Psycho4Bud
09-26-2007, 05:04 PM
Iran's president has said his country's nuclear programme is now "closed" as a political issue. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the disputed work was in the hands of the UN nuclear watchdog.
And he criticised as "illegal" sanctions taken by the Security Council.
He said: "Previously they illegally insisted on politicising the Iranian nation's nuclear case but today, because of the resistance of the Iranian nation, the issue is back to the agency and I officially announce that in our opinion the nuclear issue of Iran is now closed and has turned into an ordinary agency matter."
Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives has passed legislation imposing sanctions on foreign energy companies that do business with Tehran.
European energy groups could well be among those affected. Iran relies on oil for up to 90 percent of the country's export earnings.
The text calls for a ban on nuclear assistance to countries which support Iran's atomic programme and sanctions for companies which invest there.
It also calls on the US State Department to put the Iranian Revolutionary Guards on its blacklist of terrorist organisations. Washington has long accused them of funding Shi'ite rebels in Iraq - something Tehran denies.
The move would make it easier for the US to freeze the Revolutionary Guard's funds.
EuroNewsEuroNews : Iran's Ahmadinejad: nuclear issue "closed" (http://euronews.net/index.php?page=info&article=444857&lng=1)
Sarkozy clarifies France's Iran policy
PARIS: Struggling to end speculation that France was prepared to go to war against Iran, President Nicolas Sarkozy took that option off the table, saying tougher sanctions eventually would change Tehran's behavior.
In an interview Friday evening before departing for his first appearance before the United Nations General Assembly this week, Sarkozy contradicted the war talk of his foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner.
Kouchner said in a radio and television interview on Sept. 16 that France was preparing for the "worst" scenario with Iran, "war," and spent much of his time since then declaring that he had been misunderstood.
"For my part, I don't use the word 'war,' " Sarkozy said. France's position, he added, is very clear: "No nuclear weapon for Iran, an arsenal of sanctions to convince them, negotiations, discussions, firmness. And I don't want to hear anything else that would not contribute usefully to the discussion today."
Breaking with traditional French policy, which has long resisted sanctions as a diplomatic weapon, Sarkozy laid out a far-reaching strategy to punish Iran economically - both through United Nations and European sanctions and by exerting pressure on French and other nations' corporations and banks not to do business there.
Sarkozy clarifies France's Iran policy - International Herald Tribune (http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/23/business/sarko.php)
Closed.........I don't think so.:D
Have a good one!:s4:
And he criticised as "illegal" sanctions taken by the Security Council.
He said: "Previously they illegally insisted on politicising the Iranian nation's nuclear case but today, because of the resistance of the Iranian nation, the issue is back to the agency and I officially announce that in our opinion the nuclear issue of Iran is now closed and has turned into an ordinary agency matter."
Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives has passed legislation imposing sanctions on foreign energy companies that do business with Tehran.
European energy groups could well be among those affected. Iran relies on oil for up to 90 percent of the country's export earnings.
The text calls for a ban on nuclear assistance to countries which support Iran's atomic programme and sanctions for companies which invest there.
It also calls on the US State Department to put the Iranian Revolutionary Guards on its blacklist of terrorist organisations. Washington has long accused them of funding Shi'ite rebels in Iraq - something Tehran denies.
The move would make it easier for the US to freeze the Revolutionary Guard's funds.
EuroNewsEuroNews : Iran's Ahmadinejad: nuclear issue "closed" (http://euronews.net/index.php?page=info&article=444857&lng=1)
Sarkozy clarifies France's Iran policy
PARIS: Struggling to end speculation that France was prepared to go to war against Iran, President Nicolas Sarkozy took that option off the table, saying tougher sanctions eventually would change Tehran's behavior.
In an interview Friday evening before departing for his first appearance before the United Nations General Assembly this week, Sarkozy contradicted the war talk of his foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner.
Kouchner said in a radio and television interview on Sept. 16 that France was preparing for the "worst" scenario with Iran, "war," and spent much of his time since then declaring that he had been misunderstood.
"For my part, I don't use the word 'war,' " Sarkozy said. France's position, he added, is very clear: "No nuclear weapon for Iran, an arsenal of sanctions to convince them, negotiations, discussions, firmness. And I don't want to hear anything else that would not contribute usefully to the discussion today."
Breaking with traditional French policy, which has long resisted sanctions as a diplomatic weapon, Sarkozy laid out a far-reaching strategy to punish Iran economically - both through United Nations and European sanctions and by exerting pressure on French and other nations' corporations and banks not to do business there.
Sarkozy clarifies France's Iran policy - International Herald Tribune (http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/23/business/sarko.php)
Closed.........I don't think so.:D
Have a good one!:s4: