Continue Reading "Interference" » »At least nine British soldiers have been murdered in Iraq by terrorists working for the radical Islamic regime in neighbouring Iran, it was reported last night.
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A British officer expressed astonishment at the reluctance to confront Iranian interference in Iraq."It's as though we are sleepwalking," he was quoted as saying.
The allegations will aggravate tension between the western allies and Iran still further. The two sides are already at loggerheads over Iran's shadowy nuclear programme and fears that it is trying to develop atomic weapons.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush said on Wednesday Iran with a nuclear weapon would be a "very destabilizing" force and that it was important for the world to speak with one voice against Tehran's program.
"The Iranians just need to know that the free world is working together to send a very clear message: Don't develop a nuclear weapon," Bush said.
"And the reason we're sending that message is because Iran with a nuclear weapon would be a very destabilizing force in the world," he said during a meeting with Poland's president.
Continue Reading "Destabilizing Force" » »BRUSSELS, Belgium Feb 9, 2005 — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran on Wednesday that it risks U.N. action if negotiations with Europe over its nuclear program don't progress.
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Rice said the United States had set no deadline on the Iran talks, but that they cannot go on forever. She added the Bush administration had not changed its view that the United Nations should step in to get tougher on Iran.
In Washington, President Bush said the Iranians needed to know that the free world was working together to send a clear message: Don't develop a nuclear weapon.
"And the reason we're sending that message is because Iran with a nuclear weapon would be a very destabilizing force in the world," Bush said.
U.S. urges resistance to Iran's nuclear ambitions
Tue Feb 8, 2005 10:05 PM GMT
PARIS (Reuters) - World leaders must stand firm against Tehran's nuclear ambitions and reject Iranian attempts to dictate its own terms for fulfilling a pledge not to develop atomic weapons, the United States has said.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Tuesday talks with Britain, France and Germany were a chance for Iran to demonstrate it was ready to respect the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which proscribes development of atomic weapons.
"We have diplomatic tools before us, but what we need is unity of purpose and unity of message to the Iranians," Rice said after talks with French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier.
Continue Reading "On The Seventh Day Of..." » »Condoleezza Rice turned Washington's rhetoric on Iran up another notch yesterday, telling Iranians they would have to "live up to their international obligations" to avoid a conflict with Israel.
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The Bush administration has sent mixed signals to Tehran in the past week, mixing bellicose and reconciliatory remarks, amid reports that the Pentagon is already sending special operations teams into Iran to spot potential targets.
In an interview on BBC's Breakfast with Frost, recorded on Friday but broadcast yesterday, Ms Rice was asked about remarks last month by Vice-President Dick Cheney, who warned of a possible pre-emptive strike against Iran by Israel - which already has a nuclear arsenal - if the latter felt threatened.
In response, Ms Rice put the onus on Iran, saying: "Obviously, anything that would lead to conflict in this region would be a terrible, terrible thing. And the Iranians need to live up to their international obligations so we don't face any such point."
LONDON, Feb 6: Diplomacy and unity among the world's "great democracies" are key to ensuring Iran meets its international obligations, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview broadcast on Sunday.
Iran has become a major obstacle to peace and stability in the Middle East and must be prevented from developing nuclear weapons, she told BBC television.
"We believe dealing with the Iranians diplomatically is the key and that is why I am here for discussions," Ms Rice told the BBC on Friday at the start of her first diplomatic mission to Europe and the Middle East since taking office.
"We do need a strong message to Iran. We need a united front on the Iranian nuclear programme. We need us great democracies to tell the Iranian people that they deserve a better future than the present they currently have," she said.
Continue Reading "On The Fifth Day Of..." » »World, Rice to press Russia over nuke fuel for Iran
Saturday, February 05, 2005
[World News]: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will press her hardline case over Iran's nuclear ambitions with Russia on Saturday after saying the United States has no plans for an imminent attack on the Islamic republic.
On her first trip abroad as the top U.S. diplomat, the Soviet specialist will meet her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Turkey as the Bush administration pressures Moscow to keep on hold a fuel supply deal for an Iranian reactor.
"We, of course, have worked ... with the Russians. And their efforts to cooperate with the Iranians on civilian nuclear power have been much more attuned recently to (our) concerns about the proliferation risk," Rice said on Friday in Britain on the first leg of a 10-stop trip to Europe and the Middle East.
"While it does not eliminate the proliferation risk, it certainly does help to mitigate (it)," she added.
Rice denies Iran threat
By Joe Murphy, Political Editor, Evening Standard
4 February 2005
George Bush's right-hand woman played down the prospect of war with Iran after talks in London today.
However, Condoleezza Rice pointedly refused to rule out a future military attack to prevent the Islamic state getting hold of nuclear weapons.
She said an attack was "not on the agenda at this point".
Continue Reading "On The Third Day Of..." » »LONDON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice seeks on Friday to repair ties with Europe over Iraq but her tough line on Iran risks undermining transatlantic attempts to heal the rift on her first trip as the top U.S. diplomat.
En route to London, where she will meet on Friday with Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Rice made clear the United States was unwilling to become involved in Europe's nuclear arms talks with Iran as the region wants.
"The Iranians know what they need to do. It's not the absence of anybody's involvement that is keeping the Iranians from knowing what they need to do," she told reporters aboard her plane.
"They need to live up to their obligations, they need to agree to verification inspection, they need to stop trying to hide activities under cover of civilian nuclear power."
LONDON, Feb 2 (IranMania) - Iran is under growing international pressure to renounce its suspected nuclear arms programs, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday, but she refused to rule out seeking UN action.
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Secretary of State sidestepped a question about reported impatience among some of the Europeans who think the United States should be more directly involved in the negotiations. She said Washington has been in close touch.
"We've made clear that we hope for the best, but the Iranians have not demonstrated over time that they have been particularly good about living up to their international obligations," she said.