Iran Open To Ties With U.S.

[CSM]

USA Today
February 1, 2005
Pg. 1

Iran Open To Ties With U.S.

But threats won't stop nuke program, top official says

By Barbara Slavin, USA Today

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's top national security official said Monday that his government wants better relations with the United States, but he advised the Bush administration to stop threatening Iran and said his country will not yield to demands that it permanently stop its effort to enrich uranium — which the White House says is intended to make a nuclear bomb.



USATODAY.com - Iran open to ties with U.S.

The fact that they think the US does not have the means or the power to topple their government is rather highlights their lack of knowledge about the US. Strange how these folks with medievil philosophies fail to realize the realities of the modern world.

Provided link, complied with Fair Use

 

[NATO AIR]

From what I've read of the possibilities for "regime change" in Iran, the US is more than ready and has been preparing since even before the invasion of Iraq.

(per the excellent Atlantic Monthly piece about wargaming the operations to defeat Iran's regime or take away their nuclear capability)

 

[Merlin1047]

USA Today
February 1, 2005
Pg. 1

. “The tone of their remarks has been unsuitable,” he said. “The United States does not have the means or the power” to change the Iranian regime

The fact that they think the US does not have the means or the power to topple their government rather highlights their lack of knowledge about the US. Strange how these folks with medievil philosophies fail to realize the realities of the modern world.

Brazen chest thumping and bullshit bravado are trademarks of muslim governments in the region. Remember the "Mother of all battles" which turned out to be the mother of all ass kickings?

 

[NATO AIR]

Brazen chest thumping and bullshit bravado are trademarks of muslim governments in the region. Remember the "Mother of all battles" which turned out to be the mother of all ass kickings?

I miss Baghdad Bob..... better unintentional comedy than most comedians in America

 

[CSM]

I miss Baghdad Bob..... better unintentional comedy than most comedians in America

What made him so funny is that he was sincere...just like the Iranian regime...

 

[onedomino]

"I repeat, there is no U.S. presence in Baghdad."
—Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf (Baghdad Bob)
-

 

[wolvie20m]

From what I've read of the possibilities for "regime change" in Iran, the US is more than ready and has been preparing since even before the invasion of Iraq.

(per the excellent Atlantic Monthly piece about wargaming the operations to defeat Iran's regime or take away their nuclear capability)

I wanted to be over in Iraq during that invasion. Maybe I'll get to be in this one, if it happens.

 

[waltky]

Early results show Rowhani with wide lead...

Iran's Rowhani seeks 'constructive interaction'
Jun 14,`13 -- Just weeks after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election victory in 2005, Iran's top nuclear negotiator Hasan Rowhani stepped down from the post after quarrelsome meetings with the new president.

The decision cemented Rowhani's reputation as a moderate who rejected Ahmadinejad's combative approach in world affairs in favor of the more nuanced philosophy of Ahmadinejad's leading political foe, former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Rafsanjani was rejected by Iran's election guardians from Friday's presidential ballot. But for many reformists and liberals in Iran, the 64-year-old Rowhani is somewhat of a mirror image of the elder Rafsanjani by reflecting his outlook that Iran can maintain its nuclear program and ease tensions with the West at the same time.

Rowhani held a wide lead in early vote counting Saturday. "Rafsanjani was really the only choice to re-energize reformists," said Rasool Nafisi, an Iranian affairs analyst at Strayer University in Virginia. "Rowhani only got their support because he is seen as Rafsanjani's man and a vote for Rowhani was a vote for Rafsanjani." This deep connection between the two men could give a potential Rowhani presidency a dual nature: Rowhani as the public face and Rafsanjani behind the scenes as its powerful godfather and protector.

Although all key policies such the nuclear program are directed by the ruling clerics, the alliance with Rafsanjani may give Rowhani more latitude to put his stamp on Iran's negotiation tactics with world powers after four rounds of talks since last year have failed to make any significant headway. At campaign rallies, Rowhani has pledged to seek "constructive interaction with the world" that includes efforts to ease Western concerns about Iran's program and lift punishing international sanctions that have pummeled the economy. The West and its allies fear Iran could be moving toward development of a nuclear weapon. Iranian officials, including Rowhani, insist that the country only seeks nuclear reactors for energy and medical applications. "We won't let the past eight years be continued," Rowhani told a cheering crowd last week in a clear reference to Ahmadinejad's back-to-back terms. "They brought sanctions for the country. Yet, they are proud of it. I'll pursue a policy of reconciliation and peace. We will also reconcile with the world."

Rowhani - the only cleric in the six-candidate presidential field - started religious studies at a teenager. He soon established himself as an outspoken opponent of the Western-backed shah, traveling frequently for anti-monarchy speeches and sermons that caught the attention of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the eventual leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Rowhani later graduated from Tehran University with a law degree in 1972. He then went abroad to Glasgow Caledonian University for a master's degree in legal affairs, according to his campaign biography. While outside Iran, the stirrings of the Islamic Revolution were growing stronger. Rowhani returned to Iran and stepped up his denunciations of the shah, but fled the country to avoid arrest. He then joined up with Khomeini, who was in self-exile in France, and the rest of his inner circle, including Rafsanjani.

MORE

See also:

Will Iran's Election Bring Nuclear Talks Thaw?
June 11, 2013
The United States and the European Union believe Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, but Tehran says its program is for peaceful, civilian purposes.

As Iranians head to the polls this week to choose a new president, talks with the West and the United Nations over the nuclear issue have been stalled. Analysts remain skeptical whether a new man in office will make any difference. Jim Walsh, an expert on Iran’s nuclear program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), says the Iranian leadership is apparently divided on the nuclear issue. “The Director for National Intelligence [James Clapper], the highest ranking intelligence officer in the U.S. government, has testified this year that Iran has not yet made a decision to build a bomb,” Walsh said. “Now, they want a capability — they have a basic capability because they know how to make centrifuges — but they haven’t made that critical political decision to go ahead and cross that bridge and decide to build a bomb.”

No progress in talks

For years the international community has been trying to persuade Iran to end its uranium enrichment program — but to no avail. Low-enriched uranium can be used for civilian nuclear power plants, but highly enriched uranium is an integral part of a nuclear bomb. Two rounds of international negotiations this year failed to yield any progress. In an effort to pressure Iran to end its uranium enrichment program, the United Nations Security Council has imposed sanctions on Iran. In addition, several individual nations, including the United States, have imposed their own measures — for example, targeting Tehran’s oil industry and financial sector.

Former U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, whose foreign posts included Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria, calls sanctions a double-edged sword. “I have seen it with sanctions elsewhere, including Iraq — manipulative, autocratic regimes, whether in Iraq or Iran, can manipulate sanctions in a way that the regime doesn’t suffer but the people do,” Crocker said. “That clearly is not our intent.”

While Walsh says sanctions do have their place, he questions whether they have achieved their goal. “At the end of the day, whether they are good or bad doesn’t really matter," he said. "The question is, are we achieving our policy objective? Is the Iranian nuclear program capped? Is it being reduced in size? "And sadly, the answer to those questions is ‘no,’'' Walsh said. “And we can continue to do the same thing over and over and over again and have it fail over and over and over again, or we can try to rethink what we are doing and try to actually achieve our objective.”

Post-election thaw?

 

[Indofred]

Perhaps someone could post actual evidence of Iran's ability to produce a nuclear weapon.
That would allow us to argue on fact, not fiction.

Of course you can't because there is none.

 

[toastman]

Perhaps someone could post actual evidence of Iran's ability to produce a nuclear weapon.
That would allow us to argue on fact, not fiction.

Of course you can't because there is none.

What kind of evidence would that be ?? Do you think that posters like us have any detailed information about what is specifically going on in those nuclear facilities ??

 

[Indofred]

Perhaps someone could post actual evidence of Iran's ability to produce a nuclear weapon.
That would allow us to argue on fact, not fiction.

Of course you can't because there is none.

What kind of evidence would that be ?? Do you think that posters like us have any detailed information about what is specifically going on in those nuclear facilities ??

No but so many believe what the Israeli government tell the American government so say.
All that talk from governments but not a scrap of evidence they csn show us.

WMDs all over again.

 

[Connery]

Moved to proper forum

 

[alpine]

we will see how far they can push mullah before another revolution.

I am kinda curious if they are going to be as flexible as my gf when they are in bed with the iranian liberal youth. shall see...

 

[member]

"Perhaps someone could post actual evidence of Iran's ability to produce a nuclear weapon. That would allow us to argue on fact, not fiction. Of course you can't because there is none."

"What kind of evidence would that be ?? Do you think that posters like us have any detailed information about what is specifically going on in those nuclear facilities ??"

"No but so many believe what the Israeli government tell the American government so say. All that talk from governments but not a scrap of evidence they csn show us. WMDs all over again."

why freddie ? why do you pretend like nothing's going on in Iran.....? you don't have to explain, i know the reason(s).
Besides............It’s the same story year after year.





"Iran denies United Nations inspectors access to a suspected nuclear site."


They just have things to hide. If they didn’t – and everything was on the up~n~up – they’d allow access.

their way of thinking is very different.

you know Fred...that world. always turmoil. this is what Inspector Herman from Belgium has to deal with.

"Feb 2012: The IAEA's trip to Iran was led by the agency's top nuclear inspector, Herman Nackaerts of Belgium. The visit was the U.N. watchdog agency's first high-level mission to Tehran since it released a report in November that alleged Iran has sought to develop the technologies used in developing atomic weapons. Iran, which denies it is working to develop nuclear weapons, rejected the report and said the IAEA's conclusions were drawn from falsified documents. The IAEA's staff has been seeking to gain access to Iranian facilities suspected of conducting nuclear-weapons research, as well as to scientists and documents believed to be associated with this alleged clandestine work. The U.N. agency specifically has been seeking to interview nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, whom the IAEA and U.S. government believe may be the lead Iranian official in organizing nuclear-weapons research. --- Parchin: Iran maintains that Parchin is solely a military facility, not one working on nuclear technologies"

"FEB 2013: "Iran's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday raised prospects that Tehran may allow inspectors from the U.N. nuclear agency to visit a military site where the country is suspected of conducting nuclear-related experiments. A ministry spokesman said the upcoming talks with a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency could lead to a visit to the site — if a "deal" was struck with the Iranian side. The IAEA inspectors are due for talks in Tehran on Wednesday in hopes of restarting a probe into the country's disputed nuclear program, which the West fears masks ambitions to obtain a nuclear weapon."

"The agency in particular wants to visit Parchin, southeast of Tehran, where Iran is suspected of testing components needed to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies any such activity, insisting that Parchin is only a conventional military site."

HEY, HOW 'BOUT IRAN'S NEW PRESIDENT ?



ooh, sorry. they all look alike to me.

"THE election of Hassan Rowhani as Iran’s new president has created a sense that there are new possibilities of progress on the nuclear issue; we need to respond, but warily. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, allowed Mr. Rowhani to win the election recognizing that he had run against current Iranian policies that have isolated the country and invited economically disastrous sanctions. But it isn’t clear why Mr. Khamenei allowed such an outcome, and here are some theories that have been proposed:

(1) He believes that Mr. Rowhani, a president with a moderate face, might be able to seek an open-ended agreement on Iran’s nuclear program that would reduce tensions and ease sanctions now, while leaving Iran room for development of nuclear weapons at some point in the future..."

(2) He wants to rebalance the power relationship among Iran’s leading factions, reconciling their fissures while restoring the relative weight of the clerics vis-à-vis the Revolutionary Guard. Mr. Rowhani is himself a cleric, but also a likely conciliator who might be a bridge between the harder-line clerics and more pragmatic forces. None of this means there will be a nuclear deal.


Even if he were given the power to negotiate, Mr. Rowhani would have to produce a deal...


the supreme leader would accept. So it is far too early to consider backing off sanctions as a gesture to Mr. Rowhani.."

Hey Freddy.........talk about doin' it 5X a day..............

​

 

[dblack]

USA Today
February 1, 2005
Pg. 1

Iran Open To Ties With U.S.

Probably inspired by their admiration for our police state surveillance regime.