Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Iran

Iran Says Moscow's Nuclear Proposal Is Dead

View of the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz in central Iran (file photo) (epa)

4 February 2006 -- A senior Iranian official says a deal offered by Russia in an effort to defuse the crisis over Iran's nuclear program is dead.

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February 04, 2006

Russia has offered to enrich Iranian uranium in Russia. However, Javad Vaidi, deputy head of the Iranian National Security Council, said that commercial-scale uranium enrichment will instead be resumed in the Iranian nuclear facility in Natanz.

Vaidi was speaking after today's decision by the United Nations' nuclear agency to report Iran to the UN Security Council.

(AP, AFP)

The IAEA Resolution

On 2 February, the 35-member Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency began discussing a draft resolution aimed at referring the matter of Iran's nuclear program to the United Nations Security Council. The key section of the resolution is Section 1, which states that the Board of Governors:

Underlines that outstanding questions can best be resolved and confidence built in the exclusive peaceful nature of Iran's program by Iran responding positively to the calls for confidence building measures which the Board has made on Iran, and in this context deems it necessary for Iran to:

reestablish full and sustained suspension of all enrichment-related and processing activities, including research and development, to be verified by the Agency;
reconsider the construction of a research reactor moderated by heavy water;
ratify promptly and implement in full Additional Protocol;
pending ratification, continue to act in accordance with the provisions of the Additional Protocol with Iran signed on 18 December 2003;
implement the transparency measures, as requested by the Director General, which extend beyond the former requirements of the Safeguards Agreement and Additional Protocol, and include such access to individuals, documentation relating to procurement, dual use equipment, certain military-owned workshops and research and development as the Agency may request in support of its ongoing investigations.

THE COMPLETE TEXT: To read the complete text of the resolution, click here.

THE COMPLETE PICTURE: RFE/RL's complete coverage of controversy surrounding Iran's nuclear program.

An annotated timeline of Iran's nuclear program.

India -- Investigators work at the site where a vehicle exploded near the Israeli embassy in New Delhi, 13Feb2012

Alleged Attacks Tehran's Way Of Lashing Out?

(INTRO) Israel has blamed Iran for two bombings targeting its diplomats in India and Georgia this week, as well as for a botched bombing in Bangkok that Thai intelligence officials said were aimed at top Israeli diplomats. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran's "terrorist activities" have been exposed, but Iran has denied any involvement. RFE/RL correspondent Golnaz Esfandiari spoke to Juan Zarate, senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and former Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism about the attacks and Iran's alleged role. More

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad (center) looks on as scientists unveil a fuel rod at the Tehran Research Reactor.

Iranian Nuke Still One-To-Three Years Away, Says Expert

Iran on announced on February 15 that it has installed its first domestically produced nuclear fuel rods in a reactor in Tehran. Tehran also announced that it activated a new generation of centrifuges at its Natanz nuclear facility. RFE/RL spoke with nuclear physicist Frank Barnaby about what the advances reveal regarding Iran's uranium enrichment abilities, which Western countries allege are aimed at secretly building a nuclear weapon. More

Iran has stepped up its pressure on activists using the Internet

Iranian Activists, Journalists Receive Threatening E-mails

A number of Iranian activists and journalists based inside and outside the country have told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda they have been threatened in anonymous e-mails. More