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The Russian state agency building Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power station has made its first shipment of fuel to the facility.

Atomstroiexport issued a statement Monday announcing the delivery to Bushehr - Iran’s first nuclear power plant.

Russia’s foreign ministry said Monday that the fuel will be under the control and guarantees of the International Atomic Energy Agency for the whole time it is in Iranian territory.

Tehran argues that nuclear work at Bushehr and elsewhere is strictly for civilian purposes. But the United States and its Western allies have accused Iran of using the programs as a cover to develop nuclear weapons.

An Israeli delegation is in the United States in an effort to convince U.S. officials that Iran is still developing nuclear weapons — despite a recent U.S. intelligence report that said Tehran stopped its nuclear weapons program in 2003.

The report also said Iran continues to enrich uranium and would have enough for a nuclear weapon sometime between 2010 and 2015.

Enriching uranium is a process that can produce fuel for nuclear weapons.

By VOA News

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
16 November 2007
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A group of Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives is repeating concerns about the possibility of military conflict with Iran. VOA’s Dan Robinson reports, lawmakers met with reporters, at the start of a two-week break, to signal that Congress will demand that President Bush seek congressional authorization before launching any military strikes against Iran.

Six House Democrats used a news conference to repeat concerns about any move by the president to exercise a military option against Iran because of its uranium enrichment program.

In recent weeks, congressional committees have held numerous hearings on the impasse over Iran’s nuclear efforts which the Bush administration says are aimed at developing a nuclear weapon. Tehran says its program is for peaceful energy purposes.

While emphasizing diplomacy and negotiations, President Bush has also repeatedly said all options are on the table.

In the wake of the U.S. military intervention in Iraq, lawmakers are making clear they do not want history repeated.

“Saber rattling that is going on in the White House has no support anywhere in the world,” said Sam Farr, a California Democrat. “Our allies in Europe have been very critical of it. Our military has been cautionary critical of it. It’s not helping the situation, it’s not providing an atmosphere in which dialogue [with Iran] can be created.”

Farr and others sent a letter to President Bush last month in which they cautioned him against using congressional resolutions approved in 2001 and 2002 as the basis for pre-emptive military action against Iran.

Those were the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) prior to the invasion of Afghanistan, and the 2002 authorization to attack Iraq. The administration has cited both in various communications with members of Congress regarding presidential war powers.

In the news conference, the Democrats referred to 13 legislative efforts in the House and Senate this year dealing with Iran and sanctions against it because of its nuclear efforts, but also attempts to prevent President Bush from initiating military action without first obtaining congressional authorization.

Oregon Democrat Pete DeFazio and California Congresswoman Barbara Lee say Congress is determined.

“To just re-state the Constitution of the United States and the war powers of the U.S. Congress, and make clear to this president that he cannot have a discretionary war in Iran without the consent of the U.S. Congress,” said DeFazio.

“The drumbeat to war against Iran is increasing daily, and is strikingly similar to the same drumbeat that we heard that led up to the invasion of Iraq nearly five years ago,” Lee said.

The White House issued a chilly response to the latest International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Iran, emphasizing parts of the document that says Iran is still not fully disclosing its nuclear activities.

While it says Iran is still defying ultimatums to suspend its uranium enrichment, the report also points to what it calls progress by Tehran in revealing the extent of its programs.

Washington state Democrat Jim McDermott accuses the Bush administration of looking for excuses to downplay any progress.

“You look in today’s news, the U.N. report on Iran comes out and says that they are not going toward a bomb, they are controlling, they know what is happening, and immediately the American government blows it off and says it means nothing, which is exactly what they did to [former U.N. arms inspector in Iraq] Hans Blix in 2002,” he said. “They are beating the drums for war.”

California Democrat Farr told reporters that the cautions he and others are voicing should not be seen as a lack of concern about the danger of Iran developing a nuclear weapon.

Rather he says lawmakers are trying to emphasize the need to pursue alternatives to military action.

By VOA News
16 November 2007
President Bush has warned of increased pressure against Iran, unless the country agrees to abandon its uranium enrichment program.

At the White House Friday, Mr. Bush said he and visiting Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda agreed that a nuclear-armed Iran would threaten the security of the Middle East and beyond. Mr. Bush said he wants to solve the crisis through diplomatic means.

In a report Thursday, the U.N. nuclear agency credited Iran with substantial progress in revealing details about its nuclear program, but said that Tehran continues to defy U.N. Security Council demands to stop uranium enrichment. The enrichment process can be used to make nuclear weapons.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Fruday called on world powers to admit a mistake in approving two U.N. Security Council resolutions against Iran based on what he said was wrong information.

State television quotes Mr. Ahmadinejad as saying the IAEA report is “relatively realistic” and to a great extent free of the influence of world powers. He also called on the United States to change its behavior.

The United States on Thursday said it intends to continue to push for a third round of U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran.

A German foreign ministry spokesman says the IAEA report shows that Iran has still not fulfilled its international obligations over its nuclear activities and continues to pursue enrichment work.

A European diplomatic source says a meeting planned for Monday in Europe among Germany and the five permanent U.N. Security Council members has been postponed because the Chinese could not attend.

China and Russia, both permanent U.N. Security Council members, have been reluctant to support more sanctions.

Meanwhile, Russia’s state-owned nuclear fuel producer says the IAEA will soon start inspecting and sealing nuclear fuel from Russia that is to be delivered to the Bushehr nuclear power plant that Russia is helping build in Iran.

The United States and its allies accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons — a charge Iran denies.

By David Gollust
State Department
15 November 2007

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The United States says Iran has provided only partial answers to the International Atomic Energy Agency about its nuclear program and intentions. Bush administration officials say they intend to push for another U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution against Iran but acknowledge resistance from China. VOA’s David Gollust reports from the State Department.

The State Department says that while Iran has apparently been forthcoming with the IAEA about some past nuclear efforts, its current activities are becoming more opaque and Tehran should not be given “partial credit” for work with the U.N. agency.

In a long-awaited report on the Iranian nuclear program Thursday, the IAEA credited Iran with substantial progress in revealing the extent of its program, but said its cooperation has been reactive rather than pro-active, and that full transparency is needed.

The United States and some European allies believe Iran’s nominally-peaceful nuclear program has a covert weapons component. Briefing reporters, State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said the IAEA report shows that Iran, when cornered, is prepared to make only superficial concessions about its activities.

“The report talks about the fact the IAEA has a diminishing view into the current activities of Iran,” said McCormack. “So while the Iranians are trying to turn everybody’s attention to their partial answers on some of their past activities, the ability of the IAEA to gain insight into what they’re currently doing on the ground in Iran with respect to their nuclear program is starting to diminish, and that is certainly is troubling.”

McCormack said the United States will continue pushing for a third U.N. sanctions resolution against Iran for its failure to heed Security Council demands to halt uranium enrichment and return to negotiations over its program.

The veto-wielding permanent Security Council members and Germany agreed in principle on a new resolution in September. But officials here say China has balked at attending a meeting of senior diplomats of the so-called P-Five plus one, tentatively set for early next week, to finalize a sanctions measure.

McCormack said what is needed now is for China to play a “constructive role,” not only on scheduling the meeting but on elements of a resolution increasing economic pressure on Tehran to halt enrichment.

His comments were echoed in New York by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad, who said he does not think China would want to be responsible for a “failure of diplomacy” on the Iran nuclear issue.

Khalilzad also said that Iran would not be prevented from having a civil nuclear power program, if international concerns about its activities can be resolved.

“We understand, and we have stated repeatedly, that if what motivates Iran is the desire to have reliable fuel for its reactors, a solution can be found,” said Khalilzad. “At this point, what the international community has asked of Iran in two resolutions is to suspend the build-up of enrichment, to suspend the production of a heavy-water reactor. I think that if Iran’s concern is reliable fuel, we understand that and we’re willing to work with the Iranian government to deal with that problem.”

The United States has supported a Russian offer to provide uranium fuel for the nuclear power plant Moscow is building for Iran at Bushehr on the Persian Gulf, provided that spent fuel is returned to Russia for reprocessing.

The Bush administration has also offered to hold open-ended political talks with Iran if it halts its enrichment drive, which the IAEA said Thursday now involves three thousand centrifuges at the Natanz nuclear facility.

from VOA News
15 November 2007
The U.N. nuclear agency says Iran has made important progress in revealing details about its nuclear program, but continues to defy U.N. Security Council demands to stop enriching uranium.

The International Atomic Energy Agency announced that finding in a report released Thursday.

Iran says the report shows it has been cooperating with the IAEA. Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, says the Security Council would be wrong to pursue another round of sanctions against Tehran.

But the United States says the report shows Tehran continues to ignore international demands to suspend sensitive atomic work.

Washington has called for a third round of U.N. sanctions against Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to make nuclear weapons.

China and Russia, both permanent U.N. Security Council members, have been reluctant to support more sanctions.

The United States and its allies accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons - a charge Iran denies.

By Kurt Achin
Seoul
06 November 2007

A senior U.S. envoy who spent this weekend in North Korea says authorities there are cooperating in the process of disabling the country’s nuclear facilities. As VOA’s Kurt Achin reports from Seoul, the shutdown is part of a wider diplomatic process aimed at ending Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons capabilities for good.

Senior State Department envoy Sung Kim, who oversaw the start of North Korea’s disabling of several major nuclear facilities, said the process is going well.

“I think we are off to a good start,” he said. “I hope to achieve all the disablement, at least this phase of disablement, by December 31.”

Kim says his team had supervised disabling activities at Yongbyon and several other facilities.

North Korea tested its first nuclear weapon in October of last year, in defiance of international agreements and warnings from the global community.

Since then, however, North Korea has taken first steps in implementing a multinational diplomatic framework aimed at ending its nuclear weapons.

Earlier this year, Pyongyang halted operations at its main nuclear plant in Yongbyon in exchange for energy aid, as it had promised in talks with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the United States.

Diplomats describe “disabling” as a process that would make any restarting of nuclear activity very costly and time-consuming. They say it is a prelude to dismantling the facilities altogether — a task expected to be discussed sometime next year.

Kim describes North Korean officials as “very cooperative”, but says he did not receive any details of the North’s planned nuclear declaration.

The second phase of the six-nation agreement offers impoverished North Korea even more energy assistance if it declares all of its nuclear facilities and then substantially disables them.

China is expected to convene another round of six-nation talks in Beijing soon to review the North’s declaration.

North Korea has much to gain from ending its nuclear programs including normalized relations with U.S.

A state department spokesman confirmed Washington has begun the lengthy process of removing North Korea from the list of states defined as sponsoring terrorism, a possible prelude to better relations with Pyongyang.

By Daniel Schearf
Beijing
30 October 2007

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The U.S. envoy to talks on North Korea’s nuclear program says a team of experts will travel to Pyongyang this week to begin disabling the North’s nuclear program. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters Tuesday the experts will leave for North Korea on Thursday to begin the permanent disabling of Pyongyang’s nuclear facilities.

The shutdown is part of a six-nation agreement for North Korea to give up its nuclear programs in return for millions of dollars in energy and aid.

North Korea has agreed to declare and disable all its nuclear materials and programs by the end of the year.

Hill said the declaration process is also expected to begin in the coming weeks.

“It’s very important that we do it soon rather than wait until the end of the year, because probably it will be going back and forth,” he noted. “There’ll be a lot of discussion about it.”

The U.S. has accused North Korea of having a secret uranium enrichment program in addition to its publicly acknowledged facilities. But Hill said he did not think this will block progress.

“There was a commitment made by the DPRK that this issue would be resolved to mutual satisfaction, that is we would be able to resolve the concerns we have on this issue,” he added. “I’m confident that as we get to the end of the year we will be able to achieve this result.”

Hill made the comments after arriving in Beijing Tuesday for two days of consultations with other parties to the talks, including North Korea’s envoy Kim Kye Kwan.

Progress toward ending North Korea’s nuclear ambitions has already been made. North Korea shut down its main nuclear facilities in July in return for 50,000 tons of fuel from South Korea.

North Korea agreed Tuesday to receive about half of a promised one million tons of fuel oil aid, in the form of badly needed energy-related equipment.

The U.S. is now in the process of delivering another 50,000tons of fuel. Other parties to the six-nation talks - South Korea, Russia, China, and Japan - are also expected to provide further aid.

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There is little that is more entertaining than to watch representatives of a state sponsor of terrorism like Iran act so innocent in light of previous statements that the holocaust never happened and they intend to destroy Israel. Not to mention the default Islamofascist creed bent on killing all infidels which also includes other Muslims they don’t like.

The sad part of the recent appearance of the Iranian President at Columbia University beyond the obvious was the number of closet liberals in the media tripping over themselves to attend a dinner with him. Not understanding that they may be the only ones in the world who actually believe their claim of doing it all in the name of journalism. So much so that their automatic defense of simply mentioning the first amendment is no longer presented with a supporting argument.

Whether the Iranian President was too busy trying to fool other audiences this week or simply bored with the easy prey in American media and academia, the second errand boy has made his presence known. The Iranian foreign minister is currently attempting to give foreign policy mentoring to the Whitehouse and State Department. The worn out complaint of American saber rattling coupled with a plea for cooperation rather than confrontation is another amateur ploy looking for a gullible audience.

With the advent of changing politics in France, the former opposition from the French as well as Germans, Russians and others at the United Nations may be altering course. A brief pause until November to put in place stronger sanctions against Iran on the nukes issue may be evidence of a difficult transition to pro American attitudes, the simple realization that Iran is an excessive risk with nukes or reluctance of some to agree with the US on Iran.

But the French Foreign Minister has annoyed Iran by hinting at the threat of war if they continue to act like Saddam on nukes. While he backpedaled slightly after tension was raised, Iran may be less sure than their words indicate when stating the US is not in a position to deal with them militarily. While some pundits claim air strikes against Iran are not a viable option and the out of control public comments on the Iraq war suggest the US is not prepared to put more boots on the ground anywhere, the options available may not be so limited. It is fair to say one reason Iran makes these claims is to convince themselves or their population that the US will not resort to air strikes. And changing attitudes toward Iran from other nations may be enough to convince Iran to comply with international demands.

And this post ends with a comment on an Iranian university inviting President Bush to attend a question and answer session. Presumably to reciprocate for the Columbia University fiasco. The White House Press Secretary Dana Perino indicated the invitation was not taken seriously. Let’s just say in addition to the nearly impossible security requirements there is no real upside to honoring such a request. It is doubtful minds would be changed and determining whether the invitation is based on genuine interest or merely another ploy of the Iranian government will not take place. But there is some humor in the story.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Says US Threats Not Helpful to Resolving Nuclear Issue
By Margaret Besheer
United Nations
03 October 2007
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Iran Summons French Diplomat To Protest Kouchner Comments
By VOA News
03 October 2007

Iranian University Invites Bush to Speak
By VOA News
02 October 2007

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

By David Gollust
Stae Department
07 September 2007

The Bush administration Friday defended its approach to Iran’s nuclear program in the face of implicit criticism from International Atomic Energy Agency director Mohammed ElBaradei. The IAEA chief suggested Washington is in a rush to use military force against Iran, while a U.S. official said ElBaradei is engaged in unhelpful public sniping. VOA’s David Gollust reports from the State Department.

The Bush administration and ElBaradei have a history of friction dating to the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and tensions have apparently flared up again over the Iranian nuclear program.

In widely-reported remarks in Vienna, the IAEA chief depicted U.S. and other critics of his recent cooperation accord with Iran as back-seat drivers, and also - with Washington as his apparent target - said there are those beating war drums over the nuclear issue when diplomacy will suffice.

At a news briefing, State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey said he hoped ElBaradei was not referring to the United States with the war drums remark because it would be untrue.

Casey said U.S. policy has been, and continues to be, focused on diplomacy, and helping the IAEA and the United Nations learn the truth about Iran’s nuclear intentions.

“It would be really hard for anyone to say that the United States has been anything but at the forefront of supporting the work of the IAEA to try and resolve these issues, of working diplomatically with the IAEA, with the [IAEA] Board of Governors, with the [U.N.] Security Council and with the international community to come up with a resolution of this,” he said.

The Bush administration and European allies believe Iran’s nominally-peaceful nuclear program has a covert weapons component. Senior U.S. officials have repeatedly said President Bush takes no options off the table in dealing with the matter, but is committed to a diplomatic resolution.

Recent tensions between ElBaradei and U.S. officials have focused on the agreement he made with Tehran last month, under which Iranian authorities committed by year’s end to answer questions about the nuclear program that the IAEA has raised over the last four years.

U.S. and other critics have said the deal is simply an attempt by Tehran to buy time and head off a new U.N. sanctions resolution. ElBaradei in his remarks in Vienna lashed out against so-called back-seat drivers, and said the plan will enable the IAEA by December to verify whether Iran, which denies nuclear weapons ambitions, is working in good faith.

Spokesman Casey, for his part, said the ElBaradei plan is a potentially important way to resolve past questions about the Iranian program. But he suggested the focus should be on current Iranian activities including its large-scale uranium enrichment program.

“In addition to the original questions we started out with, the kinds of the things that the IAEA has been trying to get to the bottom of for a long time, there are new questions added every day as Iran continues to develop its nuclear program, as it continues without inspections or safeguards to make efforts to advance its uranium enrichment activities,” he said.

The Bush administration would like to see early action in the U.N. Security Council on a resolution tightening sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt enrichment.

A senior U.S. diplomat who spoke to reporters here said the kind of public sniping being engaged in by ElBaradei is never helpful, but that it will have no effect on the overall diplomatic picture.

By VOA News
02 September 2007

Iran’s president says his country has put into operation more than 3,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges, reaching a key goal in its nuclear program.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday Iran is still installing more centrifuges.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry also warned Sunday that the country will review its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency if the Security Council passes a third sanctions resolution.

U.N. Security Council members have threatened to impose more sanctions on Iran if it does not freeze its uranium enrichment program.

The United States and its allies accuse Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian program.  Iran denies the charge.

Iran said it had 3,000 centrifuges up and running earlier this year.  But the U.N. nuclear agency said Iran does not yet have that number in operation.

In a report last week, the Vienna-based IAEA said that once Iran’s past nuclear activities have been clarified, the country will need to continue to build confidence about the scope and nature of its present and future nuclear programs.

Iran is reported to have resolved questions with the IAEA about its tests with plutonium.  Highly enriched uranium and plutonium can be used to make nuclear weapons.

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
31 August 2007

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A senior United States envoy says he is hopeful progress will be made toward scrapping North Korea’s nuclear arsenal during bilateral U.S.-North Korean talks over the weekend. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA, the talks, which will take place in Geneva, will focus on normalizing relations as part of an international nuclear disarmament deal.

The bilateral meeting is in preparation of the six-party talks that are to resume later this month. The members include the North Korea and South Korea, China, Russia, the United States and Japan.

The chief U.S. negotiator, assistant secretary of state, Christopher Hill, says those talks are to figure out the next steps needed to disable North Korea’s nuclear facilities. He says the six countries also will seek to obtain a full declaration of all nuclear programs and materials possessed by North Korea.

Hill notes that phase one of these nuclear talks resulted in North Korea shutting down its nuclear facilities in Yongbong. He says phase two of the talks will be a further step toward nuclear disarmament.

“We are hopeful that we can come up with an implementation arrangement for, the disablement and declaration of facilities,” he said. “That we could by the end of this year have accomplished this phase two. And, then in the opening of ‘08, we would begin, what I hope would be the final stage, which is the abandonment of the fissile material, that is the nuclear material already produced. The abandonment of weapons in which the fissile material is.”

If this is achieved, Hill says this is likely to lead to a peace conference on the Korean Peninsula that would result in a genuine peace agreement. The ultimate aim, he says, is to achieve a permanent security system in Northeast Asia.

Hill says there is no question North Korea must do away with its nuclear weapons.

“These are programs that are not helping the DPRK,” he added. “In fact, they are driving the DPRK into a deeper sense of isolation, which we are trying to reverse. And, I hope other countries who have aspirations in this regard would understand that nuclear weapons are not a security solution and they certainly do not help anyone’s future.”

During this weekend’s talks, Hill says the two parties will discuss normalizing bilateral diplomatic relations and removing North Korea from the U.S. State Department list of nations that sponsor terrorism.

By Sonja Pace
Cairo
28 August 2007

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says that, contrary to recent news reports, Tehran has not slowed its nuclear activity. In a lengthy news conference in the Iranian capital, the president also warned Iran would respond if the United States goes ahead with plans to label the Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization. VOA’s Sonja Pace has more on the story from our Middle East bureau in Cairo.

Speaking to reporters in Tehran, President Ahmadinejad said the case is closed.

He said Iran has the right to develop nuclear energy and will continue to do so, despite the efforts of some western countries to prevent it.

President Ahmadinejad said that Iran is a nuclear country, and that means it possesses the whole nuclear-fuel cycle.

He also described as false, reports in the news that Iran has slowed its uranium-enrichment activities.

The Iranian leader repeated his government’s insistence that it is pursuing nuclear technology for peaceful purposes only, not for nuclear weapons as the United States and many other nations contend.

President Ahmadinejad also had another word of caution for the United States.

He said it would be illogical for the United States to go ahead with plans to label the Iranian Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization. He said the United States knows that Iran would respond, but he did not provide details on what that response might be.

Washington has long accused the Revolutionary Guards of supporting terrorism and training terrorists, including in Iraq and Lebanon.

On the issue of Iraq, President Ahmadinejad said Iran supports the Iraqi government. He said the situation there, however, is becoming increasingly precarious. He warned of a growing and imminent power vacuum in Iraq, which he said Iran was ready to help fill.

Washington has long called for Iran to play a more positive role to help stabilize Iraq, but fears that Tehran will be all too eager to step into any gap to increase its own influence in Iraq and the region.

By Peter Fedynsky
Moscow
28 August 2007

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Senator Richard Lugar and former Senator Sam Nunn, authors of U.S. legislation to reduce the post-Soviet nuclear arsenal, are in Russia in an effort to further tighten global controls on weapons of mass destruction. VOA Moscow correspondent Peter Fedynsky reports.

Speaking Monday at a large public event in the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Moscow, Senator Richard Lugar and Sam Nunn underscored the common interest and unique responsibilities the United States and Russia share as nuclear powers.

Nunn said bilateral interests in a healthy economy, citizenry, and environment, as well as a common vulnerability to catastrophic terrorism, should prompt the two countries to lead by example in reducing the threat of weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and biological weapons.

“This alignment of our interests must lead to an alignment of our actions, or our vital interests will be lost in our non-vital disagreements,” said Nunn. “Without joint actions, our citizens will gradually lose their perspective of the alignment of our interests, and the lack of public support for cooperative efforts will undermine even visionary political leadership.”

Nunn called for both countries to reduce their nuclear arsenals and to remove weapons from hair trigger alert. He also urged improved procedures to verify compliance with weapons agreements and also to prevent more nations from acquiring nuclear weapons and enrichment capabilities.

Senator Lugar said the U.S.-Russian experience in arms control will be critical to a successful diplomatic effort to prevent North Korea from becoming a nuclear power.

“Russia and the United States also must come together to address the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear weapons program,” said Lugar. “For too long our governments have sometimes been at odds over how to respond to Tehran’s behavior. The differences in our approaches have narrowed recently and there are prospects for continued cooperation between Moscow and Washington within the U.N. Security Council.”

Senator Lugar said another key to bilateral cooperation is Russian membership in the World Trade Organization. He said the cold war-era Jackson-Vanik Amendment, which the United States used to link trade relations with human rights in the Soviet Union, no longer applies to Russia and should be revoked.

Senator Lugar also noted a significant expansion of U.S.-Russian business ties, including a 20 percent increase in American exports to Russia last year to $4.7 billion. He said the improved business climate includes deepening cooperation on piracy, counterfeiting, border controls, pharmaceutical test data and intellectual property rights.

Former Senator Nunn concluded his speech with a warning that the world today is in a race between cooperation and catastrophe. He used an old saying to frame his call for cooperation, “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.”

By VOA News
22 August 2007

A senior U.S. official has criticized the deal Iran reached with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on a timetable for Tehran to answer questions about its controversial nuclear program.

Gregory Schulte - the head of the U.S. delegation to the IAEA - said Wednesday in Vienna that the pact has “real limitations,” and does not allow for wider inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Schulte said Iran is “clearly trying to take attention” from its efforts to acquire nuclear weapons capabilities. He added this will not prevent the United Nations Security Council from taking additional punitive measures against Iran.

Tuesday, IAEA Deputy Director Olli Heinonen and Iranian nuclear negotiator Javad Vaeedi announced the agreement on the timetable, but did not provide details.

IAEA is due to present a report on Iran to the Security Council next month.

The Security Council has imposed two sets of sanctions on Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to make nuclear weapons.

The United States and its allies accuse Iran of seeking to build atomic weapons under the cover of a civilian program to generate electric power. Iran denies the charge.

By VOA News
21 August 2007

Iran and the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) say they have agreed on a timetable for Tehran to clear up outstanding questions about its controversial nuclear program.

IAEA Deputy Director Olli Heinonen and Iranian nuclear negotiator Javad Vaeedi announced the agreement Tuesday after two days of talks in Tehran.

Vaeedi said the talks produced great results.

Neither side gave details on the timetable agreed to in the talks, which came ahead of an IAEA report on Iran that is due for release next month.

Earlier Tuesday, a top U.S. diplomat said Iran’s efforts to continue discussions with the IAEA will not stop Washington from pushing for tougher U.N. sanctions against Iran.

U.S. Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said Iran should have answered the United Nations’ questions about its nuclear program years ago.

The U.N. Security Council has imposed two sets of sanctions on Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to make nuclear weapons.

The United States and its allies accuse Iran of seeking to build atomic weapons under the cover of a civilian program to generate electric power. Iran denies the charge.