Iran Shielding Nuclear Efforts

Iran Iran starts assembling air defence missiles April 11 2010 16:35   France Presse quotes the Defence Minister of Iran as saying his country has started manufacturing cutting-edge air defence missiles   capable of shooting down incoming targets from a range of medium and high altitudes. → UN needs proof Iran is not after nukes April 10 2010 20:54 The United Nations urges the Iranians to produce proof that their nuclear energy programme is free of a military component. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told this to the BBC in an interview Saturday. Analysts with the broadcaster interpret this as evidence of biting anti-Iranian sanctions in the pipeline. → Iran develops third-generation centrifuges April 10 2010 09:28 Iran says that it has developed and successfully tested third-generation uranium centrifuges. According to the Head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi, the centrifuges are due to be put into operation in March next year. The new 200-millimetre centrifuges are 6 times more powerful than those that are currently operational at the Natanz nuclear centre. → Iran unveils new-generation centrifuges April 9 2010 20:16 Iran has unveiled a third generation of domestically built centrifuges capable of enriching uranium much faster than machines now being used in the country’s nuclear facilities. → Sanctions against Iran? Still an open question April 9 2010 17:10 The issue of using sanctions against Iran is still open. The Six international mediators, including Russia, the USA, China, Britain, France, and Germany, whose representatives met in New York on Thursday, have failed to reach accord. The only result their discussion produced is agreement to continue discussing this issue. → UN Security Council to deal with new sanctions against Iran April 8 2010 22:06 Slapping new tougher sanctions on Iran will be high on the agenda of a UN Security Council session slated for April 9, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters on Thursday. → Sale of Russian AMBs to Iran not cancelled - officials April 7 2010 15:52 Russian officials say contracts to sell five S-300 anti-missile batteries to Iran stay valid, but the delivery on them has to wait until after more talks.   The Patriot system sold by the US to Israel is believed to be inferior to the S-300.   → China still opposes sanctions against Iran April 6 2010 14:31 Speculation concerning China backing the sanctions against Iran is senseless and groundless, said an official spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. China maintains contacts with all parties concerned, hoping for their flexibility and enhanced diplomatic efforts in search of solutions to the Iranian nuclear problem. → UN in no hurry to debate Iran's nuke problem April 6 2010 12:41 The UN Security Council (UNSC) will not discuss Iran’s nuclear problem in April, UNSC chief Yukio Takaso told reporters on Tuesday. → Russia hopes sanctions unneeded to settle Iran`s issue April 5 2010 21:24 Russia thinks there is still a possibility to settle the conflict over Iran`s nuclear program without imposing extra sanctions, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Interfax news agency. He added that as a rule sanctions do not work but sometimes they are inevitable. → Iran rejects US pressure - Ahmadinejad April 3 2010 16:55 Speaking in Sirjan on Saturday, the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country would continue to defy pressure from successive administrations in the US to drop what he termed a peaceful nuclear energy programme. → China opposes Iran sanctions - Jalili April 2 2010 18:48 China sides with Iran in seeing any threats or sanctions against that country as counterproductive and pointless. The Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili told this to the press on Friday after emerging from Beijing talks with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Cabinet Minister Dang Bingo. → The US to step up pressure on Iran April 2 2010 18:05 The US will step up pressure on Iran over its nuclear program, President Barack Obama said. Mr. Obama said if Iran obtained the ability to manufacture nuclear weapons, that would both destabilize the Middle East and trigger a regional arms race. The US and some other Western powers claim Iran seeks nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies. → Britain, Germany support sanctions against Iran April 2 2010 16:21 British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have supported sanctions against Iran after bilateral talks at the premier’s country residence Chequers on Thursday. → Consensus over anti-Iran sanctions seems likely April 1 2010 14:25 The U.S envoy to the UN, Suzan Rice on Wednesday, March 31st, said that China has agreed to take part in the UN Security Council discussion of new anti-Iran sanctions. → China urges peaceful solution on Iran April 1 2010 14:16 China will seek a peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear issue, the Foreign Ministry’s official spokesman Qin Gang has told reporters. Leaving uncommented a statement by the U.S. → China agrees to mull sanctions against Iran April 1 2010 07:12 China has agreed to negotiate possible sanctions against Iran over Tehran's failure to comply with international regulations involving its nuclear energy program, Susan Rice, the US permanent representative to the United Nations told reporters late Wednesday. Previously Beijing refused to discuss stronger sanctions against Iran sought by the UN Security Council against Teheran. → New sanctions on Iran coming soon - Clinton April 1 2010 03:18 Consultations on new UN sanctions placed on Iran will become in the coming weeks, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said late Wednesday. The group of six nations "continues to be unified," Clinton said. → Missing Iranian scientist found in US March 31 2010 21:21 An Iranian nuclear physicist who went missing in Saudi Arabia in June 2009 has been found in the United States. Reports by ABC Television say the physicist, Shakram Amiri, went missing during a pilgrimage to Mecca under mysterious circumstances, surrendered to the CIA and settled in the United States. → G-8 FMs urge tougher sanctions against Iran March 31 2010 12:38 G-8 Foreign Ministers have urged the imposition of stiffer sanctions on Iraq, with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling for the UN Security consultations on the topic to be held in the nearest future. →