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Archive for the ‘Iran’ Category

Iran says it has stopped selling crude oil to France and Britain, a move seen as retaliation for a phased European Union ban on Iranian oil that has yet to take effect.

Iran’s Oil Ministry said Sunday that all exports to French and British companies have ceased and that Tehran has taken steps to deliver its crude to new customers.

The move appeared designed to preempt an EU decision to stop importing Iranian crude oil beginning July 1. The embargo is part of Western efforts to impact financing for Tehran’s disputed nuclear program, which the West says is aimed at producing atomic weapons. Iran denies this.

Also Sunday, U.S. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon is due to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem amid rising tensions over Iran’s nuclear program – and reports that Israel might be preparing a military strike.

The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, says an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities would not be “prudent.” In an interview to be broadcast Sunday, the general told CNN a military strike would be “destabilizing” and would not achieve Israel’s long-term objectives.

Donilon is the latest among American officials to discuss the Iran issue with Israeli leaders.

On Saturday, Vienna-based diplomats said Iran is ready to expand its uranium enrichment program at an underground facility built inside a mountain near the city of Qom.

The diplomats – speaking on the condition they remain anonymous – say Iran is poised to install thousands of new centrifuges at its Fordo enrichment site. The new centrifuges could speed up the production of enriched uranium, which can be used to make nuclear weapons if the uranium is of a very high grade.

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency are due to visit Iran Monday.

Iranian state media reported last week that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was set to formally declare the Fordo site “fully operational.” Iran also unveiled what it said are a new generation of centrifuges at a uranium enrichment plant in the central city of Natanz.  

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

The United States has downplayed Iran’s claims of advances in its nuclear program, saying Tehran is feeling the pressure of international sanctions and wants to distract from its growing diplomatic isolation.

Iran said Wednesday it had installed a new generation of centrifuges to enrich uranium, and for the first time loaded domestically produced nuclear fuel into Tehran’s research reactor.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland dismissed the announcements as “hype.”

“We frankly don’t see a lot new here.  This is not big news,” she said.  “It seems to have been hyped.  The Iranians have, for many months, been putting out calendars of accomplishments, and based on their own calendars, they are many, many months behind.  This strikes us as calibrated mostly for a domestic audience.”

Israel and Western powers suspect Iran is trying to speed up enrichment of uranium to the higher purity to develop nuclear weapons.  Iran says its enrichment activities are aimed at producing fuel for power plants and medical research.

Nuland says Iran must show its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.

“They still need to demonstrate to all of us, including taking advantage of the IAEA inspection team now, that this is a purely peaceful program as they claim,” Nuland said.

Iran hailed the advances as a step toward mastering the complete nuclear fuel cycle, despite U.N. and Western sanctions aimed at stopping the process. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Iran is making “defiant” statements because its leadership and economy are under “enormous pressure” from sanctions.

Israel and its chief ally the United States refuse to rule out military action to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon. Israel sees an Iranian atomic bomb as a threat to its existence.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said Wednesday that a nuclear-armed Iran is “not an option for Russia,” voicing concern at progress made by Tehran in its nuclear drive.  But, the Russian official also said sanctions have had little effect, and called on world powers to hold “serious negotiations” with Iran to resolve the nuclear dispute.

The European Union said Wednesday it received a formal Iranian reply to a letter sent almost four months ago offering Iran a resumption of nuclear talks with the five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany – a group known as P5+1. The Iranians said they are ready for “dialogue” and “cooperation.”

EU officials said they were studying the Iranian response carefully and consulting with other members of the group. The parties last met in Istanbul a year ago but made no progress.

In a separate development, Iran’s oil ministry said Wednesday Tehran has not stopped exporting crude to EU nations. Earlier, some Iranian state news agencies said Iran was cutting off exports to six EU nations in retaliation for an impending EU boycott of Iranian oil.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.

U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered stricter sanctions on Iran’s government and central bank, citing “deceptive practices” by Iranian banks to conceal transactions.

In an executive order released Monday, the president said other factors for imposing the new restrictions include deficiencies in Iran’s anti-money laundering regime, and the “continuing and unacceptable risk” that Iran’s activities pose to the international financial system.

The order freezes assets in U.S. control.

The United States and European Union have tightened economic sanctions on the Iranian central bank and oil industry in recent weeks to pressure Iran to stop uranium enrichment — a process that has military and civilian applications.

Iran recently said it started enriching uranium at its underground Fordo complex, which has the capacity to speed up the production of weapons-grade material.

Israel is reported to be increasingly anxious about Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program and at least one U.S. official is reported to be warning that an Israeli attack is not far off.

Iranian officials deny any intention to build nuclear weapons, and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned last week that Iran will retaliate in full force if its nuclear facilities are attacked.

Western reports say Iranians are reeling under the continuing effects of sanctions.

Faced with a dropping currency, Iranian officials are struggling to stabilize the rial, which has fallen recently on announcements of U.S. and European sanctions against Iran’s banking capability and oil exports.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.