Replies to post #199086 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

Iran's view: P5+1 negotiations in Almaty a step forward: Iranian diplomat


Iranian and P5+1 negotiators talk during a meeting in the Kazakh city of Almaty on Tuesday, February 26, 2013.

Mon Mar 4, 2013 3:8PM GMT
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http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/02/27/291142/nuclear-energy-every-countrys-right/

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Almaty talks offer glimmer of hope
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/02/25/290782/almaty-talks-offer-glimmer-of-hope/

Iran's deputy foreign minister for consular, parliamentary, and Iranians affairs has hailed the outcome of the recent negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group in Kazakhstan as a step forward.

“Compared with the [previous round of talks in the] Moscow meeting, the talks in [the Kazakh city of] Almaty were a step forward,” Hassan Qashqavi said on Monday.

Qashqavi noted that the progress in the talks with the P5+1 (permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) “does not mean that all the issues have been resolved.”

“However, since the time and venue of the next round of talks have been announced, no interruption has occurred in the negotiations, and reasonable frameworks have been offered by both sides, it follows that this move [the Almaty talks] has been a step forward and we hope it will serve our national interests.”

Iran and the P5+1 held their latest round of talks in Almaty on February 26 and 27.

Both sides agreed to meet in Almaty again on April 5-6 for the next round of negotiations after holding expert-level talks in the Turkish city of Istanbul on March 17-18.

Qashqavi went on to say that although Western embargoes and pressures against Iran over its nuclear energy program are at their peak, they have failed to fulfill their main objective which is to derail Iran’s nuclear energy program.

The United States, Israel, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Over the false allegation, Washington and the European Union have imposed several rounds of illegal unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

ASH/SS/MA

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/03/04/291880/iranp51-almaty-talks-step-forward/

Ball is in Iran's court, and they know the bottom line .. i'd love to see the detail on the latest
P5+1 offer, yet believe it surely must be a fairer one that it would be if Bush were at the helm.

[StephanieVanbryce]

Israel Lobby asks Congress to Approve Attack on Iran & to Exempt Israel from Sequester

Juan Cole 03/04/2013

News from what Ross Perot used to call the guys in sharkskin suits and alligator shoes– the lobbyists who routinely outvote you and me on Capitol Hill:

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which ought to be a registered foreign agent, opens its annual conference in Washington today. Its three big goals right now are to make sure US government aid to Israel is exempted from the across the board budget cuts of the sequester; to make sure Israel can with impunity go on stealing Palestinian land in the West Bank; and to get permission from Congress for the Israeli Air Force to bomb Iran’s civilian nuclear enrichment facilities.

Since Israel is a middle-income country with a nominal per capita income higher than Spain or South Korea, it is mysterious why the US taxpayer should outright give it so much money every year– more especially since the Israelis are breaking international law with their aggressive colonization of the West Bank, which causes no end of trouble for the United States in the Muslim World. Why it should be exempted from the effects of the sequester, when ordinary Americans will not, [ http://rt.com/op-edge/aipac-israel-aid-us-761/ ] is further mysterious.

But the maneuvering around the sequester and aid is a minor issue compared to the attempt to do an end run around President Obama and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel by getting senators to sign a permission slip for Israel to attack Iran, [ http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/sites/default/files/AIPAC_Back_Door_To_War.pdf ] saying that the senate:

“urges that, if the Government of Israel is 3 compelled to take military action in self-defense, the 4 United States Government should stand with Israel 5 and provide diplomatic, military, and economic support to the Government of Israel in its defense of its territory, people, and existence.”

Although the resolution denies being an authorization for war, that is clearly what it is. It was introduced by Lindsey Graham (of course) and Robert Menendez.

The resolution also seeks to expand America’s unilateral war on the Iranian economy, [ http://www.niacouncil.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=9029&security=1&news_iv_ctrl=-1 ] which is arguably illegal in international law, by trying to punish European companies, including pharmaceuticals, that sell to Iran. The US financial blockade is already making some medicines hard to come by for strapped Iranian families with ill children.

An Israeli attack on Iran would certainly draw in the United States. Thousands of US personnel in Baghdad, Qatar and Bahrain would be vulnerable to covert, proxy attacks in response. The Pentagon has repeatedly warned the Israelis about doing anything that might force the US into hostilities, and the brass won’t be happy about this irresponsible resolution.

Former National Security Council staffer and Columbia professor of Political Science Gary Sick notes, [ http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/02/28/senators-press-to-green-light-israeli-attack-on-iran.html ] “Initiating a war is the gravest step any nation can take. This legislation would effectively entrust that decision to a regional state. Such a decision is an American sovereign responsibility. It cannot be outsourced.”

Just Foreign Policy [ http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1439/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=12660 ] has suggestions for how you can protest this irresponsible resolution to your elected representatives.

http://www.juancole.com/2013/03/congress-approve-sequester.html

[StephanieVanbryce]

Iran's president Rouhani: We will never develop nuclear weapons

F6 here is Rouhani it's a VIDEO of him saying that .. ;)

Referenced to Arizona1 here: [ http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=92165738 ]

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/18/20561148-irans-president-rouhani-we-will-never-develop-nuclear-weapons?lite

Arizona, F6 has posted so much about this . .that I wanted at least one to be in the thread
of his posts somewhere .. ;) . .Thank YOU for letting us all know!..

[fuagf]

YEAH! .. Yes, MEMRI, there is a Fatwa from Khamenei
forbidding Nukes .. Obama of the Nobel .. credit Khamenei, too

Posted on 04/22/2012 by Juan Cole

I’m told that MEMRI, which has its origins in Israeli military intelligence .. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/aug/12/worlddispatch.brianwhitaker , has put out a statement doubting that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ever issued a fatwa forbidding nuclear weapons. (MEMRI claims to be a 501(c)3 non-profit but is actually an effort to cherry-pick Middle Eastern news to present the most negative face of the Arab world to Americans so as to prejudice them in favor of Israel; in this case it is just doing propaganda).

A Reddit.com contributor has effectively answered this piece of disinformation .. http://www.reddit.com/r/worldpolitics/comments/sm5g8/has_irans_leadership_issued_a_fatwa_against/ . This posting points out that the official IRNA news agency said in 2005 .. http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=302258 ,

-----
“The Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued the Fatwa that the production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons are forbidden under Islam and that the Islamic Republic of Iran shall never acquire these weapons.”
-----

That this old posting has gone into the deep web and isn’t at the IRNA site is irrelevant. The fatwa was announced by IRNA and has been repeatedly reaffirmed by Khamenei.

Here is the US government transcription, published in 2005, of the relevant portions of the IRNA publication of the official Iranian statement .. http://www.juancole.com/2005/08/irna-carries-iran-statement-to-iaea-on-khamenei-fatwa-forbidding-nuclear-weapons.html .. to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Interestingly, the statement points to hydrocarbon-fueled global warming as one reason for which countries such as Iran need to turn to nuclear energy production:

-----
“Iran Issues Statement at IAEA Board of Governors Meeting
Corrected version: added additional material after IRNA update
IRNA
Wednesday, August 10, 2005 T11:39:36Z
Journal Code: 2736 Language: ENGLISH Record Type: FULLTEXT
Document Type: FBIS Transcribed Text
Word Count: 1,962

Vienna, Aug 10, IRNA — Iran is a nuclear fuel cycle technology holder, a capability which is exclusively for peaceful purposes, a statement issued by the Islamic Republic at the emergency meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) read here Tuesday evening.

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has issued the fatwa (religious decree) that the production, stockpiling, and use of nuclear weapons are forbidden under Islam and that Iran shall never acquire these weapons, it added…

“Madam chair, colleagues…

“The Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued the fatwa that the production, stockpiling, and use of nuclear weapons are forbidden under Islam and that the Islamic Republic of Iran shall never acquire these weapons. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who took office just recently, in his inaugural address reiterated that his government is against weapons of mass destruction and will only pursue nuclear activities in the peaceful domain. The leadership of Iran has pledged at the highest level that Iran will remain a non-nuclear-weapon state party to the NPT and has placed the entire scope of its nuclear activities under IAEA safeguards and Additional Protocol, in addition to undertaking voluntary transparency measures with the agency that have even gone beyond the requirements of the agency’s safeguard system.

“Nuclear energy is expected to become once again a primary source of energy, with the rising demand for oil and gas and the ensuing increase in the prices, which incidentally can sharply accelerate for any political provocation. We should add to this the concerns about the environment, and the world will have no alternative but to revert back to nuclear energy, at least for decades to come… ”
(Description of Source: Tehran IRNA (Internet Version-WWW) in English — official state-run news agency) …
-----

Note also that among the major followers of Khamenei’s fatwas are Shiites of South Lebanon, especially Hizbullah. Hizbullah’s al-Manar news service carried on 13 April 2005 a repost of an item about official Iranian negotiator on nuclear issues, Hassan Rowhani .. http://www.manaar.com/vb/showthread.php?t=4720 , who met with the the Danish FM and:

-----
“Rowhani stressed during his meeting with the Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Møller that obeying the fatwa of Khamenei ‘is more important for us than the articles of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its additional protocol.’ He explained that the fatwa of the Guide forbids the production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons, and that the fatwa is, in the Islamic Republic, an obligatory law.”

[ NOTE: here Juan has some Persian .. instead of just ??????s in the open here, fwiw this is the Google translation ..

Spiritual Akkad within its molar crest Lqayh Minister Alkharjyh Aldnmarky Alakhz Bftvy Khamnyy "Elena Balnsbh most important accessories value Valbrvtvkvl Alnvvyh Alaslhh I release Hzr Bnvd treaty." Vavzh spiritual judgment Almrshd Thrm Vastkhdam Alaslhh Alnvvyh production and storage, Valftvy fi al Aljmhvryh required by law. ]
-----

As I said, the fatwa not only was issued, widely acknowledged by high officials of the Islamic Republic, and considered by them to be binding law, but it has been reaffirmed numerous times. Here is an item from the conservative Iranian news agency Mehr .. http://www.mehrnews.com/en/newsdetail.aspx?NewsID=1574854 .. dated April 11, 2012:

-----
“The fatwa that the Supreme Leader has issued is the best guarantee that Iran will never seek to produce nuclear weapons, Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani said on Wednesday.

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has issued a fatwa declaring that the production, stockpiling, and use of nuclear weapons are all haram (prohibited in Islam).”
-----

I think the head of the Iranian judiciary knows a little bit better whether Khamenei issued a fatwa than does a project of Israeli military intelligence.

But let me just add that it is important to understand what a fatwa is. In Islam the laity ask their clerics about how to follow Islamic law. The cleric replies with a considered opinion on the purport of the law, which is called a fatwa. In the Usuli school of Shiite Islam, deriving the law from the relevant sacred texts is achieved in part through the application to them of legal reasoning. That is, the law in some senses inheres in the mind of the jurisprudent. If he reconsiders a case and comes to a different, more mature conclusion later on, he is bound to reverse himself. His followers are bound to follow his most recent conclusions.

A high-ranking cleric appointed as a jurisconsult to the state, who gives official fatwas, is called a mufti. But any trained clerical jurisprudent can issue a fatwa. (The system is virtually identical in Judaism, where rabbis answer the questions of the faithful about halakha or Jewish law with responsa.)

So a fatwa is not like an American law that has to be published in the Congressional Record and in official law books. It is just the conclusion to which a cleric’s reasoning leads him, and which he makes known, even in a letter. In Shiite Islam, laypersons who follow a particular ayatollah are bound by his fatwas. When an ayatollah such as Khamenei delivers oral remarks in public, these have the force of a fatwa and are accepted as such .. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ND20Ak01.html .. by his followers. That is, Khamenei’s recent statement forbidding nuclear weapons .. http://www.juancole.com/2012/03/khamenei-takes-control-forbids-nuclear-bomb.html .. in a speech is in fact a fatwa:

-----
“the Islamic Republic, logically, religiously and theoretically, considers the possession of nuclear weapons a grave sin and believes the proliferation of such weapons is senseless, destructive and dangerous.”
-----

There is another consideration. Since Khamenei is not only an ayatollah but also the Supreme Leader, it may well be that this statement is actually more important than a fatwa. It may be considered a hukm or decree of the Supreme Jurisprudent (Vali-yi Faqih), who is charged with setting the legal framework of the Islamic Republic in accordance with revealed Islamic law. That may be what Rowhani meant when he told the Danes that the fatwa is a qanun or law.

(By the way, I wanted to say that my blog post refuting the charge by some analysts that Khamenei might be practicing ‘taqiyya’ or pious dissimulation .. http://www.juancole.com/2012/04/irans-forbidden-nukes-and-the-taqiya-lie.html .. was not intended as a slam against the NYT correspondent James Risen who reported that this argument was being made by some in the US intelligence community. Mr. Risen was just doing his job in giving us a description of the debate. He has done very brave reporting on, e.g. the Bush administration’s misuse of intelligence in the Iraq War, and has been targeted for legal reprisals by the government, and is admired by those of us who care about the integrity of US intelligence. I was just trying to show that those government analysts who took the taqiyya argument seriously were mistaken.)

http://www.juancole.com/2012/04/yes-memri-there-is-a-fatwa-from-khamenei-forbidding-nukes.html

See also:

2007 .. AMY GOODMAN: Scott Ritter, one of the things you talk about in your book is that no attention has been paid to the Supreme Leader's pronouncement in the form of a fatwa, that Iran rejects outright the acquisition of nuclear weapons.
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=17735960

And you are correct about the organization 'MEMRI' . .
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=83520307

[fuagf]

Iran, world powers reach historic nuclear deal with Iran


Denis Balibouse/AP - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrives at Geneva International
airport in Geneva, Switzerland, Saturday, Nov.23, 2013 for the Iran nuclear talks.

By Anne Gearan and Joby Warrick, Published: November 23 | Updated: Sunday, November 24, 1:08 PM E-mail the writers

BREAKING NEWS: A historic agreement has been reached between Iran and six world powers on limits to Iran’s nuclear program, a European Union official has confirmed.

“We have reached agreement between E3+3 and Iran,” an EU spokesman said in Twitter posting.

Video

In a bid to bridge gaps, the U.S. State Department announced Friday
that Secretary of State John Kerry would join Iran nuclear talks in Geneva.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/politics/kerry-to-join-iran-talks-in-geneva/2013/11/23/6b88f0c8-545a-11e3-a7f0-b790929232e1_video.html


Best news photos of the week
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/best-news-photos-of-the-week/2013/11/22/3be7427e-5307-11e3-9fe0-fd2ca728e67c_gallery.html

This story will be updated

GENEVA — Iran and world powers seeking a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program remained stuck Saturday on the same complex questions that dashed earlier talks, despite strong signs that diplomats on all sides had come to this round expecting success.

Negotiations in this Swiss city ran into the late evening, with the foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia, the European Union and the United States huddled in a hotel conference room. Several of the diplomats met earlier in the day with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who told reporters that the parties remained divided on key details of the six-month trial deal.

“It is still too early to say if there will be a final agreement,” Zarif said.

The talks remained snarled despite the last-minute intervention of Secretary of State John F. Kerry, who flew to Geneva for the second time .. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/iran-wants-right-to-enrich-uranium-recognized-as-part-of-agreement-western-powers-wary/2013/11/22/ee7e46a8-5370-11e3-9e2c-e1d01116fd98_story.html .. in two weeks to try to break the impasse. The Obama administration has been seeking to quickly finalize an agreement in the face of threats by Congress to impose additional economic sanctions on Iran.

The marathon discussions with Iran, which extended into an unscheduled fourth day, were described by Western diplomats as “very difficult” and “intense.” Several officials sought to lower expectations that a resolution could be reached before Sunday, when Kerry and the other foreign ministers were due to depart.

Kerry, Zarif and the lead E.U. negotiator, Catherine Ashton, met late Saturday, but the session ended with no announcement of progress. Instead, Iran’s deputy foreign minister hardened his country’s position.

Although “98 percent” of the deal is done, Iran can accept no agreement that does not recognize what it calls its uranium enrichment rights, Abbas Araghchi told reporters.

“Any agreement without recognizing Iran’s right to enrich, practically and verbally, will be unacceptable for Tehran,” Araghchi said, according to Reuters.

Araghchi and Zarif have insisted that the deal hinges on international recognition of Iran’s right to enrich uranium, a matter of deep national pride.

The proposed deal offered to Iran would reportedly allow limited uranium enrichment, although under tight restrictions and heavy international monitoring. But Western officials have balked at recognizing a legal “right” to uranium enrichment, hoping instead to craft language in the final agreement that acknowledges the right of all countries to pursue nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Zarif appeared to endorse that approach publicly last week.

The sides also continued to haggle over details of the limited sanctions relief to be offered to Iran in return for scaling back its nuclear program, diplomats said. The relief would reportedly include freeing up a small portion of Iran’s overseas currency accounts and easing other trade restrictions.

Page 2 of 2

The most painful sanction, affecting Iran’s oil and banking sectors, would remain until the end of the deal’s first phase, depending on Iran’s willingness to accept permanent curbs on its nuclear program, Western officials said.

Still another obstacle is Iran’s partially completed heavy-water reactor in the city of Arak. Western powers are pushing for a freeze on construction of the reactor’s core, which could, if completed, give Iran a pathway toward obtaining plutonium for nuclear weapons.

Kerry decided to intervene in the talks after negotiators reportedly made progress in overcoming key obstacles to a deal. Kerry joined Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who arrived in Geneva on Friday, as well as British and French counterparts who traveled to Switzerland early Saturday. Diplomats and technical teams from Iran and six major powers had been meeting privately since Wednesday to resolve a number of sticking points.

State Department officials cautioned that Kerry’s decision to attend the talks did not necessarily portend an imminent agreement.

Close U.S. ally Israel opposes the deal as too generous to an enemy it sees as a mortal threat. Israel is not a party to the talks.

The Obama administration has been unable to reassure Israel or another partner, Saudi Arabia, that the arrangement would make the Middle East safer. The interim deal is meant to build confidence and test Iranian follow-through in preparation for a larger agreement to install strict limits on the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for a gradual repeal of sanctions.

Talks were meant to end Friday. But they were extended as foreign ministers joined lower-level negotiators Saturday for what appeared to be final rounds ahead of what would be a historic agreement to rein in nuclear work that the United States and other nations fear is intended to one day produce atomic weapons.

A spokeswoman for Kerry said he would leave Sunday for other diplomatic meetings. Because Kerry is considered an essential player in finalizing the pact, that set an unofficial deadline to either strike a deal or announce that this round came close but not close enough.

Zarif planned to return to Tehran on Sunday. Zarif and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani have pushed for a deal in the past three months, an about-face after years of unproductive talks. The negotiations have yielded the first extended talks between senior U.S. and Iranian diplomats in more than 30 years.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/kerry-in-geneva-raising-hopes-for-historic-nuclear-deal-with-iran/2013/11/23/53e7bfe6-5430-11e3-9fe0-fd2ca728e67c_story.html

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Right wing teafreaks are flipping out! THEY TALK! FIRST TIME SINCE '79
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Striking Deals With Despots

Stalin played FDR in 1945. Iran's Rouhani now attempts to do the same with President Obama.
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YEAH! .. Yes, MEMRI, there is a Fatwa from Khamenei
forbidding Nukes .. Obama of the Nobel .. credit Khamenei, too
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=92167068

[fuagf]

President Obama Makes a Statement on Iran

The White House The White House · 268 views Like 18 Dislike 4 [nuts]

Published on Nov 23, 2013

President Obama says that the United States -- together with close allies and partners -- has taken an important first step toward a comprehensive solution that addresses concerns with the Islamic Republic of Iran's nuclear program. November 23, 2013.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emQGKQ6D0sE&noredirect=1

.. yup .. one small step at a time .. it's life .. just keep plugging on .. :)

Australia are about to clinch (they may have already) the golf World Cup Championship .. first
time in 24 years! .. good effort by your guys for 2nd .. congrats to them all .. lol .. all rosy good .. rosy ..

.. posted here so as to be under the other replies .. :)