Fmr IAEA Inspector: Netanyahu’s Cartoons about Iran’s Nuclear Program Are 'Baseless and Childish'

In a ‘show and tell’ type talk, Netanyahu claimed that Iran is developing a nuclear weapons program and tried to provide evidence that Iran is violating the JCOPA. Former US IAEA Nuclear Weapons Inspector Robert Kelley tells TRNN Netanyahu’s claims are baseless, self-serving, and childish

Will Trump Help Saudi Arabia Build a Nuclear Program?

Media reports say the U.S. is considering selling nuclear reactors to Saudi Arabia. Analyst Ali al-Ahmed is skeptical, and says Trump has just removed the fig leaf of concern for human rights abuses by the Gulf dictatorship.

Netanyahu: US Shift in Stance on Iran Is an Important Change

Apr. 21, 2017 - 9:10 - Israeli prime minister discusses how his country faces its security challenges on 'Hannity'

Riyadh Will Build Nuclear Weapons If Iran Gets Them, Saudi Prince Warns

THE GUARDIAN: Prospect of a nuclear conflict in the Middle East is raised by senior diplomat and member of the Saudi ruling family

A senior Saudi Arabian diplomat and member of the ruling royal family has raised the spectre of nuclear conflict in the Middle East if Iran comes close to developing a nuclear weapon.

Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi intelligence chief and ambassador to Washington, warned senior Nato military officials that the existence of such a device "would compel Saudi Arabia … to pursue policies which could lead to untold and possibly dramatic consequences".

He did not state explicitly what these policies would be, but a senior official in Riyadh who is close to the prince said yesterday his message was clear.

"We cannot live in a situation where Iran has nuclear weapons and we don't. It's as simple as that," the official said. "If Iran develops a nuclear weapon, that will be unacceptable to us and we will have to follow suit."

Officials in Riyadh said that Saudi Arabia would reluctantly push ahead with its own civilian nuclear programme. Peaceful use of nuclear power, Turki said, was the right of all nations. » | Jason Burke in Riyadh | Wednesday, June 29, 2011

THE GUARDIAN: Saudi Arabia worries about stability, security and Iran: In a UK speech, Prince Turki al-Faisal outlines Saudi Arabia's concerns relating to the Arab spring, its foreign policies and Iran » | Jason Burke in Riyadh | Wednesday, June 29, 2011

US and Europe ‘Must Be Prepared for Iranian Missile Attack by 2020’
THE TIMES: The United States and Europe need to be protected by 2020 from a potential attack from Iran that could involve a “scores or even hundreds of missiles”, the US Defence Secretary warned yesterday.

Robert Gates painted the alarming scenario as he defended a US plan to deploy a new, advanced shipborne anti-missile system called SM3 Block 2B, which will have the range of an intercontinental ballistic missile, within ten years.

Appearing before the US Senate Armed Services Committee, Mr Gates underlined the importance of deploying the anti-missile weapon to meet the potential Iranian threat, “especially if we fail to stop them getting nuclear weapons”.

“If Iran launched missiles on Europe, it wouldn’t be a handful but a salvo, maybe scores or even hundreds of missiles, so the SM3 2B would give us the ability to defend [against such an attack],” Mr Gates said. Read on and comment >>> Michael Evans, Pentagon Correspondent | Thursday, June 17, 2010

Biden, Netanyahu Criticize Iran Nuclear Program

To Obama's Pile of Woes, Add a Failing Iran Policy
TIME: As if President Barack Obama didn't have his hands full at home with his party's loss of Ted Kennedy's seat in Massachusetts, the collapse of health care reform and a disorganized war against the banks, he now faces a major foreign policy setback too. Since the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama has promised to curtail Iran's nuclear program by simultaneously offering talks and threatening sanctions. After a year of trying, both approaches appear on the verge of failure.

The President has given Iran two deadlines to demonstrate good faith. Last spring, his Administration told reporters that if Iran didn't show willingness to engage in talks by September, sanctions would follow. Then, in September, when Iran hinted it might possibly talk, Obama delivered another deadline, this time the end of 2009. >>> Massimo Calabresi | Monday, January 25, 2010

Broader Issues on Table in Pyongyang
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: While Negotiating Journalists' Release, Clinton and Kim Widened Talks to Security, Regional Concerns

WASHINGTON -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, in more than three hours of discussions with Bill Clinton in Pyongyang, drew the former U.S. president into a wide-ranging discussion of security and regional issues.

Former U.S. officials and diplomats say the meetings, attended by the top ranks of Pyongyang's security establishment, were part of a renewed campaign by Pyongyang to stimulate direct negotiations with Washington over the country's nuclear program.

President Barack Obama and his aides stressed Wednesday that they weren't viewing Mr. Clinton's trip as anything more than a humanitarian mission focused on securing the release of two detained American journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling.

Mr. Clinton returned to California Wednesday morning on a private jet with Ms. Lee and Ms. Ling, who had been arrested in March at the Chinese border and later sentenced to 12 years hard labor for illegally entering North Korea. Mr. Clinton's one-day visit secured their release.

"We were very clear this was a humanitarian mission," Mr. Obama said in an interview with MSNBC Wednesday. "We have said to the North Koreans there is a path for improved relations, and it involves them no longer developing nuclear weapons."

Mr. Clinton and his delegation were tight-lipped Wednesday about what transpired during a 75-minute meeting with Mr. Kim on Tuesday. They also attended a two-hour banquet hosted by the North Korean leader and his country's pre-eminent national-security body, the National Defense Commission.

U.S. officials briefed on Mr. Clinton's mission, however, are already outlining a broad discussion with Mr. Kim that focused on significantly more than just the two imprisoned Americans.

These U.S. officials indicated that Mr. Clinton expressed to Mr. Kim the necessity that his regime end a nuclear program that's feared to be stoking a broader arms race across Asia and the Middle East. >>> Jay Solomon | Thursday, August 06, 2009

Ehud Barak Warns Iran of Possible Israeli Strike on Nuclear Facilities
TIMES ONLINE: With the US Defence Secretary standing at his side, Ehud Barak, Israel’s Defence Minister, today warned Iran that a military strike on its nuclear facilities was still an option.

“We clearly believe that no option should be removed from the table. This is our policy. We mean it. We recommend to others to take the same position but we cannot dictate it to anyone,” Mr Barak said at a press conference with Robert Gates in Jerusalem.

The renewed threat of military action came a day after Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, told Iran that its pursuit of nuclear ambitions was “futile”. >>> James Hider in Jerusalem | Monday, July 27, 2009

'Germany Soft on Iran Due to Financial Considerations'
HAARETZ: A former minister in the Iranian regime of the Ayatollah Khomeini accused Germany on Saturday of failing to apply the necessary pressure on Tehran to halt its controversial nuclear program due to financial reasons.

"Germany prefers to safeguard its financial interests in Iran, and prefers its billion-dollar business deals rather than applying the necessary pressure to bring an end to the Iranian nuclear program," said Ayatollah Dr. Mehdi Haeri Khorshidi, who fled to Germany in 1986 and remained there until 2003, speaking at a conference on Iran at Haifa University.

Khorshidi served as the justice minister in Ayatollah Khomeini's first administration, as well as serving as the advisor on religious affairs.

The Iranian minister was arrested in 1981 after voicing criticism against the Ayatollah's regime, and remained in prison for five years until he fled to Germany. In 2003, he left Germany for the U.S., where he lives today.

According to Khorshidi, Germany has stepped up its commerce with Iran, in blatant disregard of its nuclear program, which the West believes aims to manufacture a nuclear bomb, and its history of human rights violations. >>> By Fadi Eyadat, Haaretz Correspondent | Saturday, March 28, 2009

A Pointed Warning for Iran from Dick Cheney
THE NEW YORK TIMES: LANDSDOWNE, Va., Oct. 21 — Vice President Dick Cheney issued a pointed warning to Iran on Sunday, calling the government in Tehran “a growing obstacle to peace in the Middle East” and promising “serious consequences” if the government there does not abandon its nuclear program.

The remarks, just days after President Bush suggested that a nuclear-armed Iran could lead to “World War III,” amounted to Part II of a one-two punch from the administration at a moment when it is trying to persuade its allies in Europe to impose stiffer sanctions on Tehran. Those efforts grew more complicated on Saturday when Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator resigned on the eve of crucial talks with Europe.

“The Iranian regime needs to know that if it stays on its present course, the international community is prepared to impose serious consequences,” Mr. Cheney said, without specifying what those might be. “The United States joins other nations in sending a clear message: We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.” Cheney, Like President, Has a Warning for Iran (more) By Sheryl Gay Stolberg

Mark Alexander