WarSclerotic

Obama: All Options Available on Iran Nukes – Defense/Security – News – Israel National News.

By David Lev

Barack Obama

White House

In an interview with TIME Magazine, parts of which were published on the web Wednesday night, U.S. President Barack H. Obama slams Republican critics of his policy on Iran – singling out Mitt Romney, who appears to be the front-runner in the race to become the Republican nominee to run against Obama later this year. Romney has accused Obama of failing to act to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, but Obama said in the interview that he was seriously mistaken – on his policy, and on what to do about Iran. Romney’s position would not stand up to “a serious debate,” he told TIME’s Fareed Zakaria.

Romney stated recently that Iran would definitely be able to build nuclear weapons if Obama was reelected, since the President had done nothing, and would continue to do nothing, to prevent Iran from acquiring the weapons. “I have made myself clear since I began running for the presidency that we will take every step available to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” Obama said, adding “Can we guarantee that Iran takes the smarter path? No, which is why I’ve repeatedly said we don’t take any options off the table in preventing them from getting a nuclear weapon.”

The interview, which will appear in the January 30 edition of TIME, touches on numerous issues that Obama will find himself debating with the Republican candidate as the election draws closer. Obama blamed Congressional Republicans for weakening America’s international position, by failing to support some of his domestic policies.

“Our whole foreign policy has to be anchored in economic strength here at home,” Obama said. “And if we are not strong, stable, growing, making stuff, training our work force so that it’s the most skilled in the world, maintaining our lead in innovation, in basic research, in basic science, in the quality of our universities, in the transparency of our financial sector, if we don’t maintain the upward mobility and equality of opportunity that underwrites our politically stability and makes us a beacon for the world, then our foreign policy leadership will diminish as well.” Overall, though, the U.S. is in a stronger position than it was when he entered office, Obama said.

UN watchdog urges full Iran cooperation in nuclear probe – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News.

IAEA chief says he won’t soften his report on the Islamic Republic; ‘What we know suggests the development of nuclear weapons,’ Amano says.

By Reuters

The United Nations nuclear watchdog chief said it was his duty to warn the world about suspected Iranian activities that point to plans to develop atomic bomb, maintaining pressure on Tehran ahead of rare talks between Iran and his agency expected this month.

Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, made clear in an interview with Financial Times Deutschland that the UN body would press for full cooperation in meetings with Iranian officials in Tehran.

	Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Yukiya Amano of Japan
	Photo by: AP

“What we know suggests the development of nuclear weapons,” he was quoted as saying in comments published in German on Thursday, adding Iran had so far failed to clarify allegations of possible military links to its nuclear program.

“We want to check over everything that could have a military dimension.”

An IAEA delegation, to be headed by Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts, is expected to seek explanations for intelligence information that indicates Iran has engaged in research and development relevant for nuclear weapons.

Tension between Iran and the West over Iran’s nuclear program has increased since November, when the IAEA published a report that said Tehran appeared to have worked on designing a nuclear weapon. Iran says its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity.

“I have absolutely no reason to soften my report. It is my responsibility to alarm the world,” Amano said. “The overall pattern led me to the decision to alarm the world. The more pieces [of information], the clearer the pattern becomes.”

Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh, told Reuters on Tuesday that Iranian officials were open to discussing “any issues” in the talks in Tehran, which he said were set for Jan 29-31.

Western diplomats, who have often accused Iran of using stalling tactics as it presses ahead with its nuclear program, have expressed doubt that the planned IAEA trip will lead to any major progress in the long-running nuclear dispute.

While UN inspectors regularly monitor Iran’s declared nuclear facilities, their movements are otherwise restricted, and the IAEA has complained for years of a lack of access to sites, equipment, documents and people relevant to its probe.

Amano rejected Iranian media suggestions that his agency may have been partly responsible for the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist last week.

Iran has in the past accused the IAEA of leaking the names of nuclear scientists, making them potential targets for the security services of Iran’s foes in the West and Israel.

“That is wrong. We did not publish his name. I did not know him,” Amano said about the Jan 11 killing of Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan in a car bomb attack in Tehran. Iran has blamed Israel.

“I don’t believe in violence. I believe in dialogue and conversation. I only expect from Iran that it cooperates.”

Iran says it has never tried to close Strait of Hormuz, warns region against escalation.

Thursday, 19 January 2012

The Strait of Hormuz, an important oil shipping route, is at the center of dispute between Iran and the west. (Reuters)

inShare1

Iran has never in its history tried to close the Strait of Hormuz, the vital shipping route at the center of increasing international tension, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Thursday.

“Iran has never in its history tried to prevent, to put any obstacles in the way of this important maritime route,” he said in an interview with NTV television during a visit to Turkey.

Salehi also warned Arab neighbors not to put themselves in a “dangerous position” by allying themselves too closely with Washington in the escalating row over Tehran’s nuclear activity.

 We want peace and tranquility in the region. But some of the countries in our region, they want to direct other countries 12,000 miles away from this region 

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi

“We want peace and tranquility in the region. But some of the countries in our region, they want to direct other countries 12,000 miles away from this region,” Salehi said in English during a visit to Turkey.

The remark was an apparent reference to the alliance of Iran’s Arab neighbors with the United States, which has a huge fleet in the Gulf and says it will keep the waterway open.

“I am calling to all countries in the region, please don’t let yourselves be dragged into a dangerous position,” he told Turkey’s NTV broadcaster.

Iran threatened in December to close the narrow and strategic waterway ̶ a chokepoint for one fifth of the world’s traded oil ̶ in the event of a military strike or the severe tightening of international sanctions.

That set up a tense standoff with the United States which sent a second aircraft carrier to the region as Tehran announced new naval maneuvers in the Strait within the next few weeks.

Washington should be willing to hold talks with Tehran with no preconditions, he said.

Iran’s military in 1987 and 1988 laid mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf to make the channel hazardous for oil tankers from Iraq, with which it was at war.

In April 1988, a U.S. warship struck one of the mines and nearly sank. The U.S. military subsequently launched Operation Preying Mantis, destroying two Iranian oil platforms and several vessels.

Mines left over from that conflict, and from the 1990-1991 Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, were being picked up in the coastal waters in the northern Gulf up to a decade later.

 there are all kinds of reasons why Tehran would probably not close the strait as long as they have the ability to export some oil 

Michael Eisenstadt, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Meanwhile, U.S.-based experts said that Iran has no desire to carry out its threat of closing the Strait of Hormuz to head off fresh Western economic sanctions because doing so would damage the regime’s own interests.

Iran is brandishing the vital shipping route ̶ a chokepoint for one fifth of the world’s traded oil ̶ as a pawn in the battle being played out against the United States and other leading nations over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

But the potential effects of taking firm action has left Tehran blowing hot and cold on the issue and could be part of a wider series of threats that Iran is willing to make to defend its ground, according to analysts.

“Iran’s perception is that the U.S. and its allies are waging economic warfare on the Islamic Republic and that the regime is at risk ̶ their ability to export oil has always been a red line for them,” said Michael Eisenstadt, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

But “there are all kinds of reasons why Tehran would probably not close the strait as long as they have the ability to export some oil.”

“They also import almost all their products through the … Gulf, so they would really be a self-inflicted wound on them if they were to do this,” Eisenstadt said.

“A more likely possibility is that Iran might engage in harassment of U.S. forces, maybe a covert harassment campaign,” he told a conference hosted by the Atlantic Council in Washington on Tuesday.

The killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist, which Tehran blamed on the United States and Israel, has added to an already heated diplomatic battle over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions ̶ which it insists are for non-military purposes.

 The Iranians, I think, very deliberately use the specter of closing the Strait of Hormuz as a codename for something much bigger 

Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer

Iran’s apparent openness to resuming talks with the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany, also indicates it does not intend to shut down the strategic trading route, according to Eisenstadt.

The talks last took place in Turkey in January 2011.

But the prospect of new Western sanctions ̶ the EU could as early as Monday impose new penalties on Iran ̶ has increasingly seen Tehran use the possible disruption of oil supplies as a bargaining chip.

Mark Gunzinger, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a think-tank focused on US national security, said the situation in the Gulf was a major concern.

“Closing the strait cuts both ways, their economy is very dependent on energy exports as well, as well as imports of refined energy,” said Gunzinger.

“I don’t personally take what he (Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) says seriously, but you do have to take seriously their (nuclear) ambitions.

“The trend line is worrisome. Ten years from now you might not want to put two aircraft-carriers right in the … Gulf.”

The threat is just one tool in Iran’s box to deter a U.S. missile strike on its nuclear facilities, according to Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer.

“The Iranians, I think, very deliberately use the specter of closing the Strait of Hormuz as a codename for something much bigger,” said Riedel, a senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution.

“They’re talking about all the things they could do on the southern littoral of the Gulf, from missile strikes into Abu Dhabi, into refining centers,” or supporting terror groups that could hit Thailand, Lebanon or the United States, Riedel said, noting that U.S. efforts in Afghanistan could also suffer.

“They don’t have to close the Strait of Hormuz to make sure that the price of gasoline in the U.S. goes through the roof,” Riedel said.

“The Iranians are superbly placed to make the war in Afghanistan, which is already difficult, impossible.

“If there is a second country providing sanctuary and safe heaven for the insurgency, the chances of success on the timeline the administration has laid out is virtually nil,” Riedel said.

“They can turn out the light literally on half of Afghanistan whenever they want to,” he added.

IAEA head: My duty is to warn wo… JPost – Iranian Threat – News.

    VIENNA – The UN nuclear watchdog chief said it was his duty to warn the world about suspected Iranian activities that point to plans to develop atomic bomb, maintaining pressure on Tehran ahead of rare talks between Iran and his agency expected this month.

Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, made clear in an interview with Financial Times Deutschland that the UN body would press for full cooperation in meetings with Iranian officials in Tehran.
“What we know suggests the development of nuclear weapons,” he was quoted as saying in comments published in German on Thursday, adding Iran had so far failed to clarify allegations of possible military links to its nuclear program.

“We want to check over everything that could have a military dimension.”

An IAEA delegation, to be headed by Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts, is expected to seek explanations for intelligence information that indicates Iran has engaged in research and development relevant for nuclear weapons.

Tension between Iran and the West over Iran’s nuclear program has increased since November, when the IAEA published a report that said Tehran appeared to have worked on designing a nuclear weapon. Iran says its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity.

“I have absolutely no reason to soften my report. It is my responsibility to alarm the world,” Amano said. “The overall pattern led me to the decision to alarm the world. The more pieces (of information), the clearer the pattern become.”

Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh, told Reuters on Tuesday that Iranian officials were open to discussing “any issues” in the talks in Tehran, which he said were set for Jan 29-31.

Western diplomats, who have often accused Iran of using stalling tactics as it presses ahead with its nuclear program, have expressed doubt that the planned IAEA trip will lead to any major progress in the long-running nuclear dispute.

While UN inspectors regularly monitor Iran’s declared nuclear facilities, their movements are otherwise restricted, and the IAEA has complained for years of a lack of access to sites, equipment, documents and people relevant to its probe.

Amano rejected Iranian media suggestions that his agency may have been partly responsible for the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist last week.

Iran has in the past accused the IAEA of leaking the names of nuclear scientists, making them potential targets for the security services of Iran’s foes in the West and Israel.

“That is wrong. We did not publish his name. I did not know him,” Amano said about the Jan 11 killing of Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan in a car bomb attack in Tehran. Iran has blamed Israel.

“I don’t believe in violence. I believe in dialogue and conversation. I only expect from Iran that it cooperates.”

DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security.

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report January 19, 2012, 11:06 AM (GMT+02:00)

US top soldier, Gen. Martin Dempsey with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta

Gen. Martin Dempsey arrives Thursday, Jan. 19, for his first visit to Israel as Chairman of the Joint US Chiefs of Staff amid a major falling-out between the two governments over the handling of Iran’s nuclear weapon potential. debkafile‘s military and Washington sources confirm that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands by the view that Iran is advancing its plans to build a nuclear bomb full speed ahead, undeterred even by the threat of harsher sanctions. Netanyahu therefore stands by his refusal of President Barack Obama’s demand for a commitment to abstain from a unilateral strike on Iran’s nuclear sites without prior notice to Washington.
The US president repeated this demand when he called the Israeli prime minister Thursday night Jan. 13. Netanyahu replied that, in view of their disagreement on this point, he preferred to cancel the biggest US-Israel war game ever staged due to have taken place in April. The exercise was to have tested the level of coordination between the two armies in missile defense for the contingency of a war with Iran or a regional conflict.

The prime minister was concerned that having large-scale US military forces in the country would restrict his leeway for decision-making on Iran.
In an effort to limit the damage to relations with the US administration, Defense Minister Ehud Barak struck a conciliatory note Wednesday, Jan. 18, saying, “Israel is still very far from a decision on attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities.”
Striking the pose of middleman, he was trying to let Washington know that there was still time for the US and Israel to reach an accommodation on whether and when a strike should take place.

debkafile‘s sources doubt that President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu are in any mood to respond to Barak’s effort to cool the dispute. Obama needs to be sure he will not be taken by surprise by an Israel attack in the middle of his campaign for re-election, especially since he has begun taking heat on the Iranian issue.

Republican rivals are accusing him of being soft on Iran.  And while the economy is the dominant election issue, a majority of Americans disapprove of his handling of Iran’s nuclear ambitions by a margin of 48 to 33 percent according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll this week.
Wednesday (Thursday morning Israel time), President Obama responded by reiterating that he has been clear since running for the presidency that he will take “every step available to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”

Echoes of Barak’s arguments were heard in the words of US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Wednesday night: “We are not making any special steps at this point in order to deal with the situation. Why? Because, frankly, we are fully prepared to deal with that situation now.”

Panetta went on to say that Defense Minister Barak contacted him and asked to postpone the joint US-Israeli drill “for technical reasons.”
Before he took off for a short trip to Holland, Netanyahu instructed Barak and IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz not to deviate in their talks with Gen. Dempsey from the position he took with the US president, namely, no commitment for advance notice to Washington about a unilateral strike against Iran.

The Israeli prime minister is convinced that, contrary to the claims by US spokesmen and media, that current sanctions are ineffective insofar as slowing Iran’s advance toward a nuclear weapon and the harsher sanctions on Iran’s central bank and oil exports are too slow and will take hold too late to achieve their purpose.

In any case, say Israeli officials, Washington is again signaling its willingness to go back to direct nuclear negotiations with Tehran, although past experience proved that Iran exploits diplomatic dialogue as grace time for moving forward on its nuclear ambitions.
US spokesmen denied an Iranian report that a recent letter from the US president to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei proposed opening a direct channel for talks.

Still those reports persist. American and European spokesmen were forced to deny a statement by Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi Wednesday on his arrival in Ankara that Iran and the big powers are in contact over the revival of nuclear negotiations.

Netanyahu fears that dialogue between Iran and the five powers plus Germany (the P5+1) will resume after bowing to an Iranian stipulation that sanctions be suspended for the duration of the talks. Once again, Tehran will be enabled to steal a march on the US and Israel and bring its nuclear weapon program to conclusion, unhindered by economic constraints.

Iran Threatens U.S., Persian Gulf Cities with Missile Attacks – US News and World Report.

A new report says Tehran wants to dissuade a U.S. attack on its nuclear sites

January 18, 2011 RSS Feed Print

The CSBA analyst acknowledges such changes will be difficult as the Pentagon begins implementing $350 billion in budget cuts that will span a decade. (The department claims that will equal a real-world cut from planned spending of over $480 billion.)

“Achieving this within an increasingly constrained budget will require defense planners to make difficult decisions,” Gunzinger writes, “the United States cannot meet the challenges that Iran could pose to its vital interests in the Gulf by simply spending more and adding new capabilities and capacity.”

With most of Washington – and the GOP presidential candidates – debating whether the United States should use military force to halt Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, the report paints one of the first sketches of how a U.S.-Iranian conflict might play out.

The Pentagon will need to change how it fights and what it buys – even amid declining annual budgets – to deal effectively with Iranian systems fielded in recent years, says CSBA. These weapons and supporting platforms are tailored to significantly hinder the U.S. military’s ability to move freely within an enemy’s territory – including the air, at and under the sea, and increasingly in cyberspace.

The report from comes just weeks after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called a nuclear-armed Iran a “red line” for Washington and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey revealed Pentagon officials are examining Iran strike options.

Fars News Agency :: Iranian Submarines’ Ambush for US Aircraft Carriers in Persian Gulf.

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Iranian military commander underlined that the Iranian Navy’s subsurface vessels enjoy a high capability to confront enemies’ threats, and stated that Iran’s submarines are able to ambush and hit enemy vessels specially US Aircraft carriers from the seabed throughout the Persian Gulf.

Speaking to FNA on Wednesday, Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Army’s Self-Sufficiency Jihad Rear Admiral Farhad Amiri said that Iran has the best electronic diesel submarines of the world, adding that enemies, the US in particular, are most focused on Iran’s astonishing subsurface capabilities. Amiri underlined that significance of submarines are not just indebted to their arms and equipment, “rather the tactical issues are very important”, given the geographical specifications of the waters surrounding the county. “For example,” he stated, “if an ordinary submarines can sit in the Persian Gulf’s bed it would be the worst threat to the enemy.” “That is one of the US concerns since Iranian submarines are noiseless and can easily evade detection as they are equipped with the sonar-evading technology” and can fire missiles and torpedoes simultaneously, he added. “When the submarine sits on the seabed it can easily target and hit an aircraft carrier traversing in the nearby regions,” Amiri reiterated. Earlier this month, Iranian Army Commander Major General Ataollah Salehi called on the US to avoid sending back its military ships and aircraft carriers to the Persian Gulf after Iran’s naval drills forced Washington to bring one of its carriers out of the strategic region. Speaking on the sidelines of the naval parades in the Sea of Oman at the end of Velayat 90 massive naval drills, Salehi said that the US brought the aircraft carrier out of the Persian Gulf and the vessel passed through the Strait of Hormoz and stationed in the Sea of Oman before the start of Iran’s naval drills. As regards Iran’s reaction to the vessel’s redeployment, Salehi stated, “We advise, warn and recommend them (US Navy) not to return this carrier to its previous location in the Persian Gulf.” “We are not in the habit of repeating the warning and we warn only once,” Salehi reiterated, without mentioning the name of the US aircraft carrier. The aircraft carrier Salehi was referring to was the USS John C. Stennis, one of the US navy’s biggest vessels. Later, US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Martin Dempsey acknowledged that Iran is able to close the Strait of Hormoz. “They’ve invested in capabilities that could, in fact, for a period of time block the Strait of Hormoz,” Dempsey said in an interview aired on the CBS “Face the Nation” program. Late in November, the Iranian Navy expanded the fleet of its submarines after it received three more Ghadir-class submarines. Speaking to reporters in a press conference at the time, Iranian Army’s Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said that all parts of the submarines have been designed and manufactured by Iranian experts. Iranian commanders had earlier said that Ghadir-class submarines boosted the Navy’s capability in defending the country’s territorial waters. The submarine has been designed and manufactured according to the geographical and climate conditions and specifications of Iranian waters, according to military experts. The Iranian military officials said that the submarine can easily evade detection as it is equipped with sonar-evading technology and can fire missiles and torpedoes simultaneously.

Iranian Lawmaker Says Obama Proposed Talks – ABC News

U.S. President Barack Obama has called for direct talks with Iran in a secret letter to the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader that also warned Tehran against closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a conservative Iranian lawmaker was quoted as saying Wednesday.

Iran has threatened to close the waterway, the route for about one-sixth of the global oil flow, because of new U.S. sanctions over its nuclear program.

Conservative lawmaker Ali Motahari revealed the content of the letter days after the Obama administration said it was warning Iran through public and private channels against any action that threatens the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf.

“In the letter, Obama called for direct talks with Iran,” the semiofficial Fars news agency quoted Motahari as saying Wednesday. “The letter also said that closing the Strait of Hormuz is (Washington’s) red line.”

“The first part of the letter contains threats and the second part contains an offer for dialogue,” he added.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast confirmed that Tehran received the letter and was considering a possible response.

The White House would not confirm the letter Wednesday. National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor pointed to earlier comments from the Obama administration that noted the U.S. had a number of ways to communicate its views to the Iranian government. He said the U.S. remained committed to engaging with Tehran and finding a diplomatic solution to its larger issues with Iran’s nuclear program.

Spokesmen have been vague on what the United States would do about Iran’s threat to block the strategic Strait of Hormuz, but military officials have been clear that the U.S. is readying for a possible naval clash.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, the country’s most powerful military force, says Tehran’s leadership has decided to order the closure of the oil route if Iran’s oil exports are blocked. A senior Guard officer said earlier this month that the decision has been made by Iran’s top authorities.

Iranian politicians have made the threat in the past, but this was the strongest statement yet that a closure of the strait is official policy.

Iran’s regular army recently held naval war games near the vital waterway that were described by hard-liners as part of preparations to close the strait if sanctions are imposed. The Guard is planning major naval military exercises next month in the same region.

The U.S. last month enacted new sanctions targeting Iran’s central bank and its ability to sell petroleum abroad over Tehran’s nuclear program. The U.S. has delayed implementing the sanctions for at least six months, worried about sending the price of oil higher at a time when the global economy is struggling.

Closing the strait would have immense world economic impact. Iran is OPEC’s second largest oil producer, and oil exports account for 80 percent of Iran’s foreign currency income. To Tehran, an oil embargo would be tantamount to a declaration of war that could provoke the Iranian leadership to block the Hormuz strait.

At issue is Iran’s nuclear program. The U.S., Israel and others charge that Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons. Their case was bolstered by a report from the International Atomic Energy late last year, citing evidence that Iran was employing methods and equipment used in making bombs.

Iran has consistently denied that, saying its nuclear program is peaceful, aimed at producing electric power and isotopes for cancer treatment.

———

Associated Press writer Julie Pace in Washington contributed to this report.

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Iran says in touch with big powers on new nuclear talks, EU denies it – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News.

Iranian politicians say U.S. President Barack Obama had expressed readiness to negotiate in a letter to Tehran; Catherine Ashton spokesman denies there were any fresh discussions with the Islamic Republic.

By Reuters

Iran said on Wednesday it was in touch with big powers to hold fresh talks soon but the European Union denied it, with Britain saying Tehran had yet to show willingness for negotiations on its disputed nuclear work without preconditions.

A year after the last talks collapsed, tensions are rising with the United States and EU preparing to embargo Iran’s lifeblood oil industry over its refusal to suspend a nuclear program that the West suspects is meant to develop atom bombs.

	Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
	Photo by: AP

Iranian politicians said U.S. President Barack Obama had expressed readiness to negotiate in a letter to Tehran, a step that might relieve tensions behind several oil price spikes and growing fears of military conflict in the Gulf.

“Negotiations are going on about venue and date. We would like to have these negotiations,” Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told reporters during a visit to Turkey.

“Most probably, I am not sure yet, the venue will be Istanbul. The day is not yet settled, but it will be soon.”

A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, representing the six powers, denied there were any fresh discussions with the Islamic Republic to organize a meeting.
“There are no negotiations under way on new talks,” he said in Brussels. “We are still waiting for Iran to respond to the substantive proposals the High Representative (Ashton) made in her letter from October.”

Britain was also dismissive. “There are no dates or concrete plans because Iran has yet to demonstrate clearly that it is willing to respond to Baroness Ashton’s letter and negotiate without preconditions,” a Foreign Office spokesman said.

“Until it does so, the international community will only increase pressure on it through further peaceful and legitimate sanctions,” he said.

PROTRACTED IMPASSE

The last talks between Iran and the permanent members of the UN Security Council — the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China — along with Germany stalled in Istanbul a year ago, with the parties unable to agree even on an agenda.

Since then, a UN nuclear watchdog report has hardened suspicions Iran has worked on designing a nuclear weapon and Washington and the European Union have turned to much harsher economic sanctions aimed at pushing Tehran into suspending sensitive nuclear activity and entering genuine negotiations.

EU foreign ministers are expected to approve an embargo on Iranian oil at a meeting on Jan. 23, diplomats say.

“Ahead of (that meeting) Iran is chasing headlines and pretending that it is ready to engage,” a Western diplomat said in reference to Salehi’s remarks.

“If it really is ready to sit down without preconditions the (six powers) would do so. Sadly, at the moment, it seems more interested in propaganda”.

Iran has said it is ready to talk but has also started shifting uranium enrichment to a deep bunker where it would be less vulnerable to the air strikes Israel says it could launch if diplomacy fails to halt the nuclear program.

Western diplomats say Tehran must show willingness to change its course in any new talks. Crucially, Tehran says other countries must respect its right to enrich uranium, the nuclear fuel which, if enriched to much higher levels than that suitable for power plants, can provide material for atomic bombs.

Iran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons and says its activities are for power generation and medical applications.

Russia, a member of the six power group that has criticized the new EU and U.S. sanctions, said the last-ditch military option mooted by the United States and Israel would ignite a disastrous, widespread Middle East war.

“On the chances of whether this catastrophe will happen or not you should ask those who repeatedly talk about this,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow.

“I have no doubt that it would pour fuel on a fire which is already smoldering, the hidden smoldering fire of Sunni-Shi’ite (Muslim) confrontation, and beyond that (it would cause) a chain reaction. I don’t know where it would stop.”

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Wednesday any decision about an Israeli attack on Iran was “very far off”.

THREATS, FRIENDSHIP

China, which shares Russia’s dislike of the new Western moves to stop Iran exporting oil, said U.S. sanctions that Obama signed into law on Dec. 31 had no basis in international law.

“As for some countries imposing unilateral sanctions on Iran, that is not international law and other countries are under no obligation to participate,” Li Song, a deputy director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of Arms Control and Disarmament, told an online question-and-answer session.

In reply to Tehran’s threat to close the Gulf’s vital oil shipping lane, the Strait of Hormuz, if sanctions prevent it selling oil, Obama has written to the senior cleric who sits atop the Islamic Republic’s power structure, Iranian politicians said.

While Washington has yet to comment on the reported letter to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, several members of Iran’s parliament who discussed the matter on Wednesday said it included the offer of talks.

“In this letter it was said that closing the Strait of Hormuz is our (U.S.) ‘red line’ and also asked for direct negotiations,” the semi-official Fars news agency quoted lawmaker Ali Mottahari as saying.

“The first part of letter has a threatening stance and the second part has a stance of negotiation and friendship.”

Washington has often said it has a dual-track approach to Iran, leaving open the offer of talks while seeking ever tighter sanctions as long as Tehran does not rein in its nuclear work.

But any fresh opening to Tehran might be a risky strategy for Obama in an election year as Republican presidential candidates compete over who is toughest on a country Washington has long considered a pariah state.

Ray Takeyh, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said in a recent column in the Washington Post that there were doubts about Tehran’s sincerity in wishing to return to talks.

“By threatening the disruption of global oil supplies, yet dangling the prospect of entering talks, Iran can press actors such as Russia and China to be more accommodating in an effort to avoid a crisis that they fear,” Takeyh wrote.

“Any concessions that Iran may make at the negotiating table are bound to be symbolic and reversible.”