At the diplomatic level, Monday was the occasion for Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri to display ties between the two countries. Both leaders not only lifted visa requirements between each country and criticised Israel.
We can never remain silent in the face of Israel’s attitude. … It has disproportionate power and it is using that at will while refusing to abide by UN resolutions. We can never accept this picture. These steps threaten global peace.
Erdogan moved to the case of Iran, calling on the Security Council to put the same pressure on Israel’s nuclear programme as it does on Tehran’s: Read the rest of this entry »
After weeks of attempts to denigrate it and remove it from circulation, the Goldstone Report on the conduct of Israel & Hamas in the Gaza War has fought back a bit.
Former US ambassador Richard Schifter has assessed that, although there is no threat that the United Nations Security Council will take Israel to the International Criminal Court, there may be economic sanctions because of a paragraph in the Goldstone Report. This refers to a UN provision, “Uniting for Peace”, stating that if the Security Council does not order action to be taken, members of the General Assembly may pursue voluntary, collective action:
The Mission recommends that the General Assembly request the Security Council to report to it on measures taken with regard to ensuring accountability for serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in relation to the facts in this report and any other relevant facts in the context of the military operations in Gaza, including the implementation of the Mission’s recommendations. The General Assembly may remain appraised of the matter until it is satisfied that appropriate action is taken at the domestic or international level in order to ensure justice for victims and accountability for perpetrators. The GA may consider whether additional action within its powers is required in the interests of justice, including under resolution 377 (V) Uniting for Peace.
Resolves that if the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of intermitional peace and security in any case where there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately with a view to making appropriate recommendations to Members for collective measures, including in the case of a breach of the peace or aqt of aggression the use of armed force when necessary, to maintain or restare international peace and security. If not in session at the.time, the General Assembly may meet in emergency special session within twenty-four hours of the request therefor. Such emer- gency special session shall be called if requested by the Security Council on the yote of any seven members, or by a majority of the Members of the United Nations;
The resolution was first drafted to allow UN countries to wage war against North Korea in 1950 after a Soviet veto in the Security Council. It was also used to impose economic sanctions against the apartheid South African regime in 1982.
The Associated Press reports that Iran is close to clinching a deal to clandestinely import 1,350 tons of purified uranium ore from Kazakhstan.
The report was prepared by a member nation of the International Atomic Energy Agency and given to AP on the condition that the country not be identified because of the confidential nature of the information.
The reports claims Teheran is willing to pay $450 million for the shipment and added that “the price is high because of the secret nature of the deal and due to Iran’s commitment to keep secret the elements supplying the material”.
Clandestine imports are banned by the UN Security Council, and Iran is currently under sanctions that ban the importat of all items, materials, equipment, goods, and technology that could contribute to its enrichment activities. Read the rest of this entry »
1735 GMT: Making Stuff Up – The Twitter Attack. There’s not much to add to Austin Heap’s guest analysis for Enduring America this morning. Instead, The New York Times shows the power of pointless speculation, backed up by lack of any knowledge of important context, in an article by their technology writers:
Beth Jones, a senior threat researcher at the Internet security firm Sophos, said the attack did not look very sophisticated and probably was not the effort of a Web terrorist or other professional. “It could have been any number of people doing it,” she said. Ms. Jones said the incident may have been “hacktivism,” an attack with a social or political motivation. “The point could purely be just to prove the site is insecure,” she said
Just gonna say this one more time: if this was just “hacktivism” unrelated to the Iran internal crisis, why did the attackers first go after one of the Green Movement’s primary websites for news?
Enemies will not give up their devilish moves against the Iranian nation, they have brought their front to our streets and universities today and the battle is still on….Pointing to the enemy’s nonstop strategy to confront the Islamic Republic, the commander noted, “These moves form a chain of profound global plot against the Iranian nation….If we do not practice the necessary vigilance, we could (be obliged to) play in the enemy’s court.
2110 GMT: No to Sanctions. The National Iranian American Council has responded quickly to the news that members of the US House of Representatives are pressing for a vote on petroleum sanctions against Iran within the next two weeks: “Sanctions can play a constructive role within [engagement], but in order to be effective they must target the Iranian government and the individuals responsible for the government’s reprehensible behavior, with a special emphasis on those guilty of human rights violations.”
2020 GMT: Here’s the Real Nuke Story. Put away the distracting rhetoric from Tehran and keep an eye on Saeed Jalili, the Secretary of the National Security Council and one of the key players in Iran’s nuclear manoeuvres. He has been in Damascus bending the ear of President Bashir al-Assad, and now he is in Turkey meeting Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Jalili may be needing Turkish help more than ever, because it looks like he got a cold shoulder from Damascus. Rumours are circulating that Syrian-Iranian relations are deteriorating, to the point where yesterday’s bus explosion may have been a tough signal to Tehran.
So here’s a question, given that Turkey has been a broker for the “third-party enrichment” deal? Is Jalili trying to get the Turks to accept a package where uranium stays inside Iran? Or will the pressure work the other way, with Tehran trying to find a way to accept third-party enrichment and not lose face? Read the rest of this entry »
Two weeks before President Obama visited China…. Dennis Ross and Jeffrey Bader, both senior officials in the National Security Council…traveled to Beijing on a “special mission” to try to persuade China to pressure Iran to give up its alleged nuclear weapons program. If Beijing did not help the United States on this issue, the consequences could be severe.
The Chinese were told that Israel regards Iran’s nuclear program as an “existential issue and that countries that have an existential issue don’t listen to other countries,” according to a senior administration official. The implication was clear: Israel could bomb Iran, leading to a crisis in the Persian Gulf region and almost inevitably problems over the very oil China needs to fuel its economic juggernaut, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Earlier this week, the White House got its answer. China informed the United States that it would support a toughly worded, U.S.-backed statement criticizing the Islamic republic for flouting U.N. resolutions by constructing a secret uranium-enrichment plant. The statement, obtained by The Washington Post, is part of a draft resolution to be taken up as soon as Thursday by the 35 nations that make up the governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
1. Key personnel in the National Security Council, notably Ross, are hell-bent on getting sanctions as soon as talks with Iran are declared to have broken down.
2. To pursue those sanctions, these officials are prepared to exaggerate to the point of hysteria: “Israe could bomb Iran”.
3. To pursue those sanctions, these officials will leak private conversations with foreign powers and sensitive documents to accommodating reporters.
4. To pursue those sanctions, these officials will ignore obvious difficulties: “While diplomats and arms-control experts welcomed China’s support of the IAEA resolution, some acknowledged that it is not clear whether Russia or China would go further and agree to new sanctions against Iran.”
5. The issue of what is happening inside Iran — be that “reform”, “justice”, “human rights” — is irrelevant to these officials.
On Tuesday, the United Nations’ Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Haile Menkerios declared that political efforts for a negotiated two-State solution have reached “a deep and worrying impasse”.
Menkerios said the absence of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and Israel’s refusal to freeze settlements pose a key challenge which call for “immediate actions on the ground” to prevent Middle East peace efforts from unravelling. Referring to Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas’s statement that he would not take part in the forthcoming elections, the senior UN official warned, “This is a loud and clear wake-up call. If we cannot move decisively forward to a final status agreement, we risk sliding backwards, with both the Palestinian Authority and the two-State solution itself imperilled.”
Menkerios criticized Israel for restraining rather than freezing settlement activity, pointing to the approval of 900 more housing units to expand Gilo settlement in East Jerusalem. He added that, in the past month, Israel demolished 17 houses and displaced 99 Palestinians, more than half of them children. More than 70 Palestinians were also injured and more than 300 arrested during Israeli raids in the West Bank, he said.
Menkerios also criticized Israel for its continuing blockade in Gaza, noting its counter-productive effects. He stated that the UN has yet to receive a satisfactory response from Israel to a six-month old proposal to complete $77 million of stalled housing, school, and health projects.
Having been rebuffed by Washington and Brussels, on Tuesday, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat now says the Palestinian Authority is not considering an unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state: “What we are seeking is to preserve the two-state solution. One state is not an option. We want the Security Council to declare that the two-state solution is the only option and that it would recognize the state of Palestine on the ‘67 borders and to live side by side with the State of Israel.”
At the diplomatic level, Monday was the occasion for Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri to display ties between the two countries. Both leaders not only lifted visa requirements between each country and criticised Israel.
1735 GMT: Making Stuff Up – The Twitter Attack. There’s not much to add to 
2110 GMT: No to Sanctions. The National Iranian American Council 
UPDATE: Within minutes of posting this, I read 
On Tuesday, the United Nations’ Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Haile Menkerios declared that political efforts for a negotiated two-State solution have reached 
Having been rebuffed by Washington and Brussels, on Tuesday, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat now says the Palestinian Authority is 
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