Iran nuclear crisis.
In the wake of Iran’s announcement of enrichment of uranium:
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice: it will be “time for action” when the Security Council reconvenes on April 28. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Krivtsov: “Step in the wrong direction.” IAEA chief Mohammed Elbaradei: continue negotiations. (*)
US will seek Chapter 7 Security Council resolution (military authorization). Russia and China reject a Chapter 7 resolution. Krivtsov: “There is no evidence of noncompliance with the nonproliferation [treaty].” (†)
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan: “cool down the rhetoric.” Summary paragraph written by UN staffers: “In 2003, it was discovered that Iran had carried out secret nuclear activities for 18 years in breach of its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and some countries, the United States among them, claim that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, which Iran denies.” (‡)
Protester Cindy Sheehan: We must not believe BushCo or anything they say about Iran. . . . We must not allow him to frighten us into this one.” (§) (posted prior to enriched uranium announcement)
Nobel peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi and Muhammad Simini: “Taking Iran to the UN Security Council and imposing sanctions on it would prompt the hard-liners to leave the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and its Additional Protocol.” Instead, get Iran to improve human rights. (**) (originally published in the International Herald Tribune)
Bloomberg news: Iran could have nukes in 16 days. (††) (more likely a matter of months)
Iranfocus.com: “Iran’s radical President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a fiery sermon demanded that “Iran’s enemies”, or the West, bow down before Iran and apologize for having held back Tehran’s nuclear program for three years. He also warned the West that it would “burn” in the “fire of the nations’ fury”.” (‡‡)
Spacewar.com: Iran offering neighbors a non-aggression pact. (§§) (A fake one)
Greenpeace: “Greenpeace is opposed to any nation acquiring nuclear technology and nuclear weapons, including Iran.” Continue with what the IAEA is doing, don’t refer to Security Council. Solution is “Nuclear Free Zone in the Middle East.” (***) (Disarmament would require a basic level of trust. In the wake of 18 years of secret Iranian nuclear weapons development, and Israel’s unofficial nuclear weapons stockpile, trust and verification would be problematic or impossible. Other problems also exist. For example, Bennett Ramberg’s plan would require Israel to join NATO (†††), thereby involving every NATO member in daily cross-border raids and rocket attacks. Unworkable.)
February 2006: Iran vows to enrich uranium in response to the IAEA’s referral of Iran to the Security Council. (‡‡‡) If Iran really only wanted to generate electricity, why escalate this to an international crisis?