Iran 01 (Jul 08 - Apr 18)

[winston]

Iran threatens to cut oil to more EU nations by Farhad Pouladi

Tehran will cut oil exports to more EU nations if they remain "hostile," the deputy oil minister who heads Iran's state oil company said Monday, a day after sales were halted to France and Britain.

Exports to Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Germany and the Netherlands would be stopped, Ahmad Qalebani said, quoted by Mehr news agency.

"Certainly if the hostile actions of some European countries continue, the export of oil to these countries will be cut," said Qalebani, who runs the National Iranian Oil Company.

He added: "In the current market situation, the price per barrel (of oil) will probably reach $150."

Qalebani also said any country wanting Iranian oil would be required to sign "longterm contracts". European companies, he said, would be held to "two- to five-year contracts with no preconditions."

Iran exports about 20 percent of its crude -- some 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) -- to the European Union, most of which goes to Italy, Spain and Greece.

http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?a ... &buid=3281

[kennynah]

well, id eu wants to play big brother and control another country... they will just have to act it out..like cowboy/terrorist bush...

[winston]

Japan to win exemption from Iran sanctions by U.S.: report

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is likely to win an exemption from U.S. sanctions by reducing its imports of crude oil from Iran by at least 11 percent per year, the Yomiuri newspaper said on Tuesday.

The two countries reached an agreement at talks last week, with a formal deal expected by the end of this month, the report said, citing unnamed sources.

The United States, angry over Iran's nuclear program, wants Japan, to cut back on Iranian imports.

Japan is the third-biggest customer for Iranian oil. It needs to import more oil in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, and the country's refiners have yet to make significant cuts, awaiting the Japanese government's instructions.

The United States says it will punish financial institutions that deal with Iran's central bank, the main clearing house for oil revenues. A country can earn a waiver from the sanctions if it significantly reduces trade with Iran.

Japan's Iranian crude imports fell 11.7 percent last year to 313,000 barrels per day, accounting for 8.8 percent of total oil imports. Japan's Iranian imports have declined by more than half from 683,000 bpd in 2003.

The U.S. sanctions, which President Barack Obama signed into law on Saturday, would penalize financial institutions for undertaking transactions with Iran's central bank, exposing the U.S. operations of Japanese banks that deal with Iran.


Source:Reuters US Online Report Top News

[winston]

Would You Support an Iran War If …

Would You Support a War Against Iran If You Knew the True Facts?

Would you support a war against Iran if you knew that:

â–  Iran has one of the largest Jewish populations in the world, and the second-largest in the Middle East behind Israel

â–  Jews are protected by the Iranian constitution, and are guaranteed seats in the Iranian parliament

■ The CIA admits that the U.S. overthrew the moderate, suit-and-tie-wearing, Democratically-elected prime minister of Iran in 1953. He was overthrown because he had nationalized Iran’s oil, which had previously been controlled by BP and other Western oil companies. As part of that action, the CIA admits that it hired Iranians to pose as Communists and stage bombings in Iran in order to turn the country against its prime minister

■ If the U.S. hadn’t overthrown the moderate Iranian government, the fundamentalist Mullahs would have never taken over. (Moreover, the U.S. has had a large hand in strengthening radical Islam in the Middle East by supporting radicals to fight the Soviets and others)

■ The U.S. armed and supported Iraq after it invaded Iran and engaged in a long, bloody war which included the use of chemical weapons. Here is former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld meeting with Saddam Hussein in the 1980′s, several months after Saddam had used chemical weapons in a massacre:

â–  The U.S. has been claiming for more than 30 years that Iran was on the verge of nuclear capability

■ The U.S. helped fund Iran’s nuclear program

■ The U.S. has been actively planning regime change in Iran – and throughout the oil-rich Middle East and North Africa – for 20 years

â–  The decision to threaten to bomb Iran was made before 9/11

â–  America and Israel both support a group designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization , which is trying to overthrow the Iranian government

â–  Top American and Israeli military and intelligence officials say that Iran has not decided to build a nuclear bomb

■ Top American and Israeli military and intelligence officials say that – even if Iran did build a nuclear bomb – it would not be that dangerous, because Israel and America have so many more nukes. And see this

â–  American military and intelligence chiefs say that attacking Iran would only speed up its development of nuclear weapons, empower its hardliners, and undermine the chance for democratic reform

■ The people pushing for war against Iran are the same people who pushed for war against Iraq, and said it would be a “cakewalk”. See this and this

â–  Well-known economist Nouriel Roubini says that attacking Iran would lead to global recession. The IMF says that Iran cutting off oil supplies could raise crude prices 30%. War with Iran would kill the American economy. And see this and this

â–  China and Russia have warned that attacking Iran could lead to World War III

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/ ... ar-if.html

[kennynah]

iran supplies 1/3 of the world's oil?

whoever controls the oil supply, controls power...

but you noticed that the middle eatern oil producing countries have always minded their own business. sure, they enjoy their natural wealth but that's theirs anyways. at least, largely, they don't use their wealth to impose their political believes or religion on the world. they mind their own business.

it has been usa and of late uk that have been the world's terrorists..

[iam802]

All these political games lar.

I read that back during Cold War, US strategy is to bait Russia into throwing more money into military R&D (and subsequently bankrupt them).

At that time, the US govt. work with the oil cartel to surpress oil prices. This is to ensure that Russia cannot use their oil resources to raise funds.

The irony in all these 'no-WMD' talk. During Cold War, US have their own versions of such stuffs. Now, that they are no longer in the game to own or create such stuffs, they are preaching to others not to own it.

Perhaps, this should be file in the 'Boredom thread'.

[winston]

US spies find 'no hard evidence' Iran building bomb

US intelligence analysts continue to believe there is no hard evidence that Iran has decided to build a nuclear bomb, The New York Times reported Saturday.

Citing unnamed US officials, the newspaper said the latest assessments by US spy agencies are broadly consistent with a 2007 intelligence finding that concluded that Iran had abandoned its nuclear weapons program.

The officials said that assessment was largely reaffirmed in a 2010 National Intelligence Estimate, and that it remains the consensus view of America's 16 intelligence agencies, the report said.

The report came after the International Atomic Energy Agency warned that it continued to have "serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program."

The Times said there was no dispute among American, Israeli and European intelligence officials that Iran had been enriching nuclear fuel and developing some necessary infrastructure to become a nuclear power.

But the Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence agencies believe that Iran has yet to decide whether to resume a parallel program to design a nuclear warhead -- a program they believe was essentially halted in 2003, the paper noted.

Intelligence officials and outside analysts believe there is another possible explanation for Iran's enrichment activity, the report said.

They say that Iran could be seeking to enhance its influence in the region by creating what some analysts call "strategic ambiguity," the paper noted.

Rather than building a bomb now, Iran may want to increase its power by sowing doubt among other nations about its nuclear ambitions, The Times said.

Some point to the examples of Pakistan and India, both of which had clandestine nuclear weapons programs for decades before they actually decided to build bombs and test their weapons in 1998, the paper noted.


Source:AFP American Edition

[behappyalways]

Attacking Iran
http://www.economist.com/blogs/newsbook ... upintheair

[winston]

A strike on Iran would pose tough test for Israelis by Dan De Luce

An Israeli pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear sites would amount to a roll of the dice against elusive targets, drawing in the United States if the gamble fell short, analysts and former US military officers say.

Iran's air defenses and ageing fighters would be no match for Israel's high-tech aircraft and cyber warfare, but the outcome of a raid would largely hinge on intelligence and whether Tehran is able to hide key elements of its uranium enrichment network.

But flying fighter jets 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) all the way to Iran would stretch Israel's limited supply of aerial refueling aircraft, while Tehran's dispersed, hidden nuclear sites -- including a facility dug into the side of a mountain -- present a daunting challenge.

Israel would need its entire fleet of about 125 high-end American-made fighter jets, including its 101 F-16Is and 24 F-15Is, to carry out such an ambitious raid, as well as all eight of its KC-707 refueling tankers, said Scott Johnson, an analyst at IHS Jane's defense consultants.

Israeli fighter jets, using precision-guided bombs, cruise missiles and air-to-ground missiles, would likely be focusing on crucial links in the nuclear program, including an underground uranium enrichment center in Natanz, a centrifuge plant in Tehran and the recently revealed Fardow facility built into the side of mountain near Qom.

The Fardow site lies at least 80 meters (260 feet) underground and likely beyond the reach of even America's most powerful conventional bomb.

"Both for technical and political reasons, the capacity for several repeat runs is a stretch," said Levy, who worked in Ehud Barak's Israeli government in 1999-2001.


Source:AFP Global Edition

http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?a ... &buid=3281

[winston]

Attacking Iran Would Push The U.S. Back Into Recession

With oil prices hitting multi-year highs, in great part because of geopolitical concerns, the option of a belligerent conflict with Iran has once again been put on the table.

Be it war with Israel or a preemptive strike by U.S. air forces, the reality is that a sustained conflict with Iran would tip the U.S., and possibly much of the developed world, back into recession.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecch ... recession/