA that Iran has plans for nuclear weapons and when Iranians are asked about then they say its faked

New documents shown at a dramatic closed-door briefing to diplomats in Vienna by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s chief nuclear inspector, Olli Heinonen, provided new evidence that Iran continues to work on developing a nuclear warhead for its long-range ballistic missiles, despite a recent report to the contrary from the U.S. intelligence community.

The documents, whose contents were described to Newsmax by persons present at the closed-door briefing on Feb. 25, included an internal Iranian government PowerPoint report detailing progress on a missile re-entry vehicle from July 9, 2003 through Jan. 14, 2004.

The progress report on the re-entry vehicle, known as Project P111, contradicts the latest U.S. National Intelligence Estimate on Iran, released in December, which concluded that Iran had shut down its nuclear weapons work in the fall of 2003.

The board room fell silent when Heinonen showed the Iranian PowerPoint presentation. Participants sat transfixed by the stunning new evidence of Iran’s secret nuclear weapons work, diplomats present during the briefing told Newsmax.

Heinonen didn’t say how he had obtained the PowerPoint, but noted that “several member states” had assisted his investigation.

Heinonen traveled to Iran last month to confront the Iranians with the new evidence he had gathered. The Iranians dismissed the documents as “fabrications” and “baseless allegations.”

Heinonen also showed an analysis from the U.S. intelligence community of Iran’s Green Salt Project that has not been shared with top U.S. government officials.

According to IAEA reports, the Green Salt Project refers to studies to build a clandestine facility to convert uranium yellowcake into UF4. This process is vital uranium enrichment to produce uranium metal. Uranium metal can be machined to form hemispherical “pits” or weapon cores.

The U.S. intelligence community report was shared with the Iranian representatives to the IAEA during the Feb. 25 meeting in Vienna, but has not been briefed to senior U.S. government officials involved in tracking Iran’s nuclear weapons program, Newsmax has learned.

At one point, Heinonen showed a videotape of a “mock-up chamber and internals” of the missile re-entry vehicle, as well as laboratory preparations to test them, which could only have been obtained from sources inside Iran.

He also showed an Iranian animation demonstrating how a Shahab-3 missile could be programmed to detonate at about 2,000 feet over a target. Heinonen noted that detonation at that altitude only made sense for a nuclear warhead.

Key to the clandestine programs was a private Iranian company called Kimia Maadan, which the Iranians acknowledged had been set up in May 2000 to work on a secret uranium mine at Gachine.

Kimia Maadan was run by Revolutionary Guards Brig. Gen. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, one of a number of alleged nuclear weapons designers the IAEA has sought to interview, without success.

Heinonen said that “questions remained regarding Kimia Maadan and its association with the military," sources at the briefing told Newsmax.

Iran told the IAEA that Kimia Maadan ceased to operate in June 2003, a date consistent with the National Intelligence Estimate claim that Iran stopped nuclear weapons work at that time.

Iranian Ambassador Ali Akbar Soltanieh “smirked during the presentation and shook his head in apparent distaste,” according to one participant.

Once the briefing was over, Soltanieh “shot up like a Shahab-3, more angry than I have ever seen him,” another source present at the briefing told Newsmax.

Practically shouting, Soltanieh accused the IAEA of “heading down a dangerous path” similar to its investigation of the A.Q. Khan nuclear black market network in Pakistan, the source added.

Soltanieh brought three other people with him to the briefing and had them take photographs and videotaped the documents Heinonen presented, sources at the briefing said.

At the end of Heinonen’s presentation, Soltanieh asked what he should say to his president, especially since Iran and the IAEA had “a beautiful and successful moment” during the latest visit to Tehran by IAEA director general, Mohamed ElBaradei.

ElBaradei visited Tehran in January, where he met for the first time with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as well as with president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. During the meeting, Khamenei insisted “that there had never been a nuclear weapons development program,” ElBaradei told the IAEA board.

In his report to the IAEA board of governors in Vienna on March 3, ElBaradei attempted to minimize the Heinonen findings, claiming that the Agency had clarified all but one outstanding issue with Iran.

“The one outstanding issue that is relevant to Iran´s past activities is the so-called alleged studies involving possible weaponization activities,” ElBaradei said.

But several ambassadors disagreed, as did the United Nations Security Council, which passed on Monday a third resolution calling on Iran to halt all uranium enrichment and imposed new Chapter 7 sanctions.

Other documents shown by Heinonen included:

# schematic drawings of the missile warhead

# Flow sheets for a secret uranium conversion plant

# Test reports on high voltage detonators

# Production documents on an exploding bridgewire detonator

# Procurement documents showing that Iran had purchased spark gaps, shock wave software, neutron sources, special steel parts, and radiation measurement equipment, all of which are relevant to nuclear weapons work

# Documentation on Iranian training courses on neutron calculations, the effect of shock waves on metal, enrichment/isotope separation, and ballisic missiles

# Information on the construction of what appeared to be a nuclear test site, with a 1,300 foot shaft connected to a monitoring station six miles away, which the Iranians claimed was used to test conventional explosives.

“I am not an engineer,” U.S. ambassador to the IAEA, Gregory L. Schulte, told the IAEA board on Wednesday, referring specifically to the test shaft. “But I suspect that technicians don’t need to shelter themselves 10 kilometers away to test conventional weapons . . . or automotive air bags.”

Instead, Schulte said, “as the director general reports, these various activities are ‘relevant to nuclear weapon research and development.’”
http://www.newsmax.com/timmerman/iranian_nuclear_program/2008/03/06/78314.html

Documents shown exclusively to Jane's indicate that Iran is continuing its pursuit of the advanced technologies necessary to develop a nuclear weapon, regardless of Tehran's claims that its nuclear programme is purely peaceful.

Jane's was shown the information by a source connected to a Western intelligence service, and the documents were verified by a number of reliable independent sources in Vienna.

The picture the papers paint starkly contradicts the US National Intelligence Estimate released in December 2007, which said Tehran had frozen its military nuclear programme in 2003. It also comes against a backdrop of the UN's 4 March approval of a third round of trade and economic sanctions against Iran (under Security Council Resolution 1803) for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment and heavy-water-related projects.

Iran continues to officially deny any connection between the Iranian ministry of defence (MoD) and nuclear research and development in its dealings with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but the documents seen by Jane's show that Iran has made great strides with one of the key non-nuclear technologies needed for a working nuclear weapon: the implosion system.

The papers shown to Jane's state that an organisation within the Iranian MoD has actively pursued the development of a nuclear weapon system based on relatively advanced multipoint initiation (MPI) nuclear implosion detonation technology for some years, in parallel with developments within the Atomic Energy Authority of Iran.
http://www.janes.com/news/security/countryrisk/idr/idr080314_1_n.shtml

[Sanat-e-naft]

Snoshi, a good read. If the proof is clear and infront of them then why not act on it? Is it possible that the evidence is not very concrete and they do not want to live through another intel-breakdown fiasco?

I am sure if anyone has proof it is the Mossad, and God bless Israel for trusting their intel services.. but the CIA aint hackin it recently. I have friends who work there ... and until recently the Iran Desk at the Counter-terror office in DC did not even have native Farsi speakers... pretty sad.

[Snoshi]

Snoshi, a good read. If the proof is clear and infront of them then why not act on it? Is it possible that the evidence is not very concrete and they do not want to live through another intel-breakdown fiasco?



How can you act on it? You still cannot pass sanctions while Russia and China are in UNSC

[SBL]

and until recently the Iran Desk at the Counter-terror office in DC did not even have native Farsi speakers... pretty sad.

You'll forgive me if I take that with a grain of salt.

[Somalimafia]

George Galloway is the only british politician I admire. He sure did crack some skulls at Capitol Hill.

[Sanat-e-naft]

This is true. Then there is an impasse and in the event of an impasse Iran wins right? Unless Israel does its own thing (which in my humble opinion is still not enought to get it done correctly, no offense) then Iran gets to do exactly what it wants. Bet you wish Moshe Dayaan (sp.) wasnt dead he would have known what to do.

[Sanat-e-naft]

You'll forgive me if I take that with a grain of salt.


I don't expect you to believe me anymore than I believe Bush when he makes a statement with no proof for me to see.

However, if I were to give to many details I am scared people could lose their jobs ya know.

That being said, I was shocked and wanted my tax money back when they told me this kind of stuff.

[SBL]

I don't expect you to believe me anymore than I believe Bush when he makes a statement with no proof for me to see.

However, if I were to give to many details I am scared people could lose their jobs ya know.

That being said, I was shocked and wanted my tax money back when they told me this kind of stuff.


I take issue with several points of your post.
First, assuming you have no professional attachment with the intelligence community, why would they feel the need to divulge such 'insider' knowledge with you?

Second, the operative terms here are 'native speaker', and 'until recently' both of which leave some room for interpretation. How recently is recently? What was the level of proficiency for the non-native speakers, etc.?

Third, we're talking about the counter-terror office...in DC (I presume you mean McLean). It's understandable that there would be a dearth of Farsi speakers in such an office (assuming it existsp-)) for the simple reason that the probable need for native speakers right here in DC, for this specific office, is negligible-- we're probably better-served having those resources elsewhere; say, in/around Iran or down the hall in the Iranian intelligence office.
This isn't intended to be a personal swipe at you, but it sounds like exaggerated water-cooler talk to me.

[Beowulf]

I take issue with several points of your post.
First, assuming you have no professional attachment with the intelligence community, why would they feel the need to divulge such 'insider' knowledge with you?

Second, the operative terms here are 'native speaker', and 'until recently' both of which leave some room for interpretation. How recently is recently? What was the level of proficiency for the non-speakers, etc.?

Third, we're talking about the counter-terror office...in DC (I presume you mean McLean). It's understandable that there would be a dearth of Farsi speakers in such an office (assuming it existsp-)) for the simple reason that the probable need for native speakers right here in DC, for this specific office, is negligible-- we're probably better-served having those resources elsewhere; say, in/around Iran or down the hall in the Iranian intelligence office.
This isn't intended to be a personal swipe at you, but it sounds like exaggerated water-cooler talk to me.

Good points.

I go to work every day with dozens of native farsi speakers. Are there tons of them...no, but there are enough to fill the needed positions.

[Sanat-e-naft]

Like I said.. take it or leave it. If it is untrue I was lied to. And I am not in the intel community so I am not there to see first hand. However, it is something to think about.

[SBL]

Like I said.. take it or leave it. If it is untrue I was lied to. And I am not in the intel community so I am not there to see first hand. However, it is something to think about.

Well, I tend to think that if they're discussing with you sensitive issues that could result in them getting fired- they shouldn't be; and if that is the case you certainly shouldn't be posting anything they say on the internet.
But like I said, I have the notion that it's of little substance.

Mind if I ask what their positions are within the company?

[Sanat-e-naft]

Saying that we dont have enough native Farsi speakers is not exactly giving away a state secret, even if it is said on the internet (not a jab at all). Hell Sy Hersh is telling everyone about Spec Ops haha. I would like to accomodate you with regard to their positions, but like I said, jobs and all are at stake. Sorry, I hate to be shady about it but I just dont want anyone to get in trouble. I hope you can appreciate my concern.

[SBL]

Saying that we dont have enough native Farsi speakers is not exactly giving away a state secret, even if it is said on the internet (not a jab at all). Hell Sy Hersh is telling everyone about Spec Ops haha. I would like to accomodate you with regard to their positions, but like I said, jobs and all are at stake. Sorry, I hate to be shady about it but I just dont want anyone to get in trouble. I hope you can appreciate my concern.

I understand. That was just my own sly way of telling you that I think you're full of poo-poo.

[Paddy51]

When I saw the title of the thread:

Iran legally entitled to develop nuclear energy, says UK MP

I thought "George Galloway" - funny that. He is is only numpty who specialises in Global Windup and succeeds frequently.

He once walked past me at Glasgow Airport and George does not cast a shadow nor does he show a reflection ...

[Sanat-e-naft]

I understand. That was just my own sly way of telling you that I think you're full of poo-poo.

I'm sorry you think that I am being disengenuous but I assure you I am not.

[Mr.Flint]

Iran violated the NPT, period. being entitled matters little, here.

[2Sheds_Jackson]

I am all about stopping them, but how about some more proof than the Bush administration and Israel simply saying it is thus. Not to mention the latest NIA said they stopped weapons development in 2003. Prove otherwise and I am all for action. Until then, innocence until proven guilty...n'est pas?

Wait...so your plan to prevent them from developing nuclear weapons is to wait until they definitely have them? Hopefully you have a better plan regarding prostate cancer.

[SBL]

I'm sorry you think that I am being disengenuous but I assure you I am not.
Thank you. I feel assured.

[sinophile]

The US National Nuclear Security Administration has a budget of 9.1 billion dollars for securing nuclear energy and weapons in the US. Thats not inclusive of the DOD and related budgets that serve the same purpose.

Can anyone say how much, if anything, Iran is spending?

There is no legitimate right to nuclear power unless you can satisfy the world you can secure it.

[Kilgor]

Now that his slushfund from Iraq has been cut off he needs to cuddle up the Iranian's for his oil kickback fix.

what a piece of sh1t

[sir-chimp]

Now that his slushfund from Iraq has been cut off he needs to cuddle up the Iranian's for his oil kickback fix.

what a attention whore piece of sh1t

http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/7892/georgepetewennrv7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/7892/georgepetewennrv7.4e9a2480b7.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=73&i=georgepetewennrv7.jpg)