Spanning(en) rond Iran

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

zo 19 feb 2012, 15:24 Geen Iraanse olie naar Britten en Fransen

TEHERAN -  Iran levert geen olie meer aan Groot-Brittannië en Frankrijk. Dat heeft het ministerie van Olie in Teheran zondag bekendgemaakt. Veel effect zal het besluit niet hebben: Frankrijk importeerde nauwelijks olie uit Iran, Groot-Brittannië helemaal niet.

De exportstop is waarschijnlijk vooral een waarschuwing aan grotere importeurs van Iraanse olie, zoals Italië en Griekenland. De Europese Unie wil de komende maanden de grenzen sluiten voor olie uit Iran. Europa vreest dat het Iraanse bewind in het geheim werkt aan een atoombom.


http://www.telegraaf.nl/dft/11551374/__Geen_Iraanse_olie_naar_Britten_en_Fransen__.html?tl=mostread-DFT

[Lex]

'Aanval op Iran voorbarig'

De hoogste militair in het Amerikaanse leger waarschuwt tegen een aanval op Iran. De economische sancties van het Westen beginnen te werken en daarom ,,vind ik het voorbarig om te beslissen dat de tijd voor de militaire optie is gekomen''. Dat zegt generaal Martin Dempsey in een interview dat nieuwszender CNN zondag uitzendt.

Dempsey laat ook weten dat het Westen zich beter moet voorbereiden op eventueel ingrijpen. ,,Dan gaat het nu vooral om een betere defensieve voorbereiding'', aldus de bevelhebber.

De Verenigde Staten, Europa en Israël vrezen dat Iran in het geheim een atoombom bouwt. Israël zinspeelt daarom op een aanval, Europa werkt aan strengere sancties. Iran zegt dat zijn nucleaire programma alleen vreedzame doelen heeft, zoals het opwekken van kernenergie.

© ANP
19 februari 2012, 15:49

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

De situatie lijkt zich  te beperken tot verbaal  "geweld" als je het mij vraagt. Niemand is ook zo te zien bereid de eerste steen te werpen.

Iedereen? Bij Israel weet ik het niet zo zeker (zie ook alle Amerikaanse inspanningen om Israael van die eerste steen af te houden)

[Ros]

De situatie lijkt zich  te beperken tot verbaal  "geweld" als je het mij vraagt. Niemand is ook zo te zien bereid de eerste steen te werpen.

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Iran Threatens 'Crushing Response' If Attacked

Iran heats up tensions and warns Israel of a "crushing response to Israel's slightest move." US jawbones against a pre-emptive strike.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
First Publish: 2/19/2012, 11:36 AM

Iran has threatened a "crushing response to Israel's slightest move" as the United States raises the volume against a pre-emptive strike. Iran also has announced new war games for next month.

The Ahmadinejad regime chose its ambassador to Lebanon, Qazanfar Roknabadi, to deliver a message on Saturday that "Iran will not start a possible war with the Zionist regime but will deliver a decisive response to any aggression by the regime." As usual, he refrained from using the term "Israel."

Regardless of Israel's intentions, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps is planning new war games next month in a desert area in the central part of the country.

Commander of the IRGC Ground Forces, Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour, said on Saturday that the drill will implement "modern defensive tactics,...taking advantage of advanced indigenous military equipment," the state-run Fars News Agency reported.

Iran's media, most of it government controlled, played up advice by General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff,  that it would be unwise to attack Iran now.

"It's not prudent at this point to decide to attack Iran," Dempsey told CNN on Saturday. "I think it would be premature to exclusively decide that the time for a military option was upon us. A strike at this time would be destabilizing and wouldn't achieve their (the Israelis') long-term objectives. I wouldn't suggest, sitting here today, that we've persuaded them that our view is the correct view and that they are acting in an ill-advised fashion."

The Obama administration has been jaw-boning in the media against a military strike, claiming that harsh sanctions against Iran are working and that Israel should wait. the dilemma for Israel is that most military and intelligence officials warn that postponing military action will close the "window of opportunity" as Iran continues to race ahead towards nuclear capability, especially at its underground nuclear facilities.

The BBC reported Sunday that Iran appears to be preparing to speed up production of enriched uranium, a key ingredient of a nuclear weapon. It announced last week it has installed an additional 3,000 centrifuges in its underground nuclear plant near the city of Qom.

The Obama administration is increasing pressure on Israel by sending U.S. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon to Jerusalem for talks with government and military officials.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/152902

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Chamoun says "wants war on Iran"

February 19, 2012   

National Liberal Party leader MP Dori Chamoun said on Sunday that he "wants a war on Iran," and that he is not "afraid" of such a war.

"Everything has limits, and [Western powers] will not allow Iran to possess the atomic bomb," Chamoun told the Voice of Lebanon (93.3) radio station according to the National News Agency.

Tensions between Iran and Israel have been risen with Iranian warships entering the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal in a show of "might", a move Israel said it would closely monitor.

On Wednesday, Iran said it had installed another 3,000 centrifuges to increase its uranium enrichment capabilities and was stepping up exploration and processing of uranium yellowcake.

Israel also blamed a recent wave of attacks targeting Israeli diplomats on agents of Tehran, allegations Iran denies.

http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=366494

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Is war with Iran inevitable?

Posted: Sunday, February 19, 2012 5:00 am | Updated: 4:21 pm, Fri Feb 17, 2012.

By SANDER DIAMOND

Oil-rich and with a population of 67 million spread over an area the size of Alaska, Iran aspires to be an atomic power and the leader of the Islamic world, a goal that Washington and Israel have promised to block with force if necessary. Washington and Tel-Aviv have told Iran that it cannot cross two red lines. First, if Tehran closes the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world's oil flows, we will use our military to keep the sea lanes open. The fleet is already in place. Second, if Iran fabricates an atomic bomb, we have threatened to employ "bunker busting," deep penetration bombs to destroy its underground reactors.

While the exact timetable may still be up in the air, it has been reported that Israel is planning a spring attack, since it believes that Iran is just months away from realizing its goal. What we do know is that Israel has acquired four of the most advanced conventional submarines armed with cruise missiles from Germany and has drone aircraft the size of Boeing 737s. Israel's prime minister has said over and over that Iran poses an "existential threat." Steeled by a post-Holocaust mentality and an obsession for security, Tel-Aviv is not going to wait for the missiles to arrive. Israel has little faith in sanctions and far less in appeasement, believing Hitler could have been stopped at Munich in 1938 through timely action.

http://www.fltimes.com/opinion/columnists/columnist_one/article_8ea02860-59ac-11e1-82af-001871e3ce6c.html

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Isreal 'Unwise' To Launch Military Strike On Iran, Says William Hague

First Posted: 19/02/2012 10:13 Updated: 19/02/2012 10:13

William Hauge has said it would be a mistake for Israel to launch a military strike against Iran in an attempt to destroy its alleged nuclear weapons programme.

Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marrr programme on Sunday morning, the foreign secretary said Israel should put its efforts into making sure there were effective sanctions against Tehran.

"I don't think the wise thing for Israel to do is launch a military attack," he said.

There are growing fears that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will not be deterred by sanctions, the preferred route of the US and Britain to pressure the regime into abandoning its nuclear weapons programme.

Israel is rumoured to be planning military strikes within months. Ahmadinejad claimed this week that Iran had loaded its first domestically-made fuel rod into a nuclear reactor.

Hague said that Israel had not shown the British government any plans for an attack on Iran but acknowledged there had been some discussion by Israeli politicians in public about the possibility of a strike.

"They are not sharing any plans with us, they are not asking us to join in any plans, we are not calling for any military action against Iran," he said.

He added: "Our approach is 100% diplomatic and economics focused."

However he said that "no one wants Iran to have nuclear weapons" and said Britain did not take "any option off the table".

Hague warned there would be only two outcomes for Iran if they developed a nuclear bomb, either "they will be attacked and there will be a war, or there will be a Cold War".

He also said that Tehran had recently "increased its willingness" for "utterly illegal activities" including terrorist acts around the world. However he said he had no specific information that it intended to target the London Olympics.

On Saturday Hague warned that Iran's nuclear ambitions could plunge the world into "a new Cold War" with the Middle East.

He predicted a nuclear arms race among rival Middle Eastern states that would carry the dangers without the safety mechanisms of the old rivalry between the West and the USSR.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, he a warned there was a "crisis coming down the tracks" that could result in "disaster" for world affairs.

"(The Iranians) are clearly continuing their nuclear weapons programme," Hague said.

"If they obtain nuclear weapons capability, then I think other nations across the Middle East will want to develop nuclear weapons.

"And so, the most serious round of nuclear proliferation since nuclear weapons were invented would have begun with all the destabilising effects in the Middle East. And the threat of a new Cold War in the Middle East without necessarily all the safety mechanisms. That would be a disaster in world affairs."

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/02/19/isreal-unwise-to-launch-military-strike-on-iran_n_1287284.html

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Ik sta er volledig omgekeerd in. Dat ze als de sodemieter daar de boel kapot gooien (sorry, een grote oorlog is natuurlijk nooit iets om voor te zijn) om daarna de prijzen in te laten storten. Hoe sneller het gedaan is hoe sneller we naar een normaler niveau gaan. Als Iran de kans blijft houden om de spanningen te laten bestaan of zelfs met regelmaat op te voeren zitten we over 5 jaar nog met dit probleem en zelfs erger. Een oorlog is in mijn ogen al bijna niet meer te voorkomen door de continue escalatie en de dreiging de straat af te sluiten.

Het lijkt in een rap tempo richting confrontatie te gaan, het "praat" scenario heeft alleen zin als resultaten behaald worden.

Tot nu lijkt het praat scenario alleen in het "voordeel" van Iran te werken, ze kopen immers tijd, tijd die wordt gebruikt om de wereld met een nog groter probleem op te zadelen.

Zachte heelmeesters maken stinkende wonden, wat mij betreft maken "we" er een einde aan, liever gisteren dan vandaag.

[Tanker]

Ik ben ook voor grof geweld en z.s.m. graag, dit pappen en nathouden beleid leidt tot niets. Iran heeft maling aan de wereld, en sancties sorteren geen effect..... Misschien is er wel een kans voor een regime change in de chaos na grootschalige aanvallen..... Misschien moeten ze vast contact zoeken met de oppositie....

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

BBC: Iran bouwt nucleaire fabriek bij Qom

zondag 19 februari 2012 | 07:28 | Laatst bijgewerkt op: zondag 19 februari 2012 | 09:18

LONDEN - Iran is van plan om een ondergrondse nucleaire fabriek te bouwen vlakbij de stad Qom. Dat heeft een diplomaat vrijdag tegen televisiezender BBC gezegd.

Het land zou voorbereidingen treffen voor de installatie van duizenden nieuwe uraniumcentrifuges op de locatie in het noorden van Iran. Uranium kan gebruikt worden om kernenergie en atoomwapens te maken.

Centrifuges
Woensdag maakte president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad op de staatstelevisie bekend dat Iran 3000 nieuwe centrifuges in gebruik heeft genomen voor het verrijken van uranium. Daarmee komt het totaal op 9000 centrifuges.

http://www.brabantsdagblad.nl/nieuws/algemeen/buitenland/10498507/BBC-Iran-bouwt-nucleaire-fabriek-bij-Qom.ece

[VandeWiel]

Dat ze eens even gaan praten aub daar, de benzineprijs is godverdorie te gek voor woorden!

Ik sta er volledig omgekeerd in. Dat ze als de sodemieter daar de boel kapot gooien (sorry, een grote oorlog is natuurlijk nooit iets om voor te zijn) om daarna de prijzen in te laten storten. Hoe sneller het gedaan is hoe sneller we naar een normaler niveau gaan. Als Iran de kans blijft houden om de spanningen te laten bestaan of zelfs met regelmaat op te voeren zitten we over 5 jaar nog met dit probleem en zelfs erger. Een oorlog is in mijn ogen al bijna niet meer te voorkomen door de continue escalatie en de dreiging de straat af te sluiten.

Overigens zijn de prijzen niet alleen hoog vanwege Iran. Er zijn nu eenmaal ook steeds meer mensen in de wereld die een gouden koets hebben en de droom van een welvarend bestaan met alle energie gebruik die er bij hoort.

[Huzaar1]

Dat ze eens even gaan praten aub daar, de benzineprijs is godverdorie te gek voor woorden!

[Ace1]

Als  de VS wat MOAB bommen gebruikt zijn die bunkers zo kapot.

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Israel seeks tighter sanctions against Iran

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak Saturday called on the world to tighten sanctions on Iran before the country enters a "zone of immunity" against a physical attack to stop its nuclear programme.

"We have to accelerate the pace of imposing sanctions," he told a news conference in Tokyo.

The world must force the Iranians to ask themselves, "Are we ready to pay the price of isolation by most, if not all, of the world or should we decide to stop the nuclear effort?" he said.

"The world should ratchet up the sanctions," he said, "before the Iranians fully enter this immunity zone."

Barak, also Israel's deputy prime minister, has often used the phrase "zone of immunity" to mean a point where Tehran's nuclear programme becomes invulnerable to physical attack.

But he brushed aside a February 3 article in the Washington Post that US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta thinks Israel may possibly strike Iran's nuclear installations in the coming months.

Post columnist David Ignatius wrote Panetta "believes there is a strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June" before Iran enters a "zone of immunity."

Panetta told reporters later he had no comment on the article as his views were just his own.

But he added: "Israel indicated they're considering this (a strike), we've indicated our concerns."

Asked about the article, Barak said US support for Israel's security had been "extremely advanced and deep" under President Barack Obama.

"We appreciate the Americans standing behind Israel in the issue of security. But we could not conclude from this anything about details about what could happen in Iran," Barak said.

"We are still in the sanctions stage and expect them to get even more tight."

Iran has been slapped with four sets of UN sanctions and a raft of unilateral US and European Union sanctions over its nuclear drive which Tehran maintains is peaceful but which much of the international community suspects masks a weapons programme.

Barak was visiting Tokyo as tensions between Israel and Iran flared following bombings in New Delhi, Tbilisi and Bangkok earlier this week, but Iran angrily rejected accusations that it was behind the "terrorist" acts.

Tehran also said it had developed new centrifuges capable of enriching uranium at a much faster rate.

In a meeting with Barak on Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda warned military action could be "extremely dangerous," according to foreign ministry officials quoted by Japanese media.

Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba told Barak on Thursday: "Using a military option would not only provide an excuse to Iran but could unite the Arab world against Israel," according to the officials.

But, in a show of solidarity, Noda said Japan would strive to reduce its oil imports from Iran. Tokyo currently imports around 10 percent of its oil consumption from the Islamic country.

http://www.africasia.com/services/news_mideast/article.php?ID=CNG.0bc32ddf33dd48bff7b6df160cb3025c.631