Iran Could Develop Missile Capable of US Strike by 2015
THE TELEGRAPH: Iran could develop a ballistic missile capable of striking the United States by 2015, a senior US official has warned.

The Shahab 3 missile has a range of 1,100 miles (1,800 kilometre) and capable of hitting Israel and US bases in the region. Photo: The Telegraph
Asked at a senate hearing about Tehran's missile capability, James Miller, principal deputy undersecretary of defence for policy, said current estimates indicate "that it could potentially be as soon as 2015."

But he said that estimate assumed "foreign assistance" to enable Iran to improve its missile technology.

A report last year from the US Air Force National Air and Space Intelligence Centre said Iran could build an intercontinental ballistic missile that could hit US soil by 2015-2018, if it received outside help.

Analysts say Iran's Safir space launch vehicle, which Tehran put into orbit in February 2009, has the potential to be converted into a long-range missile.

Washington closely follows Iran's missile program and has cited threats from Tehran and North Korea as the main impetus for building up missile defences for the United States and allies. >>> | Wednesday, April 21, 2010

General Election 2010: Nick Clegg Says 'Desperate' Gordon Brown Cannot Be Trusted
THE TELEGRAPH: Nick Clegg has delivered his most outspoken attack on Gordon Brown, calling him “a desperate politician” as he signalled that he would find it difficult to do a deal with the Prime Minister in a hung parliament.

Nick Clegg said that Labour had failed to deliver in its 13 years in charge and could not be trusted now. Photograph: The Telegraph
Labour has become increasingly keen to ally itself with the Liberal Democrats as its chances of victory fade.

But in his first newspaper interview since his party’s shock rise in the opinion polls, Mr Clegg told The Daily Telegraph that Labour had failed to deliver in its 13 years in charge and could not be trusted now.

He said: “Brown systematically blocked, and personally blocked, political reform. I think he is a desperate politician and I just do not believe him.” He added: “And do I think Labour delivered fairness? No. Do I think the Labour Party in its heart has a faith in civil liberties? No. Do I think they’ve delivered political reform? No. They are clutching at straws.”

The highly personal attack on Mr Brown’s integrity will lead to further speculation that the price for any deal with Labour would be that it ditches Mr Brown as leader. >>> Andrew Porter, Political Editor | Tuesday, April 21, 2010

Generals Add Their Fire to Clegg’s Attack on Trident
TIMES ONLINE: Britain should be prepared to scrap its nuclear deterrent, a group of generals write in The Times today, pushing the future of Trident to the forefront of the election.

The generals say that the next government would threaten both frontline Forces and global disarmament talks unless it considers different ways of spending the £80 billion required to replace the fleet of submarines.

Their intervention, although nonpolitical, offers timely support for Nick Clegg, who goes into tomorrow night’s foreign affairs debate with Gordon Brown and David Cameron as the only party leader arguing against a like-for-like replacement. >>> Deborah Haynes and Roland Watson | Wednesday, April 21, 2010

TIMES ONLINE: Money spent on Trident can’t go on troops: Four former senior military commanders ask if our nuclear deterrent is value for money >>> Edwin Bramall, David Ramsbotham, Hugh Beach, Patrick Cordingley | Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Nile Gardiner: Nick Clegg’s Israel-bashing Is Sickening
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOG: With Thursday night’s foreign policy debate looming, it’s important to take a look at Nick Clegg’s willingness to vilify Israel, and his inclination towards bashing the Israelis over the head. I’ve written about Clegg’s distinctly anti-American views and his complete disregard for the NATO alliance, but his policies towards Israel deserve attention as well.

Israel is a close ally of both Great Britain and the United States, the only full democracy in the Middle East along with Iraq, and is under constant fire from Iranian and Syrian-backed terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hizbollah. Its very existence is threatened by the rise of a nuclear-armed Iran, which has malevolently warned of another Holocaust. Yet, the leader of the Liberal Democrats still thinks it’s necessary to demonise Israel, one of our only friends in the region. He’s doing everything but directly call Gaza an Israeli-administered concentration camp.

In his statements, Clegg has drawn a dangerous and false parallel between the Israelis and Islamist terrorist groups. For example he wrote a piece for The Guardian in January 2009 entitled “We Must Stop Arming Israel” condemning Israel’s response to Hamas attacks, and in effect calling for the EU to isolate and even sanction Israel:

Brown must stop sitting on his hands. He must condemn unambiguously Israel’s tactics, just as he has rightly condemned Hamas’s rocket attacks. Then he must lead the EU into using its economic and diplomatic leverage in the region to broker peace. The EU is by far Israel’s biggest export market, and by far the biggest donor to the Palestinians. It must immediately suspend the proposed new cooperation agreement with Israel until things change in Gaza, and apply tough conditions on any long-term assistance to the Palestinian community.

Read on and comment >>> Nile Gardiner | Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Iran Calls US 'the World's Only Atomic Criminal'
THE TELEGRAPH: Iran has demanded America's expulsion from the international nuclear system.

Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the US were 'atomic criminals'. Photograph: The Telegraph
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei used an international conference in Tehran to condemn the US as the "world's only atomic criminal".

"Only the US government has committed an atomic crime. The world's only atomic criminal lies and presents itself as being against nuclear weapons proliferation, while it has not taken any serious measures in this regard," said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a message read to the summit.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for the establishment of a new international weapons regime that would stand independent of Western political interference.

The Iranian government staged the meeting in response to President Barack Obama's summit on nuclear security in Washington at the start of the week.

Iran condemned the 47-nation disarmament summit in Washington on the grounds that the United States holds one of the world's largest arsenals of nuclear weapons.

Officials boasted that 55 nations had agreed to travel to Iran – more than the number that assembled in Washington – but conceded that the ash cloud over Europe had prevent many delegates from reaching its capital.

In a rambling speech that contained a threat to quit the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Mr Ahmadinejad said a new "independent international group" should be set up to supervise nuclear disarmament.

"An independent international group which plans and oversees nuclear disarmament and prevents proliferation should be set up," he said. >>> Damien McElroy in Tehran | Saturday, April 17, 2010

Al-Qaeda Trying to Secure Nuclear Weapons, Says Barack Obama
THE TELEGRAPH: Al-Qaeda is trying to secure material for nuclear weapons and would have "no compunction in using them", President Barack Obama warned, as he welcomed leaders for the largest gathering in the US since the Second World War.



The US president has set himself the mission of convincing fellow leaders from 45 nations that they faced the same threat and to establish a plan to secure every ounce of the world's nuclear weapons-grade fuel.

"The single biggest threat to US security, both short-term, medium-term and long-term, would be the possibility of a terrorist organisation obtaining a nuclear weapon," Mr Obama said.

"This is something that could change the security landscape in this country and around the world for years to come."

"If there was ever a detonation in New York City, or London, or Johannesburg, the ramifications economically, politically and from a security perspective would be devastating.

"We know that organisations like al-Qaeda are in the process of trying to secure nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, and would have no compunction at using them."

Discussions at the two summit which ends on Tuesday are focusing on stocks of separated plutonium and enriched uranium which could be used by extremists to manufacture weapons.

They are part of an initiative by Mr Obama to eventually rid the world of nuclear weapons by controlling "loose nukes", reducing the US military's strategic dependence on nuclear arms and halting proliferation.

It was this vision that earned him the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize and accompanying criticism that he had done little to deserve the award. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Monday, April 12, 2010

Al-Qaeda Trying to Secure Nuclear Weapons, Says Barack Obama
THE TELEGRAPH: Al-Qaeda is trying to secure material for nuclear weapons and would have "no compunction in using them" *, President Barack Obama warned, as he welcomed leaders for the largest gathering in the US since the Second World War.

The US president has set himself the mission of convincing fellow leaders from 45 nations that they faced the same threat and to establish a plan to secure every ounce of the world's nuclear weapons-grade fuel.

"The single biggest threat to US security, both short-term, medium-term and long-term, would be the possibility of a terrorist organisation obtaining a nuclear weapon," Mr Obama said.

"This is something that could change the security landscape in this country and around the world for years to come."

"If there was ever a detonation in New York City, or London, or Johannesburg, the ramifications economically, politically and from a security perspective would be devastating.

"We know that organisations like al-Qaeda are in the process of trying to secure nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, and would have no compunction at using them." >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Monday, April 12, 2010

*So Obama does admit that the greatest threat, then, comes from Islamic terrorism. After all is said and done, it is ISLAM which poses the greatest threat to peace and security worldwide. – © Mark

Plea to Drop Nuclear Weapons

Should Have Stuck with ‘Community Organizing’. The World Would Have Been a Safer Place! Barack Obama Plans 'Dramatic Cuts' in Nuclear Stockpile
Surely this should not be done unilaterally; this should be done only in a tit-for-tat manner.

With Iran building the bomb, and with other countries in the Middle East probably intending to follow suit, it is unbelievable that Obama finds it necessary to divest America of its strength. – © Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama is planning "dramatic reductions" in the US nuclear weapon stockpile as part of a sweeping review designed to prove his commitment to the goal of global nuclear disarmament.

Officials said hundreds of nuclear weapons could be cut, in many cases by retiring weapons that are now kept in storage, from the current level of 2,200 warheads.

A senior administration official said the new strategy would point to a greater role for conventional weapons, while "maintaining a strong and reliable" nuclear deterrent.

The president yesterday met Robert Gates, the Defence Secretary, to discuss the "Nuclear Posture Review" which was supposed to be published in December but was delayed reportedly because Mr Obama did not consider it radical enough.

The policy review "will be an important step forward in pursuing the goal of reversing the spread of nuclear weapons and seeking a world without them," said the official. He said it could also rule out the need to develop the nuclear version of "bunker-buster" weapons for penetrating underground targets. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Monday, March 01, 2010

Obama Doing What Obama Does Best (Apart from Talking and Posing): Spending Taxpayers’ Money. This Time on Nuclear Warheads
MAIL ONLINE: President Obama is planning to increase spending on America's nuclear weapons stockpile just days after pledging to try to rid the world of them.

In his budget to be announced on Monday, Mr Obama has allocated £4.3billion to maintain the U.S. arsenal - £370million more than George Bush spent on nuclear weapons in his final year.

The Obama administration also plans to spend a further £3.1billion over the next five years on nuclear security.

The announcement comes despite the American President declaring nuclear weapons were the ‘greatest danger’ to U.S. people during in his State of the Union address on Wednesday.

And it flies in the face of Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize, awarded to him in October for ‘his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples’. 'Nobel Peace Prize-winner Barack Obama ups spending on nuclear weapons to even more than George Bush' >>> Carol Driver | Friday, January 29, 2010

Turkey Flirts with Tehran
THE LOS ANGELES TIMES– Editorial: NATO's only Muslim member is undermining Western efforts to keep nuclear weapons from Iran by expanding its trade ties.

Even as Congress pushes legislation aimed at punishing foreign companies that sell petroleum to Iran, and the United Nations prepares to consider sanctions against that country if an ongoing round of nuclear talks fails, Iranian leaders this week were elated over plans to treble trade ties with a key Middle Eastern power.

So which rogue nation is undermining Western efforts to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons? Syria, perhaps, or the unpredictable Saudis? Actually, it's Turkey, a member of NATO, prospective member of the European Union and the United States' most strategically important Muslim ally.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced plans Wednesday in Tehran to increase trade between the two countries from its current level of about $7 billion to $20 billion by 2011. Turkey and Iran have reportedly reached agreements on power plants, banks and natural gas development that would help make up for any economic pain the United Nations could inflict via tougher sanctions. The deals are fueling worries that Turkey, a model democratic Muslim state and a vital bridge between Europe and the Arab world, is turning its back on the West to embrace Islamist regimes to the east. >>> | Saturday, October 31, 2009

Israeli Prime Minister Lashes Tehran: Says nuclear Iran threatens the world, not just Jews
THE WASHINGTON TIMES: UNITED NATIONS (AP) | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waved designs of the most infamous Nazi death camp from a U.N. podium on Thursday, exhorting the world to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

And Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told assembled world leaders that he smells hope not sulfur, a small compliment for President Obama, after branding President George W. Bush as "the devil" in his last speech to the world body three years ago.

Just days after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad once again denied the Holocaust, Mr. Netanyahu used his speech before the U.N. General Assembly to warn of another catastrophe.

He held up a copy of the minutes from a notorious meeting at Wannsee Lake, where top Nazis formalized plans for the systematic extermination of Europe's Jewish population.

"Is this protocol a lie?" he asked.

Then he brandished original construction plans for the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp - a representation in chilling detail of gas chambers, crematoria and other facilities where 3 million Jews perished.

"The most urgent challenge facing this body today is to prevent the tyrant of Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons," he declared.

Iran denies that it is producing nuclear arms, but Israel, the U.S. and other world powers do not believe it and are hoping to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions through a series of sanctions. Mr. Netanyahu warned that Tehran's nuclear program threatens not only Israel, but the entire world.

"Perhaps some of you think that this man and his odious regime, perhaps they threaten only the Jews. Well, if you think that, you're wrong. You're dead wrong," he said. >>> Associated Press | Friday, September 25, 2009

Transcript: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks at the U.N. General Assembly >>>

Iran Offers New Package to Break Nuclear Weapons Deadlock
THE GUARDIAN: Ahmadinejad speech seen as sign that Tehran is softening its approach to the west

Tehran is preparing new proposals to break the deadlock over its nuclear programme, the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said today in a sign of thawing relations with the west.

Avoiding his usual fiery rhetoric, Ahmadinejad said: "Today we are preparing a new package. Once it becomes ready, we will present that package. It is a package that constitutes peace and justice throughout the globe and also respects other nations' rights."

In an apparent reference to recent overtures from President Barack Obama, and a signal from Washington and Europe that they are prepared to make significant concessions to get Iran to restart nuclear negotiations, Ahmadinejad told a crowd of thousands in Kerman, south-eastern Iran, that circumstances had changed.

But the Iranian leader could not resist boasting that Iran's resistance and progress in nuclear technology had forced Washington to back down.

"You know well that today you are suffering from weaknesses. You have no choice. You can't make any progress through bullying policies," he said. "I advise you to change and correct your tone and respect other nations' rights." >>> Mark Tran and agencies | Wednesday, April 15, 2009

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Iran to Unveil Proposals to Break Nuclear Impasse

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's president said Wednesday he is willing to forget the past and build a new relationship with the U.S., adding that he is preparing a new package of proposals aimed at breaking the impasse with the West over his country's nuclear program.

The remarks by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to thousands in the southeastern city of Kerman took a conciliatory tone not usually heard in his speeches.

"The Iranian nation is a generous nation. It may forget the past and start a new era, but any country speaking on the basis of selfishness will get the same response the Iranian nation gave to Mr. Bush," Mr. Ahmadinejad said.

He spoke a day after the Obama administration said its immediate goal is to get Iran back to the negotiating table. Though the U.S. government declined to publicly discuss possible new strategies for dealing with Tehran on the nuclear issue, one senior official said they could involve allowing Iran to continue enriching uranium at its current level for some time.

That concession was agreed two years ago by the U.S. and five other powers -- Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. But they still want to wrest a commitment from Iran not to increase enrichment while arranging formal negotiations on a permanent nuclear agreement.

Mr. Ahmadinejad said "circumstances have changed" -- an apparent reference to President Barack Obama's election and Iran's own progress in its nuclear program since talks with the world powers last year.

He said Iran welcomes dialogue with the world powers provided that it is based on justice and respect, suggesting the West shouldn't try to force it to halt its uranium enrichment program. >>> Copyright © 2009 Associated Press | Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Obama Calls for End to Nuclear Weapons in Prague Speech
DEUTSCHE WELLE: US President Barack Obama has announced ambitious plans to rid the world of nuclear weapons at a speech in Prague. Yet his support for a controversial US missile shield in Eastern Europe could anger Russia.

An estimated 30,000 people streamed into the historic center of Prague on Sunday to hear Obama deliver his first major public speech in Europe since becoming president. With Prague Castle as a backdrop, Obama proposed measures to eliminate existing nuclear weapons, stop further nuclear proliferation and prevent terrorists from acquiring nuclear weapons or materials. The US leader's speech comes as the Czech Republic marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism.

"As the only nuclear power who have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act," Obama said. "We cannot succeed in this endeavor alone, but we can start it."

Germany’s foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier has called for nuclear disarmament plans to be mobilized this year. “Nulcear [sic] weapons and their unchecked proliferation are a major threat to us all,” Steinmeier told the mass circulation German tabloid Bild am Sonntag. >>> th/tw, dpa/afp | Sunday, 5. April 2009

Netanyahu Says Iran Will Not Get Hands on Nukes
YAHOO! NEWS, MALAYSIA: JERUSALEM - Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's leading candidate for prime minister, said Saturday that Iran "will not be armed with a nuclear weapon."

In an interview with Israel's Channel 2 TV, Netanyahu said if elected prime minister his first mission will be to thwart the Iranian nuclear threat. Netanyahu, the current opposition leader and head of the hardline Likud party, called Iran the greatest danger to Israel and to all humanity.

When asked if stopping Iran's nuclear ambitions included a military strike, he replied: "It includes everything that is necessary to make this statement come true." >>> Aron Heller, Associated Press Writer, AP | Sunday, February 1, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Bush and Putin Unite
BBC: US President George W Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin have said they will work together to resolve the crisis over Iran's nuclear programme.

Speaking after talks at his family retreat in the US state of Maine, Mr Bush said he and Mr Putin recognised the need to "send a common message". Bush and Putin 'united' on Iran (more)

BBC:
Cool not cold - Russia's new foreign policy

Mark Alexander

Again, Iran Tries to Fool the West
IRNA – TEHRAN: Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said here Tuesday the era of nuclear weapons has come to an end because it can neither bring about any changes nor settle any crisis.

Mottaki made the remark in a meeting with Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Enlarged Foreign Affairs Committee of Norwegian parliament (Stortinget) Olav Akselsen.

"Iran's nuclear activities are peaceful," Mottaki reiterated in his talks. Nuclear weapon era has come to an end: Mottaki (more)

Mark Alexander

Ahmadinejad like “a 21st century Adolf Hitler” says Bush. Iran must be stopped from obtaining nuclear weapons, by military means if necessary, says John Bolton
TELEGRAPH: Iran should be attacked before it develops nuclear weapons, America's former ambassador to the United Nations said yesterday.

John Bolton, who still has close links to the Bush administration, told The Daily Telegraph that the European Union had to "get more serious" about Iran and recognise that its diplomatic attempts to halt Iran's enrichment programme had failed.

Iran has "clearly mastered the enrichment technology now...they're not stopping, they're making progress and our time is limited", he said. Economic sanctions "with pain" had to be the next step, followed by attempting to overthrow the theocratic regime and, ultimately, military action to destroy nuclear sites. We must attack Iran before it gets the bomb (more) By Toby Harnden

Ticking down to a nuclear Iran By David Blair

Mark Alexander