[Iran Press TV] Iran says it expects the UN nuclear watchdog to pass a 'legally binding' resolution to impose a ban on military strikes on all nuclear installations across the globe.
On August 13, Tehran asked the United Nations to add a paragraph to the agenda of its general conference to study and put to vote a fresh proposal prohibiting any military action targeting any nation's nuclear sites.
Iran's ambassador to the IAEA Ali-Asghar Soltaniyeh told Press TV on Monday that Tehran expected 'fruitful constructive talks' on the initiative which is to be presented at the agency's upcoming general conference in September.
The request was made through a letter directed at the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Chief Mohamed ElBaradei. More than 100 members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) also expressed their support for the proposal in a letter to ElBaradei on Monday.
Soltaniyeh said on Monday that "the letter was an indication that almost all member states of the IAEA were concerned about any attack or threat of attack against nuclear installations in any country."
Calling the proposal 'a matter of great urgency', Soltaniyeh said that during the last 20 years the world has witnessed a rise in the number of nuclear installations, which means that the potential of the threat and also the consequences of the release of radioactive material in case of any attacks have been increased.
Soltaniyeh said that he was optimistic that the majority of the member states would support the proposal so that the groundwork would be laid for devising a sort of legally binding instrument defined within the framework of the IAEA, which would protect 'all nuclear installations' across the world.
In September 1990, the IAEA General Conference passed a resolution proposed by Iran, titled "Prohibition of All Armed Attacks Against Nuclear Installations Devoted to Peaceful Purposes Whether Under Construction or in Operation."
Although similar to the new proposal, the former resolution does not address 'threats' or military strikes on 'all nuclear installations'.
If approved, the envoy said the new legally binding instruments would oblige the IAEA as well as the member states to do their best to prevent any attacks on the nuclear facilities of the member states.
Iran is thinking of "a sort of legally binding instrument, that in case of an attack, the IAEA as the international technical organization, as well as the member states will feel obliged to assist [the country under the attack]. And before that, of course, if there are threats of an attack, the international community will augment their pressure to prevent such violation from occurring," Soltaniyeh told Press TV.
The 53rd Annual Regular Session of the IAEA General Conference is set for September 14-18 at the Vienna International Center (VIC) in Vienna, Austria.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11150 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
They should talk to Berkeley on the wording.
It's unlawful to detonate a nuclear device inside the Berzerkley city limits, you know. I expect there's a hefty fine involved, although it's unclear just who would collect it.
#2
Well, if Iran tells us where ALL of their nuclear sites are, then we can be sure not to attack them.
We will need the geographic coordinates, as well as a description of how deep they are.
Just so we know, ya know.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
08/26/2009 21:54 Comments ||
Top||
[Iran Press TV] In a follow-up to the post-election mass trials of opposition activists and protestors, Iran puts aides to former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and top Reformist figures in the dock.
The fourth session of the revolutionary court held on Tuesday dealt with former officials from the administration of leading Reformist figure Khatami -- including former deputy economy minister Mohsen Safaie-Farahani, former deputy interior minister Mostafa Tajzadeh, former deputy foreign minister Mohsen Aminzadeh and Reformist activists Mohsen Mirdamadi and Abdollah Ramezanzadeh.
Saaed Hajjarian, a former deputy intelligence minister who is known for architecting Iran's Reform movement, was also among the accused. Hajjarian has been in custody for more than 2 months despite his serious health condition.
Behzad Nabavi, a top Reformist figure and former minister in the government of Ahmadinejad's main presidential election rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi after the 1979 revolution, and Iranian-American scholar Kian Tajbakhsh were also on trial.
Member of Iran's Islamic Participation Front and Reformist journalist Hamidreza Jalaeipour and leading Reformist journalist Saeed Leylaz were also present at the court session.
Mohammad Ghoochani, chief editor of Etemad-e-Melli (National Trust) daily belonging to another opposition figure Mehdi Karroubi, was also put in the dock.
Mohammad-Reza Jalaei, Sadeq Norouzi, Hedayat Aqayi, Massoud Bastani, Hamzeh Ghalebi, Feizollah Arabsorkhi were among other Reformist figures present at Tuesday's court session.
The other defendants include Ali Tajernia, a former opposition lawmaker, Shahaboddin Tabatabaei, a leading figure in the country's largest Reformist party, and Ahmad Zeidabadi, a journalist who has written critically of the Islamic establishment.
During the legal proceeding in the morning session, prosecutors brought a new list of charges against the post-vote detainees.
The indictment read out by Tehran's Deputy Prosecutor Mehdi Sepehri, accused members of the Islamic Participation Front of taking steps to undermine the country's presidential election and its official results which granted a landslide victory to the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Along with the Islamic Participation Front, the Islamic Revolution Mujahedeen Organization has been accused of "lying" and spreading "rumors of fraud in the election."
Citing examples of illegal activities carried out by the two political fronts in the country's post-vote frenzy, the revolutionary court called for both factions to be dissolved.
Sepehri claimed that an election head office in northern Tehran -- used by defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi -- had been used in various illegal activities, such as providing a base for the BBC's Persian TV service.
The prosecutor went on to say that on June 12's evening, as the vote process was underway, security forces raided the office which prompted the elements inside the building to "take hostage" some of the forces.
The statement by the court went on to describe the opposition as a "power-seeking defiant movement" which has "stood against the system and the majority vote of the people."
The prosecutor also went on to claim that evidence gathered from the Islamic Participation Front's office reveal that Hajjarian was the mastermind behind the alleged "soft coup" while Tajzadeh had entertained the idea of using "American weapons."
The prosecutor also implicated Mohammad-Reza Khatami, the former president's brother, of seeking "foreign support" for the alleged coup attempt.
During the session, meanwhile, certain defeated political groups were charged with having links to Western media and foreign embassies seeking to cause mayhem in the country.
The trials come as the official outcome of the June 12 presidential vote provoked unprecedented, widespread protests in Iran and opened a rare divide among the ruling elite.
The crackdown against the street demonstrations resulted in the arrest of thousands of opposition figures, protesters and journalists -- who have been accused of plotting to topple the government --- and the deaths of at least 30 people.
Iran has already staged mass trials of nearly 140 individuals on offences linked to widespread demonstrations that followed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's hotly-disputed victory in the June election.
Following the controversial mass trials of post-vote detainees, the opposition announced that the confessions made at court had been forced.
The opposition and their supporters have also condemned the trials as a "sham" staged by supporters of the incumbent president.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iranian-American scholar Kian Tajbakhsh has accused former president Mohammad Khatami of turning Iran into a safe place for US activities.
We've got spy squirrels... and worse, so we've no need to wait for permission from a former president of Iran. Surely they didn't think the Mossad was the only one having fun with equipment maintenance these last many years? These people should at least try to keep their various paranoias from contradicting one another!
Tajbakhsh is among Iran's post-election detainees charged with espionage and acting against national security.
In a Tuesday court session in Tehran, Tajbakhsh, a former member of the Soros Foundation in Iran, said in his defense statement that former president Khatami and Mohammad-Javad Zarif, the then Iranian envoy to the United Nations, met George Soros, the founder of the network, in 2006.
Tajbakhsh said the meeting was part of a plan, which began in 1997, when Khatami took office, to 'overthrow' the system. He added that Khatami has been 'constantly' in contact with the Soros Foundation since then.
"Because of the support of some officials from the Reformist camp...a safe place was created for the cooperation of domestic and foreign forces...and American political parties and NGOs found a way to start activities in Iran," Tajbakhsh added.
Tuesday saw the fourth session of the revolutionary court dealing with those arrested in the aftermath of June 12 presidential vote, which saw incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-elected for another four-year term.
Iran has already held mass trials of nearly 140 individuals charged with masterminding the post-vote unrest.
Following the controversial mass trials of post-vote detainees, the opposition announced that the confessions made in court had been forced.
The opposition and their supporters have also condemned the trials as a "sham" staged by the supporters of the incumbent president.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Saeed Hajjarian, a premier reformist strategist who was disabled in a 2000 assassination attempt, has been accused of having links with the British intelligence service.
During the fourth round of the mass trials held for those arrested during Iran's post-election violence, the co-founder of Iran's main reformist party, the Islamic Participation Front, was linked to renowned political theorist John Keane, Open Society Institute's George Soros and German philosopher Jurgen Habermas.
"Hajjarian has twice met with John Keane, the British mastermind connected to MI5," the prosecution said.
Hajjarian, the prosecutor said, had met well-known philosopher and sociologist Jurgen Habermas, who is famous for the theory of Civil disobedience.
According to Habermas, societies can actively refuse to obey certain laws, demands and commands of a government, or of an occupying power, without resorting to physical violence.
The Soros Foundation which according to the indictment planned to launch a "velvet coup" in Iran was also named as having links with Hajjarian.
George Soros, the chairman of the foundation, has reportedly helped fund the 1989 "Velvet Revolution" in the Czech Republic.
The prosecutor concluded by asking for the "full punishment" against Hajjarian, who has been in custody three days after Iran's disputed June 12 election.
The "brain of reformists" is among the 140 people accused of orchestrating the post-election violence in Iran, which resulted in the death of around 30 people and injured hundreds more.
[Iran Press TV] One of the defendants standing trial for Iran's post-election unrest says the son of influential official and cleric Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani asked him to embezzle government funds for his father's election campaign in 2005.
During the fourth round of the mass trials held for post-election detainees, Hamzeh Karami told the court that about $2 million of the Iranian Fuel Conservation Organization's assets were used to finance Rafsanjani presidential campaign.
Karami claimed that he started work at the organization in 2003 with the recommendation of Mohammad Hashemi, the brother of the former two-time president.
He added that at the time the former president's son Mehdi Hashemi was the managing director of IFCO.
"After that, I realized that Mehdi Hashemi's father has plans to run in the 2005 presidential election. It seemed that was why I had been invited to work there," Karami explained.
"Mehdi Hashemi believed that election in Iran were financed with government funds. He did not believe in spending private savings for the election. So they step up a system for forgery and document falsification," he added.
Karami also said Mehdi Hashemi was involved in money laundering.
According to his statement, Karami served as a manager of political affairs for the presidential office during Mohammad Khatami's term.
Following the trial, Mehdi Hashemi told Tabnak that the allegations were baseless.
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