P5+1 eases nuclear demands on Iran, offers sanctions relief
End the Lie – Independent News
February 28, 2013
Top officials from the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China, Russia and Iran take part in talks on Iran’s nuclear programme in the Kazakh city of Almaty on February 27, 2013 (AFP Photo / Pool / Shamil Zhumatov)
Negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 nations ended with offers of eased demands on the Islamic Republic. While it’s a good start, experts say, the crippling US sanctions on the country are unlikely to be changed as they are written into American law.
A new proposal finalized during the Wednesday meeting in Almaty, Kazakhstan would require Iran to suspend – but not completely close down – operations at its underground uranium enrichment facility in Fordo. It would also create a set amount of 20-per-cent-enriched uranium for Iran to stockpile.
The offer marks a new turn in the long term of negotiations between world powers and Iran, which previously had made stark demands on the Islamic Republic. The P5+1 – the United States, Russia, France, Britain, China and Germany – are now only asking for scaled down operations in Iran’s nuclear program, which some governments allege is aimed at developing a nuclear bomb.
Iran would also now be able to keep enough enriched uranium to produce medical isotopes at a research facility in Tehran.
The group asked Iran to allow International Atomic Energy Agency monitors to visit its facilities more often in exchange for the suspension of selected current sanctions and a moratorium on new ones.
However, Hillary Mann Leverett, CEO of Strategic Energy and Global Analysis, a Washington-based political risk consultancy, told RT this part may be only an empty gesture.
“Everyone knows the United States has very little that it can give on sanctions,” she said. “President Obama essentially ceded his foreign policy on this issue to the US Congress; almost all of those sanctions are written into US law. They are not something President Obama can give away.”
In any case, the European Union’s embargo on Iranian oil was not brought up for negotiation at the meeting, though the P5+1 would reportedly consider easing restrictions on Iran’s gold and petrochemicals trades, as well as those on its banks.
But, after all, it may not matter in the long run, Mann Leverett told RT. “There’s not much the US can give on sanctions, and in the meantime Iran is becoming more and more self-sufficient in a range of issues so that it’s not vulnerable to such sanctions.”
Said Jalili, Iran’s chief negotiator at the meetings, called the talks “positive” in comments to the press in Almaty. He added that some of the offers coming from Western governments looked “more realistic than those presented in the past and made an effort to approach the positions of Iran.”
Mann Leverett explained what Jalili might have been getting at: “The critical issue for the Iranians, and I think this is where they perceived a slight – and I stress slight – movement on the US side, is in the recognition of their rights: their sovereign and their treaty-based rights to enrich uranium.”
Jalili stressed that Tehran saw “no justification” for shutting down the Fordo facility.
Next, Iranian and EU officials are set to meet in Istanbul on March 18 for negotations that will include experts on nuclear technology.
Source: RT
Syrian Opposition to Attend International Conference in Rome [video]
CorbettReport.com
February 26, 2013
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
As Hague and Kerry launch a new round of rhetoric against Syria, the hypocritical agenda adopted by the West towards Assad has not changed. Now, the Syrian opposition is refusing the government’s offers of negotiation as they prepare to head to Rome for an international conference on how to best fund and aid the foreign terrorists in toppling the government in Damascus. James Corbett joins Press TV to discuss the latest developments.
Al Qaeda in Syria – Neil Sanders [video]
108morris108
February 26, 2013
The West creates, backs and supports the bad guys, so that it can go in and save the world.
Mali Egypt Syria Algeria Analysis – Sheikh Imran Hosein [video]
108morris108
February 8, 2013
So-called militants – encouraged by imperialists – so that western colonialism can intervene to save Africa from the menacing Islam.
Algeria is the next target
Israel needs these developments in order to portray herself as a saviour
Salafists are dajjals warriors fighting NATO’s wars
It is because of Putin that Turkey has not attacked Syria.
Lavrov: US Veto of UNSC Resolution to Condemn Damascus Blasts Indicates Double Standards
nsnbc
February 23, 2013
Christof Lehmann (nsnbc) – After talks with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechim the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, stated, that the US veto of a resolution to condemn Thursday´s terrorist attacks in Damascus at, the UN Seceurity Councel, stresses US double standards when dealing with terrorism.
In statements to the press, Lavrov voiced the Russian governments frustration over the fact that the UNSC standards, that all nations, without exclusion, would condemn terrorism, regardless of the perpetrator, place or motives, was no longer upheld. Lavrov stated, “Russia sees in the American position the use of double standards and a dangerous approach in terms of the Americans moving away from the main principle of condemning terrorism in all its forms”.
Lavrov called on all parties to be guided by the Geneva Statement from 30 June 2012, and stressed, that Russia and China call for respecting provisions of the Charter of the UN to prevent military intervention and the use of force as a means to solve the crisis in Syria, as well as with regard to Iran and Afghanistan.
China´s Minister of Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechim stated, that China condemns the terrorist attacks without any reservations, and Beijing supports an unbiased approach toward the crisis in Syria.
Foreign Minister Lavrov´s condemnation of the US veto underlines a previous statement, in which he explicitly held the USA accountable for acts of terrorism in Syria, because even if the USA officially proclaims that it no longer will support armed insurgents, it still fails to use the influence it has over its allies, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia, who do support the armed insurgency.
International lawyers and analysts are warning of a rapid deterioration of international law at its very foundation since the onset of the war on terror in 2001. In a 2012 article by Black, Fetzer, Mezyaev and Lehmann, the authors warn about the gravest possible consequences this explosion of international law at its foundations has for international, national and individual security.
The Russian and Chinese unequivocal condemnation of the terrorist attacks and the US-American veto could however, signal that this abuse of international law and international institutions by the USA and NATO is increasingly met by a more assertive Russian and Chinese opposition.
CL/nsnbc
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Peace Prize from UNESCO for French PM Hollande for War Crimes in Mali?
by Jason Liosatos
21st Century Wire
February 23, 2013
As France’s Prime Minister Hollande leads the charge in Africa from the safety of his desk, with his military killing, terrifying and displacing Africans, he is to receive a peace prize from UNESCO? To say this was absurd and outright insanity would be putting it mildly.
It seems obvious that the French military charge into Africa is simply to secure the uranium rich mines there in Mali and Niger, some of which are already controlled by Areva, France’s nuclear energy giant, who have a strong foothold on the strategically important mines and assets. Add to this that France is highly dependent on uranium for its countries power supply and we begin to get a whiff of what is going on, that it is no coincidence or conspiracy theory that France has grabbed the chance to secure the region.
There is a mad scramble to hijack Africa and its mineral rich land by China and the US, so this opportunity to create the usual Western style gunslinger, cowboy attack could not be resisted by Obama, Hollande and Cameron to snatch the Gold reserves. With the Fiat paper money collapsing faster than the twin towers it is imperative that Africa is secured for its bountiful supply of gold, and the usual excuse of a terrorist threat was employed, when in truth the greatest terrorist threat worldwide is the US, Israeli and Western megalomaniac governments, who will do virtually anything to satisfy their insatiable lust for power and control.
So as Prime French Prime Minister Hollande, Obama and Cameron bomb and bully their way into the black mans land again, to rob and pillage under the guise of liberators and bringers of democracy, we see the black people with very little, and hoping for a little more, yelling Viva La France as the French troops and military hardware roll by as they clap and cheer, though little do they know that they could very well be the IMF’s next unsuspecting victims, who may soon be taking out loans and mortgages, in a more sophisticated re enslavement of black Africans by the unscrupulous West, as they empty their gold and uranium mines from under their noses.
If this all seems like cynicism let us take a close look first and see the facts and realize there is a great difference between cynicism and reality.
Author Jason Liosatos is a writer and peace advocate based in the UK, and host of Global Peace Radio Show.
Washington Backs Syrian Anti-Government Terrorism
by Stephen Lendman
Global Research
February 23, 2013
Make no mistake. Syria is Washington’s war. It was planned years ago. Regime change is policy. At issue is replacing Assad’s government with a pro-Western puppet one.
Washington tolerates no independent governments. It demands subservience to US policies. Outliers are targeted for removal. Options include war.
Mass slaughter and destruction don’t matter. Unchallenged dominance is policy. It’s longstanding, ruthless and lawless.
Western-recruited death squads ravage Syria. They’ve done so for two years. They’re imported from abroad. Rules of engagement include mass murder, torture, and other atrocities.
Pro-Assad loyalists are prime targets. Innocent civilians are massacred. Doing so is official US policy. Imperial wars are called liberating ones. Terrorism is what they do, not us.
Syria was peaceful before US proxies invaded. So was Libya in 2011. It was ravaged and destroyed. It remains unstable and violent. Libya 2.0 looms.
Syria may become NATO’s latest charnel house. It’s well along the way already. Countries are ravaged on the pretext of liberating them. Empires never say they’re sorry. Policy isn’t pretty. It’s violent and lawless.
It reflects state terrorism. It proliferates death and destruction. It prioritizes wealth, power, privilege and dominance. Direct and proxy wars are waged.
Cutthroat killers are used. They’re recruited abroad. They’re heavily armed, trained, funded and directed. They’re ordered to commit mass murder. Obama bears full responsibility. He’s a war criminal multiple times over.
On February 22, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) headlined “Fifty-Three Civilians Martyred, 235 Others Injured so far in Terrorist Bombing in al-Thawra Street in Damascus.”
Attacks struck central Damascus’ Mazraa neighborhood. Health Minister, Dr. Saad al-Nayef, said “terrorist bombing reflects the criminal nature of its perpetrators.”
Innocent men, women, children, the elderly and infirm were massacred. Syria continues to be ravaged and destabilized.
Al-Hayat Hospital and Abdullah Bin al-Zubir school were heavily damaged. So was Russia’s embassy. Itar Tass quoted a diplomat saying “The building has really been damaged. The windows are shattered.”
Other car bombs struck Damascus’ Barzeh neighborhood. A police station, telecommunications facility, and drug enforcement agency were targeted.
Mortar fire hit Syria’s Army General staff headquarters, Tishreen Sports City and residential buildings. Authorities said a car loaded with tons of explosives was stopped before it exploded.
Perhaps the terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusra was involved. It’s become Washington’s lead belligerent. It vows to “liberate” Damascus. It claims responsibility for 17 or more February Damascus area terrorist attacks. They included at least seven bombings.
Syrian communities abroad, Russia, China, Iran and Hezbollah condemned Thursday’s bombings.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said:
“Once again, we call upon all countries and parties, which might influence the extremists and radicals, to pressure them and demand immediate stop of such terrorist acts and armed violence in order to create appropriate atmosphere to hold a Syrian dialogue that is based on Geneva statement issued last June, 2010.”
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon showed which side he supports. He’s an imperial tool. He shames the office he holds. He violates UN Charter provisions. He urged both sides to show restraint. He called for ending Syria’s crisis politically.
Syria’s Foreign and Expatriates Ministry addressed two identical letters to the Security Council president and Ban. They condemned Thursday’s bombings. They called them cowardly acts.
They targeted crowded civilian areas. They followed previous ones conducted by Al Qaeda linked groups. They get “financial and logistic support and media and political coverage from regional and (Western) countries.”
SANA said:
“The Ministry added that the credibility of combating terrorism which has always been a matter of concern for the international community is now under unprecedented test as the most disgusting form of terrorism hit the Syrian civilians with no mercy or differentiating between an elderly man or a child.”
“The letters added that Syria, in its previous letters to the UN Security Council and the UN Secretary General, called for firm and clear condemnation of these heinous terrorist crimes by the UN member states and for holding countries which support such acts as responsible, whatsoever the form of such support was.”
“The Ministry said that Syria hopes the UN Security Council now will be able to adopt a firm stance which proves its commitment to combating terrorism regardless of its timing or place.”
If the Security Council turns a blind eye, “it will deepen doubts in its seriousness in combating terrorism and its commitment to implementing its resolutions in this regard, in addition to the fact this will be considered as a kind of political concealment of these crimes.”
The international community’s credibility “is at test,” it added. Failure to condemn this type terrorism is morally unconscionable.
It provides evidence of Western double standard duplicity. It reflects support for “organized terrorism.” Doing so won’t deter government forces from defending its citizens. Assad is committed to do so.
On February 21, Washington vetoed a Russian draft statement. It condemned Wednesday’s terrorist attacks. Moscow denounced US policy. It reflects support for what demands condemnation.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov left no doubt where Russia stands, saying:
“This opposition by our American partners….is not the first time in which they seek a form that justifies those who fight the Syrian regime.”
“Russia sees in the American position an application of double standards and a dangerous approach in terms of the Americans moving away from the main principle of condemning terrorism in all its forms.”
Russia’s UN mission issued a statement saying:
“It is obvious that by doing so, the US delegation encourages those who have been repeatedly targeting American interests, including US diplomatic missions.”
It’s not the first time Washington obstructed responsible policy, it added. Moscow called doing so unacceptable. It reflects support for mass murder. It’s official US policy.
It threatens Lebanon. Free Syrian Army General Selim Idriss accused Hezbollah of shelling villages around Qusayr in Homs Governorate.
He issued an ultimatum. He threatened to respond if attacks don’t stop in 48 hours. He accused Hezbollah of sending combatants to Syria.
“As soon as the ultimatum ends,” he added, “we will start responding to the sources of fire.”
Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah categorically denies sending fighters to Syria. At the same time, he said party members may be acting individually. He added that around 30,000 Shitte Lebanese inhabit 22 Syrian villages. Volunteers defend them against terrorist attacks.
On February 21, Lebanon’s Daily Star headlined “FSA claim of strikes on Lebanon false.”
An FSA statement claimed otherwise. It said one of its battalions targeted two Hezbollah bases. It struck with mortars, “machine guns and anti-tank missiles.” It did so near the Syrian/Lebanon border. It vowed more “surprises” ahead.
Longstanding Washington/Israeli policy prioritizes destabilizing Lebanon. At issue is replacing Hezbollah with pro-Western puppets, toppling Assad, isolating Iran, and solidifying US regional control.
Lebanon is small and vulnerable. From 1975 – 1989, it was wracked by internal conflict. From 1982 – 2000, Israel occupied southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah arose out of Israel’s 1982 invasion. It’s falsely called a terrorist organization. It’s for political reasons. It’s part of Lebanon’s government. It’s also a social, charitable, educational, and medical organization.
It provides essential social services. It’s military wing is defensive. It threatens no one. It’s prepared to respond forcefully if attacked. Israel learned the hard way in 2006. Its forces were outfoxed and humiliated. Israel yearns for revenge.
Involving Lebanon in Syria’s war may be planned. Obama and Netanyahu may have that in mind.
On February 21, Mossad-connected DEBKAfile (DF) headlined “Hizbollah on high alert, jockeys for a role in potential Syrian peace accord,” saying:
Its forces went on alert after the FSA’s ultimatum expired. Will its Beqaa Valley serve Assad, DF asked? Will its forces get involved? Are ceasefire talks credible?
According to DF, Assad’s military largely controls most of Syria. Ties to Hezbollah and Iran are firm. Each ally helps the others.
At the same time, FSA fighters may escalate conflict. They may conduct cross-border attacks. They’re no match for Hezbollah’s “far more organized and professional capabilities.”
“If they decide to go on the offensive, they are liable to suffer heavy losses.” Of greater concern is widening Syria’s conflict.
Israel’s currently involved. Last fall, IDF tanks shelled Syrian mortar batteries. Washington OK’d Israeli air strikes. Several targets were struck.
Israeli warplanes invade Lebanese airspace multiple times daily. They do so without permission. Policy is longstanding. It violates international law. Perhaps escalated conflict is planned.
It shouldn’t surprise. Washington and Israel partner in imperial lawlessness. Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iran are prime targets. Regional conflict may follow. What’s possible bears watching. Future updates will discuss more.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book is titled “Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity.”
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour
http://www.dailycensored.com/washington-backs-syrian-anti-goverment-terrorism/
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