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North Korean Nuclear Work Poses Greater Threat Than Iran, Amano Says
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano on Saturday said he believes the threat posed by Iran’s atomic activities is eclipsed by the dangers of North Korea’s known nuclear-weapon efforts, Kyodo News reported (see GSN, March 9).
The North’s development of nuclear weapons, which includes two nuclear tests to date, is a “threat to East Asia,” the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said.
“The problem (with North Korea) is serious and its impact on the world is larger” than Iran, Amano said. His organization and a number of governments around the world worry that Iran is seeking a nuclear-weapon capability; Tehran maintains that its atomic development program is strictly peaceful (see related GSN story, today).
The veteran Japanese diplomat said he hopes to dispatch IAEA monitors to North Korea to verify implementation of a recently agreed-to shutdown of Read more…
Higher Gold Prices Seen For Next Week As Iran Tensions Lend Support
(Kitco News) – Higher gold prices are possible next week as tensions with Iran continue to escalate, market watchers said.
Prices were lower on Friday, but up on the week. The most-active April gold contract on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled at $1,776.40 an ounce, up 2.9% on the week. March silver settled at $35.338 an ounce, up 6.4% on the week.
In the Kitco News Gold Survey, out of 32 participants, 24 responded this week. Of those 24 participants, 19 see prices up, while three see prices down, and two are neutral on prices. Market participants include bullion dealers, investment banks, futures traders, money managers and technical chart analysts.
Gold and crude oil prices rose this week, supported by concerns that Read more…
$6 Gas This Summer — U.S. Economy Falls Off Cliff
Dominique de Kevelioc de Bailleul:
Strap on that safety belt for one wild summer of frantic trading in the energy complex, according to economist, prolific author and wealth strategist, Stephen Leeb. He says gas prices in the US could reach $6 per gallon by the summer driving season.
And if there’s any economic event that could surely torpedo an already near-flat-lined US economy
into a death spiral, it will come from a massive price hike in that most critical commodity to any economy—oil. According to the charts, oil has again breached the Read more…
IEA: China buys more oil from Iran
Didier Houssin, IEA director of energy markets and security, said on Tuesday that Beijing is the world’s second-biggest crude consumer and may continue to increase oil imports from Iran.
“China has been buying more crude and may continue to do so,” he said at the International Petroleum Week conference.
Earlier this month, the IEA predicted that China’s purchases of Iranian crude would slow in the first three months of the year.
This comes while the IEA’s latest report predicts that China’s oil demand would Read more…
Iran, Russia naval presence in Syrian waters message to US: MP
Russian warships arrived at the Syrian port city of Tartus on Sunday, January 8.
Sun Feb 19, 2012 3:9PM GMT
“The United States should take Iran’s warning about [refraining from any possible] military intervention in Syria seriously.”
Hossein Ebrahimi Deputy head of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee
A senior Iranian lawmaker says the presence of Iranian and Russian naval forces in Syria’s coastal waters is a clear warning to the US to refrain from any possible military adventurism.
“The United States should take Iran’s warning about [refraining from any possible] military intervention in Syria seriously,” Hossein Ebrahimi, deputy chairman of Iran Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said Sunday.
He added that in the event of a US strategic mistake in Syria, Washington may receive a crushing response from Iran, Syria and a few other countries.
On Sunday, January 8, a large Russian navy flotilla led by an aircraft carrier arrived at the Syrian port of Tartus in the Mediterranean Sea for a six-day port call, to show Moscow’s solidarity with Damascus.
“The port call is aimed at bringing the two countries closer together and strengthening their
Iran cuts oil exports to France, Britain
The Huffington Post
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has halted oil shipments to Britain and France, the Oil Ministry said Sunday, in an apparent pre-emptive blow against the European Union after the bloc imposed sanctions on Iran’s crucial fuel exports.
The EU imposed tough sanctions against Iran last month, which included a freeze of the country’s central bank assets and an oil embargo set to begin in July. Iran’s Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi had warned earlier this month that Tehran could cut off oil exports to “hostile” European nations. The 27-nation EU accounts for about 18 percent of Iran’s oil exports.
However, the Iranian action was not likely to have any significant direct impact on European supplies because both Britain and France had already moved last year to sharply curtail Read more…
Iran eyes talks after nuclear boasts
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attends the unveiling ceremony of new nuclear projects in Tehran — Reuters
TEHRAN:Iran on Thursday expressed hopes of reviving moribund talks with world powers, a day after the Islamic republic unveiled what it described as major progress in its controversial nuclear programme.
“We have always welcomed the principle of negotiations and we believe that, with a positive approach and spirit of cooperation, there can be a step forward in these negotiations,” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.
Iran on Wednesday sent a letter confirming its readiness to discuss resuming negotiations in response to an October 2011 offer in that sense made by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
The last round of talks between Iran and the so-called P5+1 group,UN Security Council permanent members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany, collapsed in Turkey in January 2011.
Iran’s tardy reply to Ashton appeared to be linked to the timing of its nuclear announcements also made on Wednesday, which collectively suggested the country had made strides in its atomic activities despite severe Western and UN sanctions.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, wearing a white coat, oversaw what was described on state television as the insertion of Iran’s first domestically produced, 20-percent enriched fuel plate into Tehran’s research reactor.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday ordered Iran to “go build” four Full article here
Russia ready to defend Iran and Syria
Russia believes that Syria and Iran are in its national interest and is apparently ready to use military force to defend them:
Following are excerpts from an interview with Colonel-General [ret.] Leonid Ivashov, former member of the Russian Joint Chiefs of Staff, which aired on Russia Today TV on February 1, 2012:
Interviewer: Dr. Leonid, do you think that these preparations and very large maneuvers, which will soon be conducted by Russia, are meant as preparation for war, or rather, a military strike against Read more…
US Nuclear Submarine And Destroyer Enter Red Sea, Near Persian Gulf
USS Annapolis U.S. Navy photo by Paul Farley
Two ships of the US Navy, the nuclear submarine USS Annapolis and the destroyer USS Momsen have passed through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea. Although their destination is confidential, they are now getting dangerously close to the Persian Gulf.
The ships’ passage was a major operation for the Suez administration as due to safety reasons they had to close off the canal to all other traffic and even shut down the bridge, disrupting the link between the banks for some four hours. The traffic on the roadways alongside the canal was also restricted, Interfax news agency reports.
There are no reports regarding the destination of the vessels, but the news come amid the ongoing crisis in the relationship between the US and Iran. There is mounting speculation that the Annapolis and the Momsen are heading to the Read more…
Panetta: Iran could have nuclear weapons, delivery vehicles in 2-3 years
Iran could build and set off a nuclear weapon within two to three years if it decided to pursue one, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a television interview aired Sunday.
“The consensus is that, if they decided to do it, it would probably take them about a year to be able to produce a bomb and then possibly another one to two years in order to put it on a deliverable vehicle of some sort in order to deliver that weapon,” Panetta said during a profile on CBS’s “60 Minutes.”
Tensions with Iran have mounted in recent months over Tehran’s threat to close the Strait of Hormuz and the killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist. Iran has said its nuclear ambitions are peaceful.
Panetta, who served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency for two-and-a-half years before heading to the Pentagon, reiterated the Obama administration’s position that it would do everything it could to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. “If they proceed and we get intelligence that they’re proceeding with developing a nuclear weapon, then we will take whatever steps are necessary to stop it,” he said. Asked if that meant a possible Read more…
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