Archive for September 1st, 2012

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01/09/2012

Top US Military Commander: ‘I Don’t Want to Be Complicit’ if Israel Attacks Iran

Human Wrongs Watch

By RT*, 31 August, 2012 – The highest ranking officer in the United States military has announced that he is against American participation in any Israeli-led attack on Iran, even as pressure to destroy the Islamic Republic’s rumored nuclear program remain unrelieved.

**Middle East map. Author: W123 | Wikimedia Commons.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in London on Thursday that an Israeli attack would “clearly delay but probably not destroy Iran’s nuclear program,” adding that he was against US cooperation in a unilateral assault.

“I don’t want to be complicit if they [Israel] choose to do it,” Dempsey told reporters.

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01/09/2012

UN Chief Condemns in Iran ‘Threats by Any Member State to Destroy Another’

Human Wrongs Watch

In a message implicitly addressed to Iran for its repeated threats against Israel and which might also have been indirectly referring to Tel Aviv’s reported plans to launch a military attack on Iran, the UN chief condemned in Tehran “threats by any Member State to destroy or delegitimize another.”

Ban Ki-moon with Iranian Foreign Minister Aliakbar Salehi. UN Photo/E. Schneider

Taking note of the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Iran’s nuclear programme, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has emphasized the need for diplomacy in resolving the country’s nuclear issue, a United Nations spokesperson said on 31 August.

“It is regrettable that Iran has yet to reach agreement with the IAEA on a plan to resolve all outstanding issues,” the spokesperson told a news briefing at UN Headquarters in New York.

“The Secretary-General emphasizes that there can only be a diplomatic and negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear issue which should be pursued through a reciprocal, step-by-step process,” the spokesperson added.

“This must include measures by Iran aimed at building international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear programme,” the UN reported.

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Posted in Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples, War Lords | 1 Comment »

01/09/2012

Israelis Protest Government’s War Drums against Iran

Human Wrongs Watch

The Israel public has been bombarded with hawkish statements regarding the situation with Iran and the drum roll of war is echoing in the ears of every Israeli citizen, according to local peace and disarmament campaigners.

Israeli protests | ICAN, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

The Israeli government has made it clear that war with Iran is at the doorstep, according to an International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons’ report.

“The image the government was portraying is of two options: either bomb Iran or accept Iran with the bomb. Those statements were supposed to create a favorable public opinion for a military strike.”

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01/09/2012

Oil-Rich United Arab Emirates Launches Ambitious Nuclear Program

Human Wrongs Watch

By Bernhard Schell, InDepthNews*, Dubai – Nearly one year after the launch of a nuclear fuel procurement competition in July 2011, the oil-rich United Arab Emirates (UAE) has started an ambitious atomic power program.

UAE nuclear power plant | Credit: Enec

The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) has awarded six contracts related to the supply of natural uranium concentrates, conversion and enrichment services, and the purchase of enriched uranium product.

UAE was founded in 1971, comprising seven states, which were under British rule. The federation includes Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Abu Dhabi city is the federal capital of UAE, and Abu Dhabi emirate accounts for 86% of the land area of UAE, and 95% of its oil. Dubai is the UAE’s largest city.

Enec estimates that the contracts are worth some $3 billion and will enable the Barakah nuclear power plant to generate up to 450 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity over a 15-year period starting in 2017, when the first of four units at the plant is scheduled to begin operating.

Enec has signed agreements with both France’s Areva and Russia’s Techsnabexport (Tenex). They will provide services across the front-end of the fuel cycle, including the supply of uranium concentrates as well as conversion and enrichment services.

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01/09/2012

Syria: Assad Forces Attack Bakeries, Kill Civilians Waiting for Bread

Syrian government forces have dropped bombs and fired artillery at or near at least 10 bakeries in Aleppo province over the past three weeks, killing and maiming scores of civilians who were waiting for bread, Human Rights Watch reports.

**Image: Burning house in Homs after Syrian army bombing. Credit: Bo yaser | Wikimedia Commons.

The attacks are at least recklessly indiscriminate and the pattern and number of attacks suggest that government forces have been targeting civilians, Human Rights Watch said. “Both reckless indiscriminate attacks and deliberately targeting civilians are war crimes.”

One attack in the city of Aleppo on August 16, 2012, killed up to 60 people and wounded more than 70, Human Rights Watch (HRW) adds. Another attack in the city on August 21 killed at least 23 people and wounded 30.

“Day after day, Aleppo residents line up to get bread for their families, and instead get shrapnel piercing their bodies from government bombs and shells,” said Ole Solvang, emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch who has just returned from Aleppo. “Ten bakery attacks is not random – they show no care for civilians and strongly indicate an attempt to target them.”

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