Category: Iran

  • Davutoglu: Turkey Supports Talks between Iran, 5+1

    Davutoglu: Turkey Supports Talks between Iran, 5+1

    davutogluTEHRAN (FNA)- Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu reiterated his country’s strong support for the upcoming talks between Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany), which are due to be held in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday.

    “We are happy about the start of negotiations between Iran and the G5+1 and support them,” Davutoglu said, addressing the audience at a high-profile security meeting in Manama, Bahrain, named ‘the 2010 Manama Security Dialogue’ on Saturday night.

    He also called for further diplomatic efforts and talks to solve Iran’s nuclear issue, and stressed, “If there are differences in views over Iran’s nuclear program, diplomacy and talks should be used and we should cooperate to reach a solution.”

    Underlining his country’s opposition to nuclear apartheid, Davutoglu said that using peaceful nuclear technology is the right of all world states.

    Iran on Tuesday announced that its multifaceted talks with the Group 5+1 (Britain, China, France, Russia, and the US plus Germany) will restart on December 6 in Switzerland.

    Tehran, however, has stressed that it would not discuss its nuclear program with the G5+1.

    Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

    Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.

    Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for turning down West’s calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment.

    Tehran has dismissed West’s demands as politically tainted and illogical, stressing that sanctions and pressures merely consolidate Iranians’ national resolve to continue the path

    via Fars News Agency :: Davutoglu: Turkey Supports Talks between Iran, 5+1.

  • Turkey opposed to nuclear proliferation in Middle East

    Turkey opposed to nuclear proliferation in Middle East

    Manama: Turkey’s foreign affairs minister has said that his country is opposed to nuclear proliferation in the Middle East and Gulf region.

    In this photo released by the Iranian army, anti-aircraft guns fire during a war game outside the city of Semnan about 240 kilometers east of the capital Tehran, Iran. Iran's Manouchehr Mottaki said: "We have never used our force against our neighbours and never will because our neighbours are Muslims." Image Credit: AP
    In this photo released by the Iranian army, anti-aircraft guns fire during a war game outside the city of Semnan about 240 kilometers east of the capital Tehran, Iran. Iran's Manouchehr Mottaki said: "We have never used our force against our neighbours and never will because our neighbours are Muslims." Image Credit: AP

    “We do not want to see nuclear proliferation in our region and we do not want to see any nuclear weapons power in our region,” Ahmet Davutoglu told the Manama Dialogue security conference. “Therefore, a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East is the essential backbone of our policy.”

    Problems and disagreements, like in the case of the Iranian nuclear programme, should be solved through diplomacy, he said.

    “More diplomacy, more transparency, more international effort, more contributions from the Iranian side and from the international community are needed for a solution. Therefore, we are very happy that next week the nuclear talks will restart between P5+1 and Iran. We work very hard to contribute to this process and we will continue to support it,” he said.

    Davutoglu insisted that the nuclear issue was not only a regional issue.

    “The nuclear issue is a global issue. If we do not have a fair approach to this nuclear issue based on international law, it is difficult to solve it,” he said.

    The minister reiterated that Turkey will keep its policy consistent on Iran’s nuclear programme.

    “From the first day, we declared three principles regarding this issue. One is that all nations have the right to obtain peaceful nuclear technology and energy, based on the principles of the NPT [Non-Proliferation Treaty] and the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency].

    “The second principle is that Turkey is against nuclear weapons, wherever they are. The last dimension is the cultural dimension in the sense of the relationship between regional and global peace.

    “As I said, our region is the backbone of world civilisation and we should not allow a clash of civilisations in our region. If there is cultural peace in our region, there will be cultural peace in the world. This region can contribute a lot to the cultural, political and economic future of humanity,” Davutoglu said.

    via gulfnews : Turkey opposed to nuclear proliferation in Middle East.

  • ‘Turkey, Brazil will not attend P5+1 talks’

    ‘Turkey, Brazil will not attend P5+1 talks’

    Senior Iranian lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi says Turkey and Brazil will not be present in Iran’s multifaceted talks with major world powers.

    Head of the Parliament (Majlis) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi
    Head of the Parliament (Majlis) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi

    On October 14, EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton expressed the West’s readiness to return to negotiations and proposed three-day talks with Iran in mid-November in the Austrian capital of Vienna.

    Dialogue between Iran and the P5+1 — Britain, China, France, Russia, and the US plus Germany — has been stalled since October 1, 2009, when the two sides met in Geneva.

    Iran on Tuesday announced that its multifaceted talks with the P5+1 would restart on December 6 in Switzerland.

    “We will have two rounds of talks with the West; one is talks with the P5+1 and the other is negotiations with the Vienna Group — France, Russia, the US, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) — about fuel for the Tehran reactor,” head of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission told Khabar Online on Sunday.

    Tehran has stressed that it would negotiate the issue of a nuclear fuel swap with the Vienna group within the framework of the Tehran declaration, and its talks with the P5+1 would not include nuclear issue.

    “Regarding negotiations with the Vienna Group based on the Tehran declaration, the three countries (Iran, Turkey and Brazil) wrote a letter to IAEA chief [Yukiya Amano] and stressed that all three countries would be present in talks,” Boroujerdi said.

    Iran signed a declaration with Turkey and Brazil on May 17 based on which it agreed to exchange 1,200 kg of its low-enriched uranium on Turkish soil with nuclear fuel.

    Boroujerdi refrained from giving his opinion about the result of negotiations and said the US has lost the political struggle.

    “When the foreign ministers of the European countries were in Tehran they explicitly said that we (Iran) are not allowed to use two centrifuge machines but today we have crossed all these borders,” he added.

    The US and its allies used their influence on the UN Security Council to press for fresh sanctions against Iran over the country’s nuclear program which they claim is aimed at developing nuclear weapons.

    Iranian officials have repeatedly refuted the accusations, arguing that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA, Tehran has the right to use peaceful nuclear technology.

    MYA/HGH/MMN

  • WikiLeaks: More Israeli Game Theory Warfare?

    WikiLeaks: More Israeli Game Theory Warfare?

    by Jeff Gates

    The United States is the real victim of WikiLeaks. It’s an action aimed at discrediting them.
    — Franco Frattini, Foreign Minister of Italy

    The impact of the WikiLeaks release of diplomatic cables fits the behavior profile of those well versed in game theory warfare.

    When Israeli mathematician, Robert J. Aumann, received the 2005 Nobel Prize in economic science for his work on game theory, he conceded, “the entire school of thought that we have developed here in Israel” has turned “Israel into the leading authority in this field.”

    The candor of this Israeli-American offered a rare insight into an enclave long known for waging war from the shadows. Israel’s most notable success to date was “fixing” the intelligence that induced the U.S. to invade Iraq in pursuit of a geopolitical agenda long sought by Tel Aviv.

    When waging intelligence wars, timing is often the critical factor for game-theory war planners. The outcome of the WikiLeaks release suggests a psy-ops directed at the U.S.

    Why now? Tel Aviv was feeling pressure to end its six-decade occupation of Palestine. With this release, its foot-dragging on the peace process was displaced with talk of an attack on Iran.

    While the U.S. bore the brunt of the damage, the target was global public opinion. To maintain the plausibility of The Clash of Civilizations, a focus must be maintained on Iran as a credible Evil Doer.

    With fast-emerging transparency, Israel and pro-Israelis have been identified as the source of the intelligence that took coalition forces to war in Iraq. Thus the need to shift attention off Tel Aviv.

    WikiLeaks may yet succeed in that mission.

    Foreseeable Futures

    Game theory war planning aims to create outcomes that are predictable — within an acceptable range of probabilities. That’s why Israeli war planners focus on gaining traction for a plausible narrative and then advancing that storyline step by gradual step.

    For the Zionist state to succeed with its expansionist agenda, Iran must remain at center stage as an essential villain in a geopolitical morality play pitting the West against Islamo Fascists.

    To displace facts with false beliefs — as with belief in the intelligence that induced the invasion of Iraq — momentum must be maintained for the storyline. Lose the plot (The Clash) and peace might break out. And those deceived may identify the deceiver.

    Thus the timing of this latest WikiLeaks release. Its goal: to have us believe that it is not Tel Aviv but Washington that is the forefront of geopolitical duplicity and a source of Evil Doing.

    Intelligence wars rely on mathematical models to anticipate the response of those targeted. With game theory algorithms, reactions become foreseeable — within an acceptable range of probabilities.

    Control enough of the variables and outcomes become a mathematical inevitability.

    The WikiLeaks Motive

    Was the reaction to this latest WikiLeaks foreseeable? With exquisite timing, the U.S. was discredited with an array of revelations that called into question U.S. motives and put in jeopardy U.S. relations worldwide.

    As the Italian Foreign Minister summarized: “The news released by WikiLeaks will change diplomatic relations between countries.”

    The hard-earned trust of the Pakistanis disappeared overnight. Attempts to engage Iran were set back. The overall effect advanced The Clash storyline. If Washington could so badly misread North Korean intentions, then why is the U.S. to be trusted when it comes to a nuclear Iran?

    This Wiki-catalyzed storyline pushed Israel off the front page in favor of Iran.

    Even U.S. detainees at Guantanamo are again at issue, reigniting that shameful spectacle as a provocation for extremism and terror. U.S. diplomats will now be suspected of spying and lying. What nation can now trust Americans to maintain confidences?

    In short, the risks increased for everyone.

    Except Israel.

    Should Israel launch an attack on Iran, Tel Aviv can cite WikiLeaks as its rationale. Though an attack would be calamitous from a human, economic and financial perspective, even that foreseeable outcome would be dwarfed by the enduring hatred that would ensue.

    That too is foreseeable — from a game theory perspective of those marketing The Clash.

    The effect of the U.S. invasion of Iraq was predictable. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia foresaw it, noting simply that the U.S. invasion would “give Iraq to Iran as a gift on a golden platter.”

    With the elimination of Sunni leader Saddam Hussein, the numerically dominant Shiites of Iraq were drawn into the political orbit of the Shiite-dominant Iran.

    By Way Of DeceptionGame theorists focus their manipulation of affairs on their control of key variables. Then events take on a life all their own. The impact of this discrediting release was wide-ranging and fully foreseeable.

    A Mossad case officer explained Israel’s success at waging war by way of deception: “Once the orchestra starts to play, we just hum along.”

    These, after all, are the leading authorities in the field.

    Jeff Gates is author of Guilt By Association, Democracy at Risk, and The Ownership Solution. Read other articles by Jeff, or visit Jeff’s website.

    , December 1st, 2010

  • Iran, Turkey emphasize regional solution, the only approach to crises

    Iran, Turkey emphasize regional solution, the only approach to crises

    ISNA – Tehran

    Service: Foreign Policy

    wh120 3654TEHRAN (ISNA)-Iran and Turkey stressed regional solution is the only solution to current crises of the Middle East.

    Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and his Turkish counterpart Ahmed Davutoglu in a meeting on the sidelines of “Manama Dialogue” regional security conference in Bahrain, stressed the only solution to regional problems and strength of level of security and stability is resorting to regional approach and dismissing imposed and unilateral approaches offered by cross-regional states.

    They also voiced satisfaction over growing bilateral ties in all fields.

    Diplomats of the two neighboring states also discussed ways to boost political, economic and cultural relations and reviewed latest regional and international developments.

    They also called for boosting mutual consultation and support for each other’s stances in international bodies.

    Mottaki is in Bahrain for the regional security conference of “Manama Dialogue”.

    Mottaki leading a delegation left for Bahrain on Friday. He is to unveil Iran’s views on regional security cooperation in the annual meeting and hold talks with participants in the conference.

    The conference which kicked off on Friday will be closed on Sunday as hosting diplomats from 25 countries.

    The forum began with Jordan’s King Abdullah II speech.

    The 7thround of the regional meeting is led by Bahraini Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa and it mainly deals with political and security issues in the region. Bahrain learned sources are reported to say that WikiLeaks materials are one of the matters to be studied.

    End Item

    News Code: 8909-07446

    via ISNA – 12-04-2010 – 89/9/13 – Service: / Foreign Policy / News ID: 1666926.

  • US asked Turkey to thwart arms transfer from Iran to Venezuela

    US asked Turkey to thwart arms transfer from Iran to Venezuela

    ANKARA – Hürriyet Daily News

    Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. AFP photo
    Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. AFP photo

    The United States warned Ankara last year that Iran would attempt to transport unmanned aerial vehicles to Venezuela via Turkey in violation of international sanctions, a new diplomatic cable released by the website WikiLeaks has revealed.

    Washington sent the cable to its embassy in Ankara in March 2009, warning that the shipment was expected to arrive in Turkey within two months and would be loaded onto a maritime vessel for continued transport to Venezuela.

    In the State Department cable, the United States asked its embassy to tell the Turkish government to investigate the activity and ensure that Iran did not make use of Turkish territory to transfer items “proscribed by U.N. Security Council resolutions.”

    The document additionally asked that “if the cargo is found to be in violation of UNSCR [U.N. Security Council Resolution] 1747 that the GOT [government of Turkey] use all available means to prevent the transshipment of this cargo and detain it.”

    The Turkish Foreign Ministry declined to comment Thursday on the leaked cable.

    Fears of Iranian nuclear proliferation led the Security Council to adopt Resolution 1747 in 2007 to tighten sanctions against Iran. The council approved a new round of sanctions in June, over the opposition of nonpermanent members Turkey and Brazil.

    “As of early March, Venezuelan officials believed that the equipment would be repackaged and labeled as electronic equipment,” the cable dated March 2009 said. Washington underscored that the United States believed the shipment constituted arms and related material, which Iran is prohibited from transferring under Resolution 1747, paragraph 5.

    The cable also revealed another incident in which Turkish officials intervened to block a similar transfer after receiving a warning from the United States.

    “This case appears to be similar to one from January 2009 where Iran attempted to ship drums of nitrate and sulphite chemicals and dismantled laboratory instruments, which could possibly be used for making bombs to Venezuela, via Turkey,” the document said.

    “In response to U.S. concerns that the shipment may have been a violation of UNSCR 1747, Turkish officials inspected the cargo and made a decision to return it to Iran,” the cable added.

    Washington told its Ankara embassy to thank the Turkish government “for its willingness to interdict and take positive action with regards to a similar shipment in January.”