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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| UK sets deadline on Iran |
| 2004-09-09 |
| The British government yesterday set a November ultimatum for Iran to suspend all activities linked to production of a nuclear bomb - a deadline that effectively marks the failure of more than a year of negotiations between Tehran and the European troika of Britain, France and Germany. Refusal by Iran to comply would produce a new Middle East crisis in which the issue would almost certainly be referred to the United Nations security council, which could opt for punitive action. Although the deadline is designed to pile pressure on Iran, the early signs from Tehran are that the theocratic regime is unwilling to comply unconditionally and that it is seeking major concessions from the west in return, including a trade agreement and transfer of civil nuclear technology. A British official said yesterday that Iran must comply by the November board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN watchdog body. "Iran needs to meet its commitments. We would like it to meet its commitments before then, but if it doesn't, Iran needs to know and it needs to know now, that there is going to be a decision point in November and at that point a very serious option ... is referral to the United Nations security council," he said. "We cannot have any kind of negotiation that goes on forever. At some point you have got to decide whether negotiating further makes sense, or whether you need to do something else." The new position was agreed by British, French and German foreign ministers at a meeting in the Netherlands at the weekend. The German chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, yesterday warned that Iran's nuclear activities were "extremely alarming" and the German foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, described the prospect of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East as the "nightmare scenario". |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #13 Zhang, by a replay of Iraq, I meant that we will go to the UN to authorize action. The French will get supine for bribes from Iran. We will determine we can't wait any longer and we will act iwthout UN approval. I suspect we will send no troops into Iran but our inventory of soon to be obsolescent cruise missles and JDAMs will be severly depleted without the Navy or Air Force having to prepare Environmental Impact Statements and Iran will be out a lot of nuclear facilities. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-09-09 4:11:05 PM |
| #12 Sanctions first, then a replay of Iraq. Not much time for sanctions, '05 has been for a while the line-in-the-sand past which many believe Iran will have become a nuclear power. Once that happens the world's options become severely limited (witness North Korea) and everyone in the game knows it. |
| Posted by: AzCat 2004-09-09 4:03:12 PM |
| #11 MD: Sanctions first, then a replay of Iraq. No - this time we kill every last soldier in the army first. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-09-09 3:33:29 PM |
| #10 Sanctions first, then a replay of Iraq. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-09-09 2:12:05 PM |
| #9 Refusal by Iran to comply would produce a new Middle East crisis in which the issue would almost certainly be referred to the United Nations security council, which could opt for punitive action. The "punitive action" being.....? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-09-09 1:56:40 PM |
| #8 Pankisi Gorge has a new mosque, a "friendship" house for visiting Wahhabis and a Wal-Mart…what better time for a nuc strike! |
| Posted by: RN 2004-09-09 7:59:41 AM |
| #7 November, eh? Heh. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-09-09 7:18:49 AM |
| #6 Agree with Shep, what are the consequences for failure to comply with the deadline? Sanctions? Not good enough. Also agree with AC, Russia needs to make a big retaliatory move in response to Beslan. |
| Posted by: V is for Victory 2004-09-09 7:16:59 AM |
| #5 I think Pankisi Gorge is a very good place for an application of Russian nuclear technology. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2004-09-09 5:48:04 AM |
| #4 Honestly, I think that Russia is so cash-strapped for hard currency, they would provide "civilian" nuclear technology and help construct a reactor in the Pankisi Gorge, if the checks didn't bounce. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-09-09 3:48:55 AM |
| #3 Have we not been down the same U.N. deadline ...deadend road before? Let the U.N. play his cards and then what should have been done years ago, will be. |
| Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-09-09 3:02:26 AM |
| #2 lrt us all pray that this is actually a proper deadline and not some micky mouse EU deadline,were running outa time hour by hour. Israil,America and Russia need to act now - fuck france too. |
| Posted by: Shep UK 2004-09-09 2:52:56 AM |
| #1 Yes, yes, that should be "Iran." It's been a long night. |
| Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-09-09 2:15:32 AM |