tagged w/ Mahmoud Ahmedinejad
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Iranian President Says Country Will Defend Its Nuclear Facilities
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad warned the Obama administration today that if Iran's nuclear facilities are attacked, the U.S. will face a war that "would know no boundaries."
The Iranian president, who is in New York for the annual meetings of the United Nations General Assembly, spoke at a breakfast meeting with reporters and editors at Manhattan's Warwick Hotel.
He said that Iran is on the brink of becoming a nuclear power, and warned Israel and the U.S. against attacking its nuclear facilities.
Asked about the possibility of a U.S.-supported Israeli air strike against Iran, the fiery Iranian leader said an attack would be considered an act of war, and suggested the U.S. is unprepared for the consequences. Such a war "would know no boundaries," Ahmedinejad said. "War is not just bombs."
Iran claims it has no plans to make a nuclear weapon, but the country is faced with United Nations sanctions, spearheaded by the U.S., meant to convince Iran to comply with international regulations and abandon its nuclear program.
In a wide-ranging question-and-answer session, Ahmedinejad said he was prepared to meet with the Obama administration, but that "the whole outlook has to shift." Sanctions in particular, he said, had damaged the chances for an improvement in U.S.-Iranian relations.
He took some credit for last week's release of Sarah Shourd, one of three American hikers who were jailed 14 months ago and accused of espionage.
The decision to free Shourd, he said, was a judgment made by the judiciary and by Ahmedinejad himself. "A combination of both" a judicial act and an act of sympathy, he said.
Shourd, who still faces charges, had to guarantee a $500,000 bond before she was released. Her fiance and and another male friend remain in Iranian custody.
Ahmedinejad acknowledged the possibility that Palestinian leaders may ultimately make peace with Israel, he questioned the legitimacy of Palestinian negotiators and raised questions about the Holocaust that have marked his tenure as president.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/president-ahmedinejad-threatens-u-s-with-war-without-boundaries.htmlIranian President Says Country Will Defend Its Nuclear Facilities
Iranian President... more
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Western concerns about global energy markets hit new heights last night when Russia, Iran and Qatar said they were forming an Opec-style gas cartel.
The move by the three countries, which control 60% of the world's gas reserves, was met with immediate opposition from the European commission, which fears the group could drive up prices.
Alexey Miller, chairman of Russia's Gazprom, said they were forming a "big gas troika" and warned that the era of cheap hydrocarbons had come to an end.
"We are united by the world's largest gas reserves, common strategic interests and, which is of great importance, high cooperation potential in tripartite projects," he explained. "We have agreed to hold regular - three to four times a year - meetings of the gas G3 to discuss the crucial issues of mutual interest."
Miller's comments, likely to increase pressure on the west to accelerate developments in wind and other renewable energy alternatives, followed a meeting in Tehran with Gholamhossein Nozari, Iran's petroleum minister, and Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, Qatar's deputy prime minister and oil and energy minister.
Miller said the group was establishing a technical committee comprised of specialists and experts to discuss the implementation of joint projects embracing the entire value chain from geological exploration to marketing.
The Russians avoided the word cartel but the Iranians spelled it out clearly. "There is a demand to form this gas Opec and there is a consensus to set up gas Opec," Nozari told a news conference.
Western concerns about global energy markets hit new heights last night when Russia,... more
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Mahmoud Ahmedinjad, Iran's president, has said that the country's nuclear programme now has more than 5,000 centrifuges actively enriching uranium.
State radio also quoted Ahmadinejad as saying on Saturday that the West had "accepted that Iran would continue uranium enrichment with its current 6,000 centrifuges".
Western powers have offered Tehran a package of economic and other incentives to stop enrichment, which can have civilian or military uses.
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator met the the six negotiating powers - the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - in Geneva on July 19, where he was reportedly told that Tehran had two weeks to respond.
Iran says it is ready for negotiations but will not accept any pre-conditions or threats in a row that has helped send oil prices sharply higher, despite falls in the last two weeks.
"Iran does not negotiate with anyone over its obvious nuclear right," Ahmadinejad said.
Iran, the world's fourth-largest crude producer, says its nuclear activities are aimed solely at generating electricity.
Sanctions
The UN Security Council has imposed three sets of sanctions in a stand-off that goes back to the revelation in 2002 by an exiled opposition group of the existence of a uranium enrichment facility and heavy water plant in Iran.
Iran says it aims eventually to have 50,000 centrifuges to produce fuel for a planned network of power plants.
The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in May that Tehran had 3,500 centrifuges working at its Natanz facility in central Iran.
In April, it said that it had started installing 6,000 new centrifuges at Natanz and testing a more advanced model.
If running smoothly for long periods, 3,000 would be enough to make material for a warhead in a year, Western experts say.
The United States has warned Iran that it will face more sanctions if it fails to meet the two-week deadline.
Meanwhile, the US has not ruled out military action if diplomacy were to fail.
Mahmoud Ahmedinjad, Iran's president, has said that the country's... more
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TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad heads to Pakistan and India this week to put the finishing touches on a controversial deal to build a pipeline that would deliver Iranian gas to both countries, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency says.TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad heads to Pakistan and... more
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The Iranian government under the direction of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and previous administrations has always been blatantly defiant since the revolution in 1979.
Economic sanctions have the double edged sword of partially cripplingly the government, but usually hurts civilians more - the government can usually sell oil on the black market, but people end up starving.
But despite the civilian plight Iran needs to know they just can't run around building bombs and expect no one to react.The Iranian government under the direction of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and... more
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Demonizing the Iranian president and making his visit to New York seem controversial are all part of the neoconservative push for yet another war.Demonizing the Iranian president and making his visit to New York seem controversial... more
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khsing
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4 years ago
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad received a scathing welcome from Columbia President Lee Bollinger before addressing students and faculty with a highly controversial question-and-answer forum that included him claiming that homosexuals don't exist in Iran.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad received a scathing welcome from Columbia... more
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The president of the university has come under fire for allowing Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak, but he defended the choice saying it's important to learn how your adversaries think, reason, and operate. I am loathe to give someone who denies the holocaust a microphone. But then again, no one is forcing anyone to go and listen to him. And it probably will be interesting, if only to hear exactly how mis-guided and totally nuts he is from his own mouth.The president of the university has come under fire for allowing Iran's President... more
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Tori
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added this
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4 years ago
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The State Department calls Iran a state sponsor of terror, and Ahmadinejad has called the Holocaust "a myth" and urged for Israel to be destroyed. Yet he is traveling to New York to address the United Nations' General Assembly. He was scheduled to appear Monday at a question-and-answer session with Columbia faculty and students as part of the school's World Leaders Forum.The State Department calls Iran a state sponsor of terror, and Ahmadinejad has called... more
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First off, I think Mahmoud Ahmedinejad is always pointing in photos. Kind of comical. In a worrisome way. Second, when the president of Iran is saying that he doubts that his country is arming fighters in either Iraq or Afghanistan, it kind of reminds me of when our president said that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. I think you just have to take anything he says with a grain (or several) of salt.First off, I think Mahmoud Ahmedinejad is always pointing in photos. Kind of comical.... more
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Tori
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4 years ago
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