Nuclear Crisis

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

To make the challenge to deterrence even more stark, a suicide bomber who blows up a market or a funeral gathering in Iraq or Afghanistan is willing to kill innocent bystanders, including fellow Muslims. According to the prevailing ideology of suicide bombing, these victims are subjected to an involuntary martyrdom that is no less glorious for being unintentional.

If an Islamic state or Islamic terrorists used nuclear weapons against Israel, the United States or other Western targets, like London or Madrid, the retaliation would cost the lives of thousands and maybe millions of Muslims.

But following the logic of suicide bombing, the original bomber might reason that those Muslims would die in God's grace and that others would live on to fight the jihad. No state in the Muslim world has openly embraced such a view. But after 9/11, the possibility can no longer be treated as fanciful.

We urgently need to know, then, what Islamic traditions might say about the bomb. Of course, there is no single answer to this question. Nevertheless, contemporary Muslims are engaged in interpreting their tradition to ascertain how and when nuclear power may be used. Their writings, contained in fatwas and treatises that can be found on the Web and in print, tell a fascinating and disturbing story.

The last two decades have seen a challenge to the Islamic tradition of warfare under law, a challenge driven mostly by the attempt to justify suicide bombing despite its evident inconsistency with Islamic tradition, including the principle of protecting women, children and fellow Muslims.

The reaction to 9/11, which has, so far, been the high-water mark of suicide bombing, illustrates the difficulty of reconciling suicide bombing with Islamic law. The 9/11 attacks were certain to kill - and did kill - women, children and Muslims, all in direct contravention of classical jihad principles. Since the whole point of 9/11 was to announce and embody jihad on the international stage, the attacks quickly became the centerpiece of a high-stakes debate about whether they qualified as legitimate acts of jihad.

The position of the Muslim scholars and observers who condemned the 9/11 attacks was simple and consistent across the Sunni-Shiite divide: this was not jihad but an unlawful use of violence.

As for bin Laden, his thought had developed gradually. In early pronouncements, before 9/11, he spoke as if the killing of women and children was inherently an atrocity. After 9/11, however, bin Laden began to suggest that American civilians were fair game.

In Saudi Arabia in particular, radical Muslim scholars with much more learning than bin Laden have sought to develop legally persuasive justifications for civilian killings. Probably the most sophisticated effort from a legal standpoint is a document titled "A Treatise on the Law of the Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction Against the Unbelievers," written in 2003 by a Saudi dissident named Sheik Nasir bin Hamad al-Fahd. Fahd, a theorist rather than an activist, is currently back in prison, as he has been off and on for almost a decade.

The treatise begins with the assumption that the world's Muslims are under attack. But how are today's Muslims supposed to defend themselves, given their military inferiority? Fahd's response is that, if they have no other choice, they may use any means necessary - including methods that would otherwise violate the laws of jihad. "If the unbelievers can be repelled" only by using weapons of mass destruction, then "their use is permissible, even if you kill them without exception."

Lest his argument prove too much, Fahd tempers it by the claim that the Muslims fighting the jihad may not inflict disproportionately more harm on the enemy than the enemy has inflicted on them. That raises the question of the extent of American guilt.

"Some Brothers have added up the number of Muslims killed directly or indirectly by [American] weapons and come up with a figure of nearly 10 million," the treatise states. This total, Fahd concludes, would authorize the use of weapons of mass destruction to kill 10 million Americans.

But would an Islamic state be prepared to take the jihad to the enemy even if it would result in what amounts to collective suicide through the destruction of the state and its citizens? If the leaders of Iran or some future leaders of a radicalized, nuclear Saudi Arabia shared the aspiration to martyrdom of so many young jihadis around the world, might they be prepared to attack Israel or the United States, even if the inevitable result were the martyrdom of their entire people?

The answer depends to a large degree on whether you consider Islam susceptible to the kind of apocalyptic, millennial thought that might lead whole peoples, rather than just individuals, into suicidal behavior.

It is important to note that for all his talk of the war between civilizations, bin Laden has never spoken of the end of days. For him, the battle between the Muslims and the infidels is part of earthly human life, and has indeed been with us since the days of the Prophet himself. Even he might not be prepared to unleash a global nuclear conflagration on the expectation that a better order would emerge once many millions of Muslims and infidels died.

With respect to Shiite eschatology, there is greater reason for concern. Iran's Shiism is of the "Twelver" variety, so called because the 12th imam in the line of succession from the Prophet disappeared into a state of occultation - or being hidden - from which he is expected to return as the mahdi, or guided one. The mahdi's appearance will usher in a golden age of justice and peace to be followed by the Day of Judgment.

Moktada al-Sadr's Shiite militia in Iraq is called Army of the Mahdi. Recently, Ahmadinejad contributed to renewed focus on the mahdi, by saying publicly that the mission of the Islamic revolution in Iran was to pave the way for the mahdi's return, and by visiting the mosque at Jamkaran, on the outs***ts of Qom, where, according to one tradition, the vanished imam was last seen. Some reports suggest that youth religion in Iran increasingly focuses on venerating the vanished imam.

Yet although a renewed Shiite messianism does create some cause for concern about the potential uses of an Iranian bomb - in particular because it suggests that Ahmadinejad may be more a utopian than a realist - it is almost certainly a mistake to anticipate that Iran would use its nuclear power in a way that would provoke large-scale retaliation and assured self-destruction.

Ahmadinejad surely understands the consequences of using a nuclear bomb, and Shiite Islam, even in its messianic incarnation, still falls short of inviting nuclear retaliation and engendering collective suicide.

Noah Feldman is a law professor at New York University and adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

[Rasputin]

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran has remained defiant over its nuclear programme despite the threat of sanctions, saying it was detecting splits between world powers on whether to punish Tehran for intensifying atomic work.



With world powers locked in talks in New York over a draft resolution that would impose sanctions over Iran's failure to halt uranium enrichment, Tehran has defiantly expanded work on the process at a key nuclear plant.

But Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini did not appear concerned that sanctions were imminent, saying there was a split between the stances of China and Russia on one hand and Europe and the US on the other.

"Splits between the parties are very visible, that is to say between the United States and the Europeans on one side and Russia and China on the other," foreign ministry spokesman told reporters on Sunday.

"These two countries have completely different positions to the Europeans. Russia does not want sanctions and does not want to close the path of negotiations, and the Chinese have a similar position," he added.

The United Nations Security Council's five veto-wielding members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the US -- as well as Germany have been discussing a draft resolution on sanctions put forward by European countries.

But in a sign of the difficulty in reaching an agreement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected the proposed sanctions, arguing that they did not advance objectives agreed on by the six world powers.

The Chinese stance has yet to become clear, although Beijing -- like Moscow -- is an economic ally of Iran and traditionally reluctant to use sanctions as diplomatic leverage.

Hosseini meanwhile played down Iran's move to start enriching uranium from a second cascade of 164 centrifuges at its nuclear plant at Natanz in the centre of the country, a decision greeted with suspicion by the West.

"The second cascade is part of the research activities of the country which are in line with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," he said.

"There is nothing new. It is the continuation of legal activities under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and there is no deviation," Hosseini added.

Iran vehemently rejects US allegations that its nuclear programme is aimed at making nuclear weapons, saying the drive is solely aimed at providing energy for civilians.

Enriched uranium lies at the centre of the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme, as it can be used both to make nuclear fuel and, in highly refined form, the core of a nuclear bomb.

Iran would need thousands more such centrifuges to enrich uranium on an industrial scale and its current uranium enrichment work is on a research level only.

Officials have said that uranium was successfully enriched from the second cascade of centrifuges to a level of 3-5 percent and has now been put into storage.

To make a nuclear bomb, the uranium needs to be enriched to around 90 percent, far above the level needed for nuclear fuel.

The text drafted by Britain, France and Germany in consultations with Washington calls on UN member states to slap ballistic missile-related and nuclear sanctions on Iran.

It provides for a freeze of assets related to Iran's nuclear and missile programmes and travel bans on scientists involved.

[Rasputin]

Iran nuclear plans still a "serious concern": IAEA

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iran has yet to satisfy U.N. watchdogs that its nuclear program seeks only to produce electric power and not bombs, the head of the U.N. nuclear agency told the General Assembly on Monday.

Iran has neither suspended its nuclear enrichment-related activities nor been transparent enough to resolve all the outstanding questions of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency since August 31, when the IAEA issued its last report on Iran, Mohamed ElBaradei said.

"The IAEA continues therefore to be unable to confirm the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program, which is a matter of serious concern," ElBaradei, the IAEA director-general, said in his annual report to the 192-nation U.N. body.



But he said he remained hopeful that Iran ultimately would enter negotiations aimed at addressing both international fears about Iran's aims and Tehran's own worries about its security.

ElBaradei also expressed "deep and serious concern" about North Korea's October 9 test of a nuclear weapon at a time an informal global moratorium is in place on such testing.

A nuclear North Korea "is a clear setback to international commitments to move toward nuclear disarmament," he said, calling for all states to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the 10-year-old convention banning nuclear tests.

The pact has been ratified by 135 nations but among those failing to doing so are 10 nations -- including Iran and North Korea -- deemed by the treaty's drafters as capable of producing nuclear arms.

The 15-nation U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution imposing financial and weapons sanctions on North Korea less than a week after its test.

The measure barred trade in dangerous arms and authorized nations to stop cargo entering and leaving North Korea to check for weapons of mass destruction and related supplies.

The council is now working on a new resolution that would impose sanctions on Tehran over its refusal to obey a council demand that it suspend all nuclear enrichment activities.

ElBaradei renewed his plea for a new international program to stem the spread of enrichment and nuclear reprocessing technology while at the same time ensuring supplies of nuclear fuel to countries with civilian nuclear energy programs.

[Rasputin]

Leesburg, VIRGINIA -- The writer of "Islam, Terror and the Second Nuclear Age" in The New York Times makes several presumptions which have been promoted by the Israeli government and its hard-line supporters both in the UN and the Bush administration.

First that Iran's nuclear energy program is merely a cover for perfecting their nuclear weapon production capability and the anti-Israel statements of the Iranian president is proof that they're intent on destroying Israel.

Second, Israel may possess several hundred nuclear warheads, but since they have not used them offensively against their neighbors then they can be trusted with such weapons.

And finally, even if Iran does not use its future atomic bombs against Israel, the sheer possession of such weapons by a Shiite non-Arab state will usher a new arms race among the Arab states in the region as they fear Iran might use those nukes against them.

All of the above assumptions by the author who is a Law Professor at New York University are problematic and would not hold up in a court of law where a guilty verdict can not be paseed on mere future intents. Thus, absent any corroborating hard evidence provided by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the charge that Iran's nuclear energy program is being used as cover for weapons program would be immediately dismissed.

As for the logic used in the second supposition, we must conclude that a country's offensive use of nukes should disqualify it from ever being allowed to possess such weapons. That will immediately disqualify the United States as the only country meeting that criterion and one that is actively and openly seeking to develop a new generation of mini-nukes in clear violation of the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

A more plausible explanation for Israel's restraint is that the benefits of deterrence factor outweigh the catastrophic backlash of actual use of such weapons. A much better indicator of future hostile intentions is a country's past behavior. Iran has not attacked any of its neighbors in the last 250 years, and does not occupy any other country's territory. On the other hand, several of the regional states including Pakistan, India, and Israel already possess nuclear weapons and none have signed the NPT. In the case of the latter, Israel has attacked all of its neighbors including Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Jordan and continues to occupy parts of Lebanon, Syria, East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip today.

The last assumption that Iran's hypothetical possession of such weapons in the future will trigger a new arms race in the region is also flawed because Iran is not seen as a threat and has maintained peaceful relations with all its neighbors for over 2 centuries except for a short period between 1980-1988 when it was attacked and invaded by Saddam Hussein forces in a bid to take advantage of the post revolution disarray and obtain control of the oil rich southwestern part of that country. Again if past behavior is a good indicator of future actions, Iran's restraint to respond in kind to Saddam use of chemical weapons on innocent Iranian civilians during that bloody and costly war should be self evident.

As Iran continues to meet its obligations under the NPT, the hard-liners in the Bush administration aided by their media propagandists like Mr. Feldman are working hard to manufacture a phony crisis and scare the unsuspecting public in preparation for another pre-emptive strike against a sovereign nation's nuclear industry which is fully monitored by the IAEA.

[Rasputin]

Political dialogue on Iran still possible - Russian official

MOSCOW, October 31 (RIA Novosti) - Political dialogue on Iran's controversial nuclear program is still possible, Russia's Security Council secretary said Tuesday.

Iran, which announced last week that it has launched a second cascade of gas centrifuges to enrich uranium, may face sanctions for failing to comply with the UN Security Council's demand that it suspend enrichment.

But reiterating Russia's position in the long-running dispute, Igor Ivanov said: "We have not yet used all opportunities to hold political dialogue on this problem."

Asked at a news conference if Russia has satellite intelligence indicating military nuclear activities in Iran, Ivanov said: "Russia has no data showing that Iran is pursuing non-peaceful nuclear programs."

The five permanent Security Council members are studying a draft resolution on Iran proposed by Britain, Germany, and France - the so-called EU-3 - which envisions a set of punitive measures against Tehran, but allows Moscow to continue its $1-billion nuclear power plant project in the country.

Russia and China, veto-wielding Security Council members with strong business interests in Iran, have consistently opposed sanctions; the two countries have not yet given their formal response to the document, but have insisted on the need for a diplomatic solution.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said late last week, "I believe the proposed draft resolution does not meet the objectives set out by the Iran-6 [the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany]."

Igor Ivanov also said that problems surrounding the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea, which is already under UN sanctions following a nuclear bomb test on October 9, should not hold back the development of nuclear power in other countries.

He said other countries, in close cooperation with the UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, "have the right to implement their energy plans, including in nuclear power."

"Any decisions adopted in the UN Security Council must be aimed at not punishing Iran, but at ensuring the declared objective of giving Iran the opportunity to use its right to peaceful nuclear programs, and giving the international community guarantees that Iran will not obtain nuclear weapons," Ivanov said.

[Rasputin]

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Tuesday it believed Iran's nuclear program was peaceful, and a political dialogue, not sanctions, must be used in talks with Tehran.


"We do not have information that would suggest that Iran is carrying out a non-peaceful (nuclear) program," Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov told a news conference in Moscow.

"We believe that the possibilities for continuing political discussion around this problem (Iran's nuclear program) have not been exhausted," he said.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation on Monday that talks over Iran's nuclear dispute were being hindered because the European side did not have enough authority.

"The most important problem in continuing Iran and Europe's negotiations (over the nuclear issue) is the European side's lack of enough authority (to take decisions)," an Iranian television report quoted Ahmadinejad as telling Putin.

In a statement on Monday, the Kremlin said Putin had told the Iranian leader that Moscow favored further talks.

Iran says negotiations are the only way to resolve the dispute. But Iran's failure to meet a U.N. deadline to halt enrichment has opened up the possibility of U.N. sanctions.

European states have prepared a draft sanctions resolution but Russia has voiced misgivings.

"Sanctions should not be adopted for their own sake," Ivanov said.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana held months of talks with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani. But those talks did not reach a deal and Solana said this month it was up to Iran to decide if talks should continue.

"Some Western countries create obstacles and prevent a peaceful solution to Iran's nuclear case," Ahmadinejad said.

Iran has often blamed the United States, its arch-foe, for seeking to sway others against Iran. Washington has been seeking to toughen the sanctions resolution.

[Rasputin]

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency says new international controls are needed for the nuclear fuel cycle to allay proliferation fears.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohammad el-Baradei reported in the General Assembly Monday the proliferation fears have been triggered by steeply rising demand for energy and more countries turning to nuclear power for supply.

He also said nuclear activities of North Korea underscored the urgent need to establish a legally binding universal ban on nuclear testing through the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

The situation also called for a negotiated solution through the resumption of dialogue between all parties to ensure all nuclear activity of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are for peaceful purposes while addressing the country's security concerns, Baradei said.

The IAEA director general also voiced "serious concern" about the agency's inability to confirm the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program.

There are now 442 nuclear power reactors operating in 30 countries supplying about 16 per cent of the world's electricity, with most of them in North America and Western Europe, the agency said. Recent expansions have been primarily in Asia and Eastern Europe; of 28 reactors now under construction, 16 are in developing countries.

[Rasputin]

آمريکا در ادامه تلاش برای تحت فشار قرار دادن تهران، برنامه هسته*ای ايران را خطرناک*تر از تسليحات اتمی کره*شمالی دانست. معاون وزير امور خارجه آمريکا در اظهاراتی عنوان داشت تهران علاوه بر توسعه تسليحات هسته*ای به ثبات منطقه نيز لطمه مي*زند. به گزارش خبرگزاری رويترز ,رابرت جوزف, معاون کاندوليزا رايس در امور کنترل تسليحات و امنيت بين*الملل گفت: ايران بزرگترين خطر برای قرارداد عدم گسترش تسليحات کشتار جمعی و پيچيده*تر و خطرناک*تر از کره*شمالی است.

وی که در نشست ابتکار عمل مبارزه با تروريسم بين*المللی در مغرب شرکت کرده است گفت: تهديد ايران از نوع متفاوتی است. رابرت جوزف ادعا کرد: در ارزيابی آمريکا ايران به شدت به دنبال توانمندی تسليحات هسته*ای است.

وی با اذعان به اينکه ايران و کره*شمالی دو کشور متفاوت هستند گفت: ايران يک کشور منزوی نيست و در يک منطقه حساس و استراتژيک قرار دارد. بويژه آنکه نفت اين منطقه از اهميت ويژه*ای برخوردار است. اما کره*شمالی يک کشور کالا منزوی است.

به تفاوت*هايی که رابرت جوزف گفته بايد عضويت ايران در معاهده منع گسترش هسته*ای و خروج کره*شمالی از اين پيمان و آزمايش اتمی اين کشور را نيز افزود. معاون وزير امور خارجه آمريکا در بخش ديگری از اظهاراتش اتهامات آمريکا به ايران در مورد عراق را تکرار کرد وگفت: ما رفتار ايران در عراق و افغانستان را زير نظر داريم. ايران قصد دارد به ثبات منطقه لطمه بزند.

[Rasputin]

Israel urges world action after Iran missile test

TEL AVIV (AFP) - Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz urged the world to act after Iran claimed to have fired longer-range ballistic missiles for the first time, the defence ministry said.


"Iran provoked the whole world on Thursday and it is impossible to ignore it," Peretz was quoted as having said following talks with visiting German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung, a statement said.

"I have no doubt that the German defence minister understands we cannot stay indifferent while Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons and has an official ideology that advocates the destruction of Israel," Peretz added.

"The international community and of course Germany, who plays a key role in this matter, should convey these message and take steps to impose it."

After their meeting, his German counterpart told reporters that Israel could "count on Germany to try to prevent this country (Iran) from getting the nuclear weapon".

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Friday they had fired three new types of land-to-sea and sea-to-sea missiles on the second day of military exercises in Gulf waters, state television reported.

Launching the "Great Prophet" war games on Thursday, Israel's arch-enemy Iran said it fired its longer-range Shahab-3 ballistic missile for the first time amid a mounting standoff with the West over its nuclear programme.

Jung was in Israel following talks in Lebanon, at a time when Germany commands the marine component of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), in its first military foray into the Middle East since World War II.

He said after talks with Peretz that Israel was "very satisfied with Germany's participation in UNIFIL."

While in Beirut, Jung said he expected no more shooting incidents between the Israeli army and German forces backing up a UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon.

"I assure you that no more incidents of this kind are going to happen," he said following talks with Prime Minister Fuad Siniora on Friday.

Berlin said last week that Israeli warplanes fired shots over a helicopter and an unarmed German vessel off the Lebanese coast.

[Rasputin]

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia proposed extensive changes on Friday to soften and shorten a U.N. draft resolution that would impose tough sanctions on Iran for its nuclear ambitions, U.S. and Russian envoys said.

With opposition from Russia and China, the negotiations among six major powers promise to be difficult on the U.N. Security Council draft drawn up by Britain, France and Germany. The United States too wants amendments.

"The Russians gave us a complete line-in, line-out version of edits," said U.S. Ambassador John Bolton. "We will distribute our line-in, line-out text later this afternoon."

Bolton said all the texts were being sent to governments and another meeting would probably be called next week.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said several times this week the resolution was too harsh on Iran's nuclear program, which the West believes is a cover for bombmaking but Tehran says is for peaceful uses.

"Our changes make the European draft quite a bit shorter," said Moscow's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin.

He said the resolution should not drive Iran away from negotiations and should exclude mention of the Bushehr nuclear plant that Russia is building in southwest Iran.

"We believe that first of all the resolution which the Security Council will be considering should facilitate the continuation of our talks with the Iranians, Churkin said,

"But at the same time -- and it is very important -- this draft resolution ... should not contain things which have no useful purpose but simply will lead people away from the goal of a negotiated outcome," he said.

The European draft demands all countries prevent the sale and supply of equipment, technology and financing contributing to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. It also would freeze the assets of people and entities involved in these programs and bar them from traveling.

Friday's talks among the six powers were the first in more than a week. All but Germany, a key negotiator, are permanent Security Council members with veto power.

Chinese U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya agreed with Russia and said sanctions should be imposed in stages.

"I think that it's a bit too tough," Wang said of the European draft. "It might corner the Iranians."

Wang said it resembled one recently adopted against North Korea and "you cannot just apply the same standards." The sanctions should be used to put "political pressure on the Iranians to come back to the negotiations," he said.

BUSHEHR EXEMPTION

The draft resolution exempts from sanctions the $800 million Bushehr reactor in southwestern Iran, expected to go into operation next year. But it says Russia must check with a Security Council committee if it delivers material that can be used for weapons, such as a fuel cycle.

Russia had objected to including Bushehr in the resolution, arguing it was a legal power plant under the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"We do believe that the Bushehr project does not have anything to do with concerns about nonproliferation, because it is clearly a peaceful nuclear power plant that we are helping Iranians to build," Churkin said.

Lavrov has said the resolution should focus only on areas the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has defined as serious concerns, such as uranium enrichment, chemical processing and heavy water reactors.

In Brussels on Thursday, Lavrov said the six powers had agreed that measures against Iran should be reasonable and proportional "given the actual situation as regards the nuclear program in Iran, and should also be in stages."

The new draft is in response to an earlier Security Council resolution demanding Tehran suspend its uranium-enrichment activities by August 31.

It was drawn up after Iran rejected earlier U.N. demands that it suspend enrichment, which can be used in the production of either power stations or warheads.

The European Union has offered economic and energy incentives if Iran temporarily suspends enrichment as a condition for talks on a peaceful nuclear program..

[Rasputin]

Iran test-fires more new weapons in war games

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran has announced it had successfully test-fired new armour-piercing weaponry and an anti-helicopter missile system on the third day of its latest war games.


"The new generation of anti-helicopter and anti-armour weapons were successfully tested on day three of the manoeuvres," an announcer on state television said as pictures of the test-firing were broadcast Saturday.

In the "Great Prophet II" war games, due to last 10 days, Iran has so far fired its Shahab-3 longer range missile for the first time in manoeuvres as well as new types of land-to-sea and sea-to-sea missiles.

The armour-piercing weapons tested Saturday include a rifle equipped with special sights that can identify an enemy seven kilometres (four miles) away and can penetrate a target wearing a bullet-resistant vest from a distance of three kilometres (one-and-a-half miles).

The other new anti-armour weapon tested was a system aimed at penetrating the armour plate of tanks that "can be carried by a person, with high accuracy, high speed and high explosive power".

"The bullet of this system penetrates the armoured equipment and then explodes," state television said.

The anti-helicopter weaponry was described as highly portable and accurate. Four anti-helicopter missiles can be fired from each system.

"The anti-helicopter weapon can hit helicopters in different circumstances," the television added.

"The anti-armour weapon has the ability to penetrate different kinds of advanced bullet-armour vests" as well as the armoured exterior of tanks, it said.

The war games come against a backdrop of rising international tension over Iran's nuclear programme, with the United States leading a drive for UN sanctions against Tehran over its failure to suspend uranium enrichment.

They also coincide with manoeuvres by a US-led naval force in the Gulf off Iran in a test of capabilities to halt trafficking in weapons of mass destruction, the first time such an excercise has been held in the area.

The head of the Iranian parliament's security commission, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, on Saturday lashed out at the US-led manoeuvres, which he said would increase tension in the region.

"The imperialist countries like the United States are here with bad intentions. They are unwanted guests whose presence is a source of instability and trouble in the region," he said according to the IRNA agency.

[Rasputin]

U.N. inspectors visit Iran enrichment cascades

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A group of U.N. nuclear watchdog inspectors has visited Iran's second network of centrifuges at its Natanz uranium enrichment facility, the official IRNA news agency quoted an official as saying on Sunday.

Despite U.N. Security Council demands that it halt nuclear fuel production work, Iran announced last month that it had started up a second group of 164 centrifuges, which spin at supersonic speeds to enrich uranium.

The networks of centrifuges are known as cascades. Iran says Natanz will eventually house tens of thousands of the machines but that it will only use them to enrich uranium to a level suitable for use in atomic power reactors and not to the much higher level needed to make atom bombs.

"They have visited the second cascade and the Isfahan uranium conversion facility," the unnamed official told IRNA.

The inspectors who arrived in Iran on Friday will stay in the country for four days to collect information for International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei's November report to the watchdog, IRNA said.

"Their activities in Iran are based on the (nuclear) Non-Proliferation Treaty and the IAEA's safeguards," the official said, calling the visit a routine part of Iran's commitment to international treaties.

Iran ended snap inspections of its nuclear facilities in February after its case was referred to the Security Council.

The United States is pushing the council to toughen a draft resolution drawn up by Britain, France and Germany for sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

Russia and China, both veto-holding members of the council, want extensive changes to soften and shorten the resolution.

Iran insists sanctions will not deter it and has threatened to take counter measures, such as curtailing IAEA inspections altogether, if the Security Council does take action against it.

"There is no legal ground to suspend uranium enrichment ... Iran will act proportionally when the resolution is passed," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said in a weekly news conference on Sunday.

Experts say Iran would need thousands of centrifuges spinning non-stop for months to produce enough highly enriched uranium for one atom bomb. Iran says it will install 3,000 centrifuges by March 2007.

[Rasputin]

كاندوليزا رايس با متهم كردن ايران به دنبال كردن برنامه هسته*يى نظامى ادعا كرد كه جهان خواهان آن است كه ايران به فناورى غنى سازى اورانيوم و در نهايت قابليت لازم جهت ساخت تسليحات هسته*يى دست نيابد.

كاندوليزا رايس، وزير امور خارجه* آمريكا در گفتگو با شبكه خبرى بلومبرگ درباره برنامه هسته*يى ايران گفت: ما به همراه پنج كشور ديگر جهان براى ايران اين فرصت را مهيا كرديم كه حتى از دستيابى به انرژى هسته*يى صلح آميز گامى فراتر بگذارد. اگر اين همان چيزى است كه ايران مي*خواهد ما به آنها راهى جهت دستيابى به انرژى صلح آميز هسته*يى ارايه *كرديم. جهان فقط خواهان آن است كه ايران به فناورى غني*سازى اورانيوم و در نهايت قابليت لازم جهت ساخت تسليحات هسته*يى دست نيابد. البته فرصت هم چنان باقى است.

رايس افزود: ما خواهان صدور قطعنامه*اى از سوى شوراى امنيت سازمان ملل هستيم كه بر اساس آن اين مساله به رسميت شناخته شود كه ايران هنوز به درخواست جامعه بين*المللى جامه عمل نپوشانده است.

وى در خصوص گزارش اخير ديويد ايگناتيوس، تحليلگر روزنامه*ى واشنگتن پست كه گفته بود وزير خارجه*ى آمريكا در نظر دارد به زودى تلاشهاى گسترده*اى را با هدف برقرارى ثبات در عراق از طريق مذاكره با ايران و سوريه در منطقه*ى خاورميانه به كار گيرد و همچنين در صدد است تا در راستاى برقرارى سازش با فلسطينيان به رژيم صهيونيستى اعمال فشار كند گفت: نمي*دانم اين اخبار از چه منابعى منتشر مي*شوند؛ چرا كه تصور نمي*كنم موضوعى سرى وجود داشته باشد. آنچه ما مي*گوييم سياستى است كه از ديرباز اتخاذ كرده*ايم البته ما نيازمند رويكردى جمعى در منطقه در قبال عراق هستيم و اين همان چيزى است كه از آن تحت عنوان معاهده بين*المللى براى عراق ياد كرده*ايم و در حال بررسى و پيشبرد آن هستيم.

وزير خارجه آمريكا ادامه داد: من در نيويورك با نمايندگان بيش از 30 كشور جهان كه حامى تلاشها براى پيشبرد دموكراسى در عراق بودند ديدار و گفتگو كردم. در مجموع ما به رويكردى منطقه*اى در قبال عراق نياز داريم و اين هدف و قصد ما از مدتها قبل بوده است.

[Rasputin]

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia proposed major deletions to a European draft U.N. resolution aimed at stemming Iran's nuclear ambitions, according to a text of Moscow's proposed amendments obtained by Reuters on Tuesday.



Moscow's objections to the sanctions plan, which included eliminating an assets freeze and a travel ban, are bound to drag out talks through November. They were discussed at a meeting of six major powers on Tuesday.

"Clearly I think in a number of difficult areas the difference cannot be bridged so I believe there should be more reflections in capitals," China's U.N. ambassador, Wang Guangya, said after the meeting.

Other envoys said the talks were still at an early stage. "The main thing is we now have a European proposal on the table. We now have some Russian amendments. We now have some American amendments and we need to discuss them," Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said.

But he conceded, "There is a considerable gap."

The sanctions seek to punish Iran for refusing to suspend work on uranium enrichment, as an August 31 Security Council resolution demands. Washington believes the enrichment is a cover for bomb-making and Tehran says it is for peaceful uses.

The European draft U.N. Security Council resolution, drawn up by Britain, France and Germany, demands nations prevent the sale and supply of equipment, technology and financing contributing to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Russia instead wants this provision to focus only on "enrichment-related and reprocessing activities," heavy-water reactors and the development of "nuclear weapon delivery systems." And Russia says such sanctions should be determined by national governments rather than be mandatory for all nations.

DIFFERENCES

The European draft, supported in general by Washington, also bans travel and freezes assets of people and entities involved in the nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Russia's amendments delete the travel ban, the freezing of financial assets and any mention of the Bushehr nuclear power plant Moscow is building for Iran. Churkin maintains Bushehr is not a threat to nuclear proliferation.

The European resolution exempts from sanctions construction but not the delivery of fuel to Bushehr, which costs about $800 million and is expected to go into operation next year.

Russia also wants any sanctions to expire in three months, unless the council adopts another resolution to extend them.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton, who has submitted some of his own proposals, accused Russia of backing away from earlier commitments by its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, in framing the international response to Iran's nuclear program.

Bolton said changes sought by Moscow conflicted with commitments by Lavrov earlier in the year.

"We don't think the Russian text is consistent with what foreign ministers had agreed previously," Bolton told reporters.

Churkin said Moscow's proposals were "fully in conformity with the understandings by the ministers."

At meetings in Europe in recent months, foreign ministers from the Security Council's permanent members -- Britain, France, Russia, China and the United States -- plus Germany agreed to take action against Tehran.

Washington has insisted the foreign ministers agreed to impose tough sanctions on Tehran.