Iran announces progress on atomic power plant

By Fredrik Dahl TEHRAN,
Reuters, May 20, 2007


Iran has started building its first domestically-made atomic power plant, a senior official announced on Saturday, and Tehran's foreign minister said nuclear talks with the EU were likely in Spain this month.

The deputy head of the atomic energy agency said the planned facility would have a capacity of 360 megawatt (MW), in a statement underlining Iran's determination to press ahead with its nuclear program despite Western suspicions.

"In the next decade Iran will be one of the most talked-about countries in the world regarding domestic nuclear energy," Mohammad Saeedi of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.

Iran is in a deepening standoff with major powers over its nuclear program which the West fears is aimed at making warheads. Tehran says it wants only to produce electricity.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who has taken a lead role in Western contacts with Iran, has said it would "probably take years" to resolve the nuclear dispute.

Solana, a Spaniard, last met Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani in Turkey on April 25-26 and agreed to hold more talks in the next few weeks.

"There is a high possibility that it (a meeting) will take place in Spain," Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the ILNA news agency.

He suggested it would be held sometime between May 22 and May 31. The official IRNA news agency had earlier said May 31 was the agreed date.

Search widens for missing troops in Iraq

By STEVEN KOMAROW,
Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD - U.S. forces broadened their hunt Saturday for three missing comrades beyond the rural area south of Baghdad where they disappeared, and their top commander expressed optimism that at least two of them were still alive a week after their isolated outpost was ambushed.

At least one soldier was killed Saturday and four others wounded as insurgents attacked the searchers with guns, mortars and bombs. The military reported a dozen other U.S. troop deaths in Iraq since Thursday.

Northeast of the capital, there was more gruesome Iraqi-on-Iraqi murder. Men in Iraqi army uniforms rousted Kurdish villagers from their homes, separated out the able-bodied men, and shot dead 15, according to an Iraqi general and a Kurdish political party.

It was the latest incident in months of sectarian killings in lawless Diyala province and officials said Saturday that the local army commander was fired by the government.

Violence also marred the last visit to Iraq by British Prime Minister Tony Blair before he leaves office. A mortar round hit the British Embassy compound and two more elsewhere in the Green Zone while Blair was in Baghdad. And then, although Blair's itinerary was not announced, explosions also were heard when Blair went to Basra in southern Iraq, where British forces are based.

The search for the missing soldiers involves some 4,000 troops who "will not stop searching until we find our soldiers," said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad. "We're using all available assets and continuing to assault the al-Qaida in Iraq network," he said.

Acting on a tip, Garver said troops raided a building in Amiriyah on Saturday morning and captured nine Iraqis suspected of involvement in the attack. Amiriyah is a stronghold of Sunni insurgents with close tribal ties to Quarghuli, where the outpost was overrun.

He said U.S. troops also detained two Iraqis in Baqouba who he said were "associated" with the al-Qaida command network. He did not tie those arrests directly to the missing soldiers. Their outpost in Quarghuli is about 12 miles south of Baghdad and about 50 miles from Baqouba, a violence-wracked city to the north.

A group that claims ties to al-Qaida has claimed responsibility for the May 12 attack that resulted in the kidnapping and the deaths of four American soldiers and an Iraqi aide. However, there has been no evidence, such as photos, video or audio, released by that or other groups.

Army Gen. David Petraeus, the senior American commander in Iraq, told the Army Times newspaper in an interview Friday night that U.S. forces were focusing on an insurgent who is "sort of an affiliate of al-Qaida."

He said an informant provided U.S. forces with names of those who took part in the raid and kidnapping but they were still at large. "We've had all kinds of tips down there. We just tragically haven't found the individuals," he said.

Petraeus said he did not know whether the three missing soldiers, from the Army's 10th Mountain Division, were alive. But "as of this morning, we thought there were at least two that were probably still alive," he said.

"At one point in time there was a sense that one of them might have died, but again, we just don't know."

An Iraqi army intelligence officer, who said he helped interrogate two suspects detained in recent days in Mahmoudiya, said they confessed to participating in the raid. Mahmoudiya is the largest town in the search area.

They said 13 insurgents conducted the surprise attack and then escaped in two groups. The leader of the group, along with some gunmen, took the kidnapped soldiers to a destination unknown by the two detainees, he said.

He added that the two detainees gave interrogators the hiding place for weapons used in the ambush and U.S. troops went there and took them.

In the week since the attack in Quarghuli, some two dozen U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq. Five were announced on Saturday, four of which occurred on Friday.

Those numbers were far eclipsed by the toll of Iraqis on Saturday alone.

The execution-style slayings of 15 Kurds in Hamid Shifi, 60 miles northeast of Baghdad by the men posing as troops, stood out because details of the event were known.

By contrast, there were no narratives attached to the 20 bodies found Saturday around Baghdad. Police said they were all men, handcuffed, blindfolded, shot and then dumped on the streets. All but three were found on the Sunni Muslim side of the city.

In all, at least 93 people were killed or found dead Saturday nationwide.

One well-known Iraqi politician close to the Bush administration narrowly escaped injury.

Ahmad Chalabi was hustled to safety by his bodyguards when attackers struck with mortars and firearms in Buhriz, about 40 miles north of Baghdad and just south of Baqouba.

Chalabi, who helped President Bush sell the 2003 invasion of Iraq to the American public, told Iraqi television afterward that was helping to mobilize the tribes of Diyala province against insurgents but they needed more help from the U.S.-led military forces.

"The multinational forces should be more active and support the residents and the Iraqi forces to counter the terrorism," he said.

Meanwhile, the health of one of Iraq's most powerful Shiite leaders, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, was at risk from cancer.

Aides to al-Hakim said he was flown to Houston, Texas, on Wednesday for tests after doctors in Baghdad suspected he had lung cancer. He had complained of a cough and had high blood pressure, said members of his staff who spoke on condition of anonymity.

President Jalal Talabani also was traveling to the United States for a medical checkup at the Mayo Clinic, a senior Kurdish politician close to the Iraqi leader said Saturday. The 73-year-old Sunni Kurd was hospitalized in Jordan for about two weeks after collapsing three months ago with what doctors called exhaustion and dehydration from lung and sinus infections.

U.S. Arab allies have harsh words for Iran at Mideast economic forum

By Anna Johnson

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan – Washington's Arab allies harshly criticized Iran's growing influence in the Middle East, telling the country's top diplomat at a high-level conference Saturday that it must stay out of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and be more open about its nuclear ambitions.

Dominating many discussions at the World Economic Forum was the deadly violence between the Fatah Palestinian faction and Hamas militants, which has helped stall a Saudi Arabian-sponsored plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the plan would flounder partly because Israel has no intention of striking a peace deal, but Arab countries focused their criticism on Iran.

“We had some 130 plans in the past 30 years, but none of them were realized because of the approach of the other side (Israel),” Mottaki said during a panel discussion. “Besides, we do not see any chance for the success of the Arab peace initiative because it fails to address fateful issues, like the capital of a Palestinian state and the right of return for some 5 million refugees.”

Former Saudi ambassador to Washington Prince Turki al-Faisal scolded Iran, however, saying that the predominantly Persian country had little to do with Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.

“It's an Arab issue and should be resolved within the Arab fold,” he said.

Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit was even more blunt, saying: “The Iranian foreign minister was wrong when he said there were 130 plans on Palestinian-Israeli peacemaking ... The Arab peace plan is the first of its kind. It presents a clear and detailed path to peacemaking.”

Mottaki insisted that his country's goal was to help the resolve the Middle East's concurrent crises, which he blamed on the U.S. and Israel.

“Iran was always part of the solution to the crisis in the region. We have been in contact with governments in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said during the panel on Mideast security and stability, which also included Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

His words seemed unlikely to assuage many of the 1,000 forum participants, a great number of whom are political and business leaders from moderate Arab countries with strong military and diplomatic ties to Washington, and increasing worries about Iran's rising regional influence.

The U.S. accuses Shiite-ruled Iran of helping train and arm Shiite militias and some Sunni insurgent groups in Iraq. Arab countries on the Persian Gulf fear that rising Washington-Tehran tensions could turn explosive and they would be caught in the middle.

Mottaki said Iran planned to tell the United States during a May 28 meeting between the countries' ambassadors in Baghdad that its policies in Iraq were “wrong” and have led to failure, comments that set the stage for a potentially unproductive discussion.

Both Iranian and American officials have said that the talks in Baghdad will be limited to Iraq's security situation and will not delve into the diplomatic deadlock between the two countries over Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran says is for peaceful energy generation, and the U.S. calls camouflage for weapons development.

Bahraini Crown Prince Sheik Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa called for Iran to be more open about that program.

“Iran should work in partnership with its neighbors and not at their expense,” Al Khalifa said. “Iran can develop its technology for peaceful purposes, but that must be in a clear and transparent manner.”

Abdulaziz Sager, the chairman of the Gulf Research Center in Dubai, also said Iran has not been forthcoming about its nuclear ambitions.

“We have serious problems with the Iranian government in this region,” said Sager, who was part of the second panel with Mottaki.

“We do not wish to see this sort of attack,” said Sager, who cautioned that better relations did not appear on the near horizon. “We would like to see normalized relations, but unfortunately, since Ahmadinejad came, they keep sending wrong signals.”

متکی: حذف هيچ کشوری از نقشه جهان ممکن نيست

	متکی در ميزگردی در نشست مجمع اقتصاد جهانی گفت که طرح صلح عربی با شکست مواجه می شود

منوچهر متکی، وزير امورخارجه ايران طی ميزگردی در نشست ويژه ای که مجمع اقتصاد جهانی در زمينه خاورميانه برگزار کرده است گفت که کشورش هيچ طرحی برای نابودی هيچ ملت يا کشوری ندارد و "هر بچه دبستانی می داند که محو هيچ کشوری از نقشه جهان امکانپذير نيست".

اظهارات آقای متکی اشاره ای بود به سخنان محمود احمدی نژاد که در حالی که چند ماه بيشتر از رياست جمهوری اش در ايران نگذشته بود گفت که اسرائيل بايد از نقشه جهان محو شود و با اين سخنان، اعتراض گسترده ای در سطح جهانی برانگيخت.

اما آقای متکی در ادامه سخنانش بار ديگر موضع رسمی دولت جمهوری اسلامی را تکرار کرد که دولت اسرائيل را دولتی نامشروع می داند و اعتقاد دارد که بايد نظام سياسی سرزمينی که کشور اسرائيل در آن تشکيل شده از راه همه پرسی ای تعيين شود که همه ساکنان بومی اين سرزمين، اعم از مسلمان، يهودی و مسيحی در آن شرکت کنند.

وزير امورخارجه ايران همچنين در اين ميزگرد از پيشنهاد اخير رهبران عرب برای حل بحران جاری ميان فلسطينيان و اسرائيل انتقاد کرد و گفت که اين طرح با شکست مواجه می شود چون به گفته او، مسائل سرنوشت سازی همچون تعيين پايتخت کشور مستقل فلسطينی و بازگشت حدود پنج ميليون آواره فلسطينی در آن لحاظ نشده و از جانب ديگر، اسرائيل هم ميلی به صلح ندارد.

پيشنهاد رهبران عرب که با مخالفت وزير امورخارجه ايران مواجه شده، به طرح صلح عربی شهرت يافته و يکی از محورهای اصلی ميزگردهايی است که در نشست ويژه مجمع اقتصادی جهانی برگزار می شود.

اسرائيل از کليت طرح صلح عربی استقبال کرده و نخست وزير اين کشور به پادشاه اردن قول داده که طرح را بررسی کند، هرچند در عين حال با محورهای اصلی طرح ابراز مخالفت کرده است.

	حامد کرزی رئيس جمهور افغانستان و امير ترکی الفيصل سفير پيشين عربستان سعودی در آمريکا نيز در کنار منوچهر متکی در ميزگرد شرکت داشتند

وزير امورخارجه ايران نيز در ميزگرد گفته: "وقتی به تاريخچه طرحهای صلح نگاه می کنيم می بينيم که طی سی سال گذشته حدود 130 طرح صلح مطرح شده اما هيچکدام از آنها به دليل رويکردی که طرف ديگر (اسرائيل) داشته، تحقق پيدا نکرده است".

در ميزگردی که اين سخنان در آن ابراز شده، علاوه بر آقای متکی، حامد کرزی، رئيس جمهور افغانستان، شوکت عزيز، نخست وزير پاکستان، معروف بخيت نخست وزير اردن، شيخ سلمان بن حمد آل خليفه وليعهد بحرين و امير ترکی الفيصل سفير پيشين عربستان سعودی در آمريکا نيز شرکت داشتند.

نشست ويژه مجمع اقتصاد جهانی در ساحل درياچه بحر ميت برگزار می شود که 392 متر پايينتر از سطح درياهای آزاد قرار دارد و از اين لحاظ، پست ترين مکان روی زمين به شمار می رود.

در اين نشست حدود هزار تن از سرمايه داران، مديران کلان اقتصادی و سياستمداران جهان شرکت دارند و با اينکه برنامه نشست، رشد فرهنگی و اقتصادی خاورميانه اعلام شده، اما عمده مذاکرات نشست در زمينه بحران جاری در عراق و سرزمينهای فلسطينی است.

نشست بحر ميت در شرايطی برگزار می شود که ميان جنبشهای فتح و حماس، دو گروه اصلی سياسی فلسطينی، درگيری خونينی جريان دارد و ارتش اسرائيل هم حملات پی در پی به مواضع حماس که در حال حاضر اداره تشکيلات خودگردان فلسطينی را در اختيار دارد، وارد می سازد.

	پادشاه اردن، ميزبان نشست بحر ميت در کنار همسرش ملکه رانيا

نشست بحر ميت و بحران عراق

در ميزگردی که منوچهر متکی در آن به انتقاد از طرح صلح عربی پرداخت، گرداننده ميزگرد گفت که حمله آمريکا به عراق که به سقوط حکومت صدام حسين در اين کشور انجاميد، ناخواسته به ايران کمک کرد که نفوذ خود را در منطقه گسترش دهد.

آقای متکی در واکنش به اين نظر گفت: "ما به هيچ کمکی نياز نداريم" اما بلافاصله با لحن شوخی افزود: "بعضيها می گويند ما پشت درهای بسته حرف می زنيم، کدام درها؟ من نمی دانم".

وی در ادامه سخنانش گفت که ايران علناً به آمريکا نسبت به "اشتباهاتش" در عراق هشدار داده اما آمريکاييها هيچ وقت به اين هشدارها گوش ندادند تا همين اواخر که گزارش گروه مطالعه عراق در انتقاد از سياست دولت جورج بوش در مورد عراق منتشر شد.

آقای متکی در اين نشست بار ديگر بر موضع رسمی دولت جمهوری اسلامی تأکيد کرد که حرکتهای تروريستی را در عراق را ناشی از حضور ارتشهای بيگانه در اين کشور می داند و گفت که آمريکا و متحدانش دير يا زود ناگزير به خارج ساختن نيروهای خود از عراق خواهند شد.

وی برقراری ثبات و امنيت در عراق را در گرو "راه حلی جامع" دانست.

اظهارات وزير امورخارجه ايران در انتقاد از آمريکا ده روز پيش از موعدی ايراد شد که قرار است نخستين مذاکره مستقيم ميان ايران و آمريکا پس از 28 سال انجام بگيرد.

آقای متکی و ديگر مقامات ايرانی تاکنون نظر خوشبينانه ای نسبت به موفقيت چنين مذاکره ای ابراز نکرده اند و آقای متکی در ميزگرد نشست بحرالميت نيز هدف آمريکا از مذاکره با ايران را استفاده تبليغاتی عنوان کرد، هرچند وی در عين حال ابراز اميدواری کرد که مذاکره با آمريکا بتواند در اصلاح سياست آمريکا در عراق مؤثر شود.

مذاکره ميان ايران و آمريکا قرار است در بغداد برگزار شود و منحصر به مسائل عراق باشد.

جواد لاريجانی در بحر ميت

محمدجواد لاريجانی، برادر بزرگتر علی لاريجانی، مذاکره کننده هسته ای ايران که در سالهای دهه هشتاد ميلادی معاونت وزارت خارجه ايران را به عهده داشت نيز با اينکه هم اکنون سمتی سياسی در ايران بر عهده ندارد وزير امورخارجه کشورش را در نشست بحر ميت همراهی می کند.

پيش از آنکه وزير امورخارجه ايران در نشست بحرالميت اظهاراتی متفاوت با موضع گيری مشهور رئيس جمهور ايران ايراد کند، آقای لاريجانی طی مصاحبه هايی با رسانه های مختلف در حاشيه نشست بحر ميت گفته بود که سخنان رئيس جمهور ايران در مورد نابودی دولت اسرائيل و محو اين کشور از نقشه جهان نادرست تعبير شده و ايران هيچ طرحی برای محو اسرائيل ندارد.

آقای لاريجانی در زمان تصدی معاونت وزارت خارجه به ديدگاههای ميانه رو و گاه متفاوت با سياستهای رسمی جمهوری اسلامی شهرت داشت.

It's a countdown to war on Iran

By: Alain Gresh , 2007-05-19

Silently, stealthily, unseen by cameras, the war on Iran has already begun. Many sources confirm that the United States, bent on destabilizing the Islamic Republic, has increased its aid to armed movements among the Azeri, Baluchi, Arab and Kurdish ethnic minorities that make up about 40% of the Iranian population. ABC News reported in April that the U.S. had secretly assisted the Baluchi group Jund al-Islam (Soldiers of Islam), responsible for a recent attack in which some 20 members of the Revolutionary Guard were killed. According to an American Foundation report, U.S. commandos have operated inside Iran since 2004.

President George Bush categorized Iran, along with North Korea and Iraq, as the “axis of evil” in his State of the Union address in January 2002. Then in June 2003 he said the U.S. and its allies should make it clear that they “would not tolerate” the construction of a nuclear weapon in Iran.

It is worth recalling the context in which these statements were made. President Mohammed Khatami had repeatedly called for “dialogue among civilizations.” Tehran had actively supported the U.S. in Afghanistan, providing many contacts that Washington had used to facilitate the overthrow of the Taliban regime. At a meeting in Geneva on May 2, 2003 between Javad Zaraf, the Iranian ambassador, and Zalmay Khalilzad, Bush’s special envoy to Afghanistan, the Tehran government submitted a proposal to the White House for general negotiations on weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and security, and economic cooperation. The Islamic Republic said it was ready to support the Arab peace initiative tabled at the Beirut summit in 2002 and help to transform the Lebanese Hizbullah into a political party. Tehran signed the Additional Protocol to the Non-Proliferation Treaty on December 18, 2003, which considerably strengthens the supervisory powers of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) but which only a few countries have ratified.

The U.S. administration swept all these overtures aside since its only objective was to overthrow the mullahs. To create the conditions for military intervention, it constantly brandishes “the nuclear threat.” Year after year U.S. administrations have produced alarmist reports, always proved wrong. In January 1995 the director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency said Iran could have the bomb by 2003, while the U.S. Defense Secretary, William Perry, predicted it would have the bomb by 2000. These forecasts were repeated by Israel’s Shimon Peres a year later. Yet last month, despite Iran’s progress in uranium enrichment, the IAEA considered that it would be four to six years before Tehran had the capability to produce the bomb.

What is the truth? Since the 1960s, long before the Islamic revolution, Iran has sought to develop nuclear power in preparation for the post-oil era. Technological developments have made it easier to pass from civil to military applications once the processes have been mastered. Have Tehran’s leaders decided to do so? There is no evidence that they have. Is there a risk that they may? Yes, there is, for obvious reasons.

During the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, Saddam Hussein’s regime, in breach of every international treaty, used chemical weapons against Iran, but there was no outcry in the U.S., or in France, against these weapons of mass destruction, which had a traumatic effect on the Iranian people. U.S. troops are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Iran is surrounded by a network of foreign military bases. Two neighboring countries, Pakistan and Israel, have nuclear weapons. No Iranian political leader could fail to be aware of this situation.

So how is Tehran to be prevented from acquiring nuclear weapons, a move that would start a new arms race in a region that is already highly unstable and deal a fatal blow to the non-proliferation treaty? Contrary to common assumptions, the main obstacle is not Tehran’s determination to enrich uranium. Iran has a right to do so under the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty but it has always said it was prepared to impose voluntary restrictions on that right and to agree to increased IAEA inspections to prevent any possible use of enriched uranium for military purposes.

The Islamic Republic’s fundamental concern lies elsewhere. Witness the agreement signed on November 14, 2004 with France, Britain and Germany, under which Iran agreed to suspend uranium enrichment temporarily on the understanding that a long-term agreement would “provide firm commitments on security issues.” Washington refused to give any such commitments and Iran resumed its enrichment program.

The European Union chose not to pursue an independent line but to follow Washington’s lead. The new proposals produced by the five members of the Security Council and Germany in June 2006 contained no guarantee of non-intervention in Iranian affairs. In Tehran’s reply to the proposals, delivered in August, it again “suggest[ed] that the Western parties who want to participate in the negotiation team announce on behalf of their own and other European countries, to set aside the policy of intimidation, pressure and sanctions against Iran.” Only if such a commitment was made could negotiations be resumed.

If not, escalation is inevitable. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s election as president in June 2005 has not made dialogue any easier, given his taste for provocative statements, particularly about the Holocaust and Israel. But Iran is a big country rich in history and there is more to it than its president. There is much tension within the government and Ahmadinejad had severe setbacks both in the local elections and in elections to the Assembly of Experts in December 2006. There are substantial challenges, economic and social, and forceful demands for more freedom, especially among women and young people. Iranians refuse to be regimented and the only strong card the regime has to win their loyalty is nationalism, a refusal to accept the kind of foreign interference suffered throughout the 20th century.

Despite the disaster in Iraq, there is no indication that Bush has given up the idea of attacking Iran. This is part of his vision of a “third world war” against “Islamic fascism,” an ideological war that can end only in complete victory. The demonization of Iran, aggravated by the attitude of its president, is part of this strategy and may culminate in yet another military venture. That would be a disaster, not only for Iran and the Arab world, but for Western, especially European, relations with the Middle East. -- Translated by Barbara Wilson.



Alain Gresh is editor of "Le Monde Diplomatique" and a specialist on the Middle East

Christopher Hitchens - God in not great

Part 1



Part 2

A conversation with journalist Christopher Hitchens

Obama, Brownback want Iran divestment

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. Sam Brownback are pressuring U.S. companies to stop investing in Iran's oil and gas industries.

The two presidential candidates have introduced a measure encouraging divestment from companies that do business with Iran.

The bill would authorize state and local governments to divest their assets from such companies and give legal protection to people who divest. It also would require the federal government to publish a list of companies investing at least $20 million in Iran's oil and gas industries.

'The Iranian regime is the world's biggest state sponsor of terror, proudly flaunts an illegal nuclear program and continues to violate the basic human rights of the Iranian people,' Brownback said Friday.

Obama said, 'All Americans can play a role in pressuring companies to cut their ties with the Iranian regime, a state sponsor of terror that is a threat to our allies in the region and international security, as a means of convincing Iran to fundamentally change its policies.'

Obama, of Illinois, and Brownback, of Kansas, recently said they had divested their personal holdings of Sudan-related stock.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Ferguson: Iran Making Substantial Nuclear Progress (cfr.org)

Interviewee:	Charles D. Ferguson
Interviewer:	Lionel Beehner

May 18, 2007

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Charles D. Ferguson, fellow for science and technology at the Council on Foreign Relations, says Iran “is much further along in its nuclear program than many experts were predicting.” The evidence stems from a new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, which suggests that Tehran has made substantial progress in its uranium-enrichment activities. Ferguson says “there are still a lot of ifs” about Iran’s technical ability to enrich uranium. He argues that three-thousand is the “number to keep in mind”—the number of operational centrifuges necessary “to in principal [give Iran] the capability to make weapons-grade uranium within a year.”

“That’s the threshold we should try to prevent Iran from crossing,” he says, adding that Iran, which barring setback could have two-thousand centrifuges running by the start of summer, may be two-thirds of the way there.

Ferguson says Washington’s demand that Iran first suspend its enrichment activities as a precursor to direct negotiations “has been a futile effort.” Instead, he suggests a framework that emphasizes “shared responsibilities”—that is, Tehran must ensure its program is peaceful and maintain rigorous safeguards, while Washington must provide security assurances and back away from sanctions aimed at toppling the Iranian regime.

Finally, Ferguson maintains that Iran does not want to run afoul of international frameworks like the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. “Iran wants to appear to remain a responsible international player and responsible actors stay within their treaty commitments,” he says. “Iran probably wants to walk up to a latent capability to make nuclear bombs within the treaty and they don’t want to show their hand yet.”

Accused nuke engineer: I was showing off

Fri May 18, 2007

PHOENIX - A former nuclear engineer accused of taking software back to his native Iran told authorities he was only trying to show off for family and friends.

Mohammad Alavi, 49, also told FBI agents that he left his job at the nation's largest nuclear power plant and moved to Iran to be closer to relatives, according to records obtained by The Arizona Republic.

Alavi, who lived in the U.S. as a naturalized citizen for 30 years, is charged with violating a trade embargo with Iran, which carries a maximum penalty of 21 months in prison. Trial is set for July 3.

Alavi worked at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station west of Phoenix for 16 years, until he resigned in August and moved to Tehran.

The software he downloaded onto his personal laptop was part of an emergency-training package containing details of the plant's control rooms, reactors and designs. It is not classified, has no links to actual plant workings and can't be used to affect operations.

Employees were encouraged to download the software and work on it at home, according to officials with the Arizona Public Service Co., the Phoenix-based utility company that operates Palo Verde.

APS did not know Alavi had left the country with the information until the Maryland software manufacturer reported attempts to access the training system from a Tehran address.

Alavi was arrested April 8 as he stepped off a plane in Los Angeles. He was returning to the U.S. with his wife for the birth of their first child. He is being held without bail in Arizona.

Alavi acknowledged downloading the software in Iran but said he did it to show relatives and a business associate, according to court records.

The laptop was still in a closet at his mother's house in Tehran, he said.

He told authorities he was about to start a job with an electric-motor company in Tehran.

The plant, located in Wintersburg about 50 miles west of downtown Phoenix, supplies electricity to 4 million customers in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and California.

You're Beautiful -James Blunt

Total Eclipse of The Heart - Bonnie Tyler (1984)

TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART (Bonnie Tyler)

Turnaround, every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you're never coming around
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a little bit terrified and then I see the look in your eyes
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and then I fall apart

Turnaround, Every now and then I get a little bit restless and I dream of something wild
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a little bit helpless and I'm lying like a child in your arms
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a little bit angry and I know I've got to get out and cry
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a little bit terrified but then I see the look in your eyes
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and then I fall apart

And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you'll only hold me tight
We'll be holding on forever
And we'll only be making it right
Cause we'll never be wrong together
We can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time
I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark
We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight

Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart
There's nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart

Turnaround bright eyes
Turnaround bright eyes
Turnaround, every now and then I know
you'll never be the boy you always you wanted to be
Turnaround, every now and then I know
you'll always be the only boy who wanted me the way that I am
Turnaround, every now and then I know
there's no one in the universe as magical and wonderous as you
Turnaround, every now and then I know
there's nothing any better and there's nothing I just wouldn't do
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart

And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you'll only hold me tight
We'll be holding on forever
And we'll only be making it right
Cause we'll never be wrong together
We can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time
I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark
We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight

Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart
There's nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart