down with murder inc

"The Iranians claim to have enriched uranium to the "3.5 per cent level". This is enough to use as nuclear fuel, but nowhere near enough for nuclear weapons. That requires up to 90 per cent enrichment, with 50 to 100 kilograms of it to make a single bomb. The Iranians say they have 164 centrifuges. But thousands would be needed to get a significant amount of weapons grade uranium. Experts say it would take five years or more to produce an atomic bomb from domestic processes.

- The madness of bombing Iran Robert Skidelsky

Oil prices hit fresh record highs: 74.22 dollars in London

Thu Apr 20, 2006 - LONDON (AFP) -

World oil prices have reached new peaks, above 74.0 dollars in London and 72.0 dollars in New York owing to low stocks of gasoline in the United States and tensions over Iran's nuclear programme.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for June delivery struck a record high of 74.22 dollars per barrel on Thursday.

New York's benchmark contract for light sweet crude for May delivery hit an all-time peak of 72.49 dollars.

At about 1105 GMT Brent stood at 73.77 dollars, up four cents on Wednesday's close, while New York crude was at 72.26, up nine cents.

Adjusted for inflation, current oil prices remain below levels reached after the 1979 Iranian revolution. According to Barclays Capital, in November 1979 crude prices surged to a high of 87.23 dollars per barrel in today's money.

"Brent crude hit a new record high above 74 dollars... on concern about the drop in US gasoline stocks and on concern that Iran's ongoing nuclear row with the West will cut oil supplies," said analysts at the Sucden brokerage firm in London.

Brent North Sea, which is a light sweet crude, is the price reference for two-thirds of the world's traded oil according to the IntercontinentalExchange which operates the trading of Brent.

The US Department of Energy had said Wednesday that US gasoline (petrol) stockpiles fell by 5.4 million barrels last week, twice analysts's forecasts and ahead of the peak demand season for motor fuel. The fall in gasoline stocks comes ahead of the driving season in the United States, which sees American drivers take to the roads on vacation beginning in May.

French Energy Minister Francois Loos asked the European Union on Thursday to publish data on the bloc's own oil stocks also on weekly basis, instead of every month, arguing the switch would alleviate pressure on prices. "We need to show that oil production is sufficient in relation to consumption," Loos told a press conference in Paris. "That will dissuade speculators from driving up prices."

Elsewhere, the market tracked events over Iran, the world's fourth biggest crude producer.

"Besides the fundamental supply and demand information, prices are driven by the emotional momentum of the Iranian issue," said Victor Shum, an analyst with energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz in Singapore. "The market is nervous because of the recent heated rhetoric from Iran and the US. The rhetoric is causing prices to stay above 70."

The head of the International Energy Agency told AFP late Wednesday that market speculation has amplified oil price spikes but that the root cause of high prices is the lack of a production safety cushion. "The market is perfectly well supplied at the moment but spare capacity is very limited," IEA executive director Claude Mandil said.

Regarding Iran, world powers who met Wednesday in Moscow for a second day of talks failed to agree on how to halt the country's nuclear drive. Russia and the United States remained divided over the imposition of sanctions and possible use of a military strike.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that although diplomatic avenues will be fully explored, "we have to contemplate diplomacy failing; I believe we have options at our disposal". Washington has accused Iran of working secretly to build nuclear weapons under cover of a nuclear energy programme it is developing with Russian assistance.

Iran denies this charge and says the program is strictly for producing nuclear energy.

Security analysts have said that in the event of a conflict, Iran could block the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic choke-point for oil exports to Japan, the United States and Western Europe. - news.yahoo.com

Russia Warns Against Pressuring Iran

By STEVE GUTTERMAN, Associated Press Sat Apr 22, MOSCOW -

A top Kremlin diplomat warned against threatening Iran with sanctions or the use of force, saying that would only aggravate the international standoff over Tehran's suspect nuclear program, Russian media reports said Saturday.

Rather than getting Iran to stop uranium enrichment, a tougher stance could result in Tehran's total refusal to cooperate with the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, said Oleg Ozerov, deputy director of the Foreign Ministry's Middle East and North Africa Department, according to ITAR-Tass.

"We firmly stand today for resolving the problems in and around Tehran diplomatically rather than militarily. Increasing international pressure on Iran has no prospects," Ozerov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

The United States and European allies are pushing for sanctions because of Iran's refusal to suspend its enrichment program, as demanded by the U.N. Security Council. They suspect Iran is trying to develop atomic weapons in violation of its treaty commitments.

The Iranian regime insists the program has only the peaceful purpose of generating electricity. Russia, which has close ties with Iran and is building that nation's first nuclear power plant, opposes sanctions.

Despite what U.S. and Russian officials have described as increasingly close positions on the Iranian nuclear program in recent years, they appear far apart heading into the Friday deadline set by the Security Council for Iran to stop enrichment.

The United States and Britain say that if Iran doesn't meet the deadline, they will try to get the council to make the demand compulsory, which would raise the possibility of sanctions.

Seeking to avoid having the sanctions issue come before the council, Russian officials argue that the International Atomic Energy Agency should take the lead for the United Nations in trying to resolve tensions over Iran's nuclear program.

Ozerov stressed Russia's opposition to the use of force against Iran - an issue that got close attention in state-run Russian media after President Bush said last week that military action could not be ruled out.

"The forceful option is extremely dangerous and not constructive," ITAR-Tass quoted Ozerov as saying during a seminar on global security.

The report added that Ozerov also warned Iran against making belligerent statements.

Moscow has been frustrated by Tehran's uncooperative attitude, and ITAR-Tass said Ozerov expressed regret over the failure to reach a final agreement with Iran on a compromise proposal to have the Iranian uranium enrichment program operate on Russian territory. The two nations announced a "basic agreement" in February on implementing the plan, which would allow closer international monitoring of Iranian enrichment program - which can produce both fuel for power-generating nuclear reactors and the core material for atomic bombs.

Iran is prepared for more talks on the Russian proposal, Iran's IAEA envoy said in Moscow on Friday. But Ali Asghar Soltanieh stressed that the details were unresolved and needed much more discussion. Iranian officials already undercut the intent of Russia's plan by insisting that they would continue some enrichment work at home.

Gasoline supply problems hit U.S. East Coast

Shortages at distribution points from Va. to Mass. amid additive change

April 21, 2006 - PHILADELPHIA - Scattered gas stations from New Hampshire to Virginia are facing temporary shortages as the industry grapples with a transition to more ethanol-blended fuel.

Analysts and industry officials said occasional shortages are possible for another few weeks, though they emphasized that the problem has more to do with delivery schedules than a dearth of fuel. Empty pumps are not nearly as frequent as they were after Hurricane Katrina, which knocked out the electricity needed to run pipelines delivering fuel from the Gulf Coast to the rest of the country.

The supply hiccups have occurred as refiners stop using the gasoline additive methyl tertiary-butyl ether, or MTBE, and instead replace it with the more environmentally friendly fuel, ethanol, which in the U.S. is mainly derived from corn. MTBE has been found to contaminate groundwater and refiners are worried about costly lawsuits from municipalities.

"It pretty much caused the whole industry to stampede into the use of ethanol," said Geoff Sundstrom, a spokesman for AAA's national office.

But the shortages have not been caused by any lack of supply. Instead, fuel distributors say they are experiencing logistical challenges as terminal owners drain their tanks of MTBE-laced gasoline in preparation for the switch to ethanol blends. As a result, some retailers have had to wait longer than usual for deliveries and pumps have run dry in the interim - an outcome one distributor referred to as "ethanol hell."

The Northeast - with the exception of New York and Connecticut, which switched to ethanol last year - and Texas are the two regions most affected by the switch because of their heavy use of MTBE-blended gasoline. Particularly affected are Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Richmond, Va., and parts of Delaware and New Jersey, Sundstrom said. Parts of Texas had shortages two weeks ago.

California switched to ethanol two years ago, while most other states aren't users.

Certain regions are required by federal law to use reformulated gasoline to cut down on pollution. For example, Philadelphia and surrounding counties have a mandate but it's not a requirement for most of the rest of Pennsylvania, according to the Pennsylvania Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association in Middletown, Pa.

Another logistical complication with ethanol is that it cannot be shipped through pipelines because water molecules in the pipelines will stick to it, creating problems for motorists' vehicle engines. Instead it has to be transported by truck, rail or barge from the Midwest. The concerns about mingling various fuel supplies is why terminal owners must scrub their tanks clean after draining them of MTBE-blended gasoline.

Last week, a Motiva terminal in Newark, N.J., that disperses ethanol-blended gasoline had to replace its supply entirely after water seeped in, prompting complaints from drivers.

"Customers were pulling away and not getting very far," said Stan Mays, a spokesman for Motiva, a joint venture of Shell and Saudi Refining Inc.

He said the problem has since been fixed.

With gasoline demand rising ahead of summer, trucks are idling in long lines at terminals, waiting for their turn to get the new reformulated gasoline, the Pennsylvania petroleum group said.

Late Friday, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said it would temporarily extend the allowable driving time of gas tanker drivers by three hours in the Philadelphia area.

The move should help alleviate a temporary shortage affecting some gas stations because drivers will have more time to fill up tankers and deliver gas. The waiver ends after midnight on April 26.

With gasoline demand rising ahead of summer, trucks are idling in long lines at terminals, waiting for their turn to get the new reformulated gasoline, the Pennsylvania petroleum group said. And earlier this week, eight gas stations in Philadelphia and Wilmington, Del., told AAA they ran out of MTBE gasoline while awaiting the new formulation. Two have since been resupplied.

Tracey Bing, an employee at a Lukoil station in Philadelphia, said the gas station waited 29 hours before getting its ethanol gas at 4 a.m. Friday.

"We just shut down the gas and we only had premium available," he said.

Late Friday, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said it would temporarily extend the allowable driving time of gas tanker drivers by three hours in the Philadelphia area, which will give drivers more time to fill up tankers and deliver gas. The waiver ends after midnight on April 26.

The situation is improving, said Shannon Breuer, a spokeswoman for Sunoco Inc., a petroleum refiner and marketer in Philadelphia with 4,700 gas stations, concentrated mainly in the Northeast.

"The shortages have been very shortlived," she said. "We do have a commitment to have the rollover, the switch from MTBE to ethanol by May 6."

Traditionally, the switch to cleaner burning fuel specifications before summer contributes to rising prices, said Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores. This year, the transition to ethanol is causing some further price increases.

On Friday, the average nationwide price of gasoline was $2.86 a gallon, about 60 cents higher than the start of the year. The price of crude oil settled at a record above $75 a barrel. - msnbc.msn.com

One way trip to warsville

Bush adviser dismisses call for talks with Iran

By Daniel Dombey in London - Published: April 23 2006 FT.com

One of the US government's top advisers has rebuffed European calls for Washington to negotiate directly with Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Philip Zelikow, counsellor at the US State Department, also said the Bush administration's commitment to the democratisation of the Middle East was undimmed, despite the recent victory of Hamas, the militant Islamist group, in Palestinian legislative elections.

"The US position has been that at this time we don't see value in having direct talks with the Iranians about, say, the nuclear issue," he said, rejecting calls for such negotiations from Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German foreign minister, and other senior European diplomats.

Mr Zelikow, who has played an important role in framing US strategy as an adviser to Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, also brushed aside European suggestions that a long-term understanding with Tehran might involve a promise from the US that it has no intention of attacking Iran.

"The fallacy in a lot of the arguments about security assurances....is the assumption that the agenda of the current government in Iran is fundamentally entirely defensive," he said. "Unfortunately, we're engaged in a process with a regime that is dictatorial in its practices and revolutionary in its aims, with an agenda for destabilising neighbours and the broader Middle East."

However he played down the prospect of US military action against Iran, even though President George W. Bush has repeatedly said that all options are on the table. "When we say all options are on the table, that includes diplomatic options too," Mr Zelikow said. "Let's try diplomacy first. Let's give it a chance. And then we can judge whether or not it's effective and take the conversation from there."

Mr Zelikow also indicated that the US would not object to more European Union funding for social services for the Palestinians in the wake of the EU's decision to suspend direct aid to the Palestinian Authority.

"We worked out some rules of the road on how to proceed in concert with the Europeans," he said, in response to a question about the EU's interest in providing direct funding for doctors and teachers. "I don't think this is an area of division between us."

Iranian president says Israel cannot continue to exist 24/04/2006 IOL -
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today said Israel was an artificial state that could not continue to exist.
"Some 60 years has passed since the end of the Second World War, why should the people of Germany and Palestine pay now for a war in which the current generation was not involved," Ahmadinejad said in Tehran.
"We say that this fake regime (Israel) cannot not logically continue to live," he said.

Iran says nuclear progam irreversible
Big News Network.com Sunday 23rd April, 2006
Iran says its uranium enrichment work is "irreversible" and it will not abandon its nuclear program.
The latest salvo in the international standoff comes just days before a U.N. deadline for Iran to stop enrichment.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, says Iran has no intention of stopping its nuclear enrichment program, and is prepared to face the consequences. He says, "We are determined to defend our rights. Nuclear research will continue, and suspension of nuclear activities is not on our agenda. The issue is irreversible."
The U.N. Security Council has given Iran until Friday to freeze its uranium-enrichment program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency is supposed to report on Iran's compliance on April 28. Iran announced earlier this month that it has successfully enriched uranium to the level needed for nuclear power stations. Western nations believe Iran may be trying to build a nuclear bomb, but Iran says its nuclear ambitions are peaceful.
Asefi told reporters in Tehran that Iran will not respond to what it sees as threats. He says, " Iran will not renounce its rights. We are ready, and we have made plans for all possible eventualities."
The United States says it wants a diplomatic solution to the crisis, but has also refused to rule out the use of military force against Iran. Other nations involved in the standoff, including Russia, China and France, oppose a military solution, which they say could have disastrous consequences in the region and the world.
The Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said Tehran is still discussing a Russian plan for joint uranium enrichment on Russian soil. Iranian and Russian officials last month announced what they called a basic agreement on the plan, but no details have emerged.
Iranian officials say they are currently using a cascade of 164 gas centrifuges, but plan to expand that to three-thousand centrifuges by the end of the year. Last week, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iranian scientists are experimenting with a more advanced type of centrifuge known as P-2, which could enrich uranium faster. Asefi said the P-2 machines have not been used yet.

c'mon if you think you're hard enough!

Iran says US to be humiliated if it attacks
Monday, April 24, 2006 - TEHRAN (Reuters via Wash Post) - Iran's defense minister said on Monday that any U.S. military attack over its nuclear programme would result in a humiliating defeat for the United States, the official IRNA news agency reported.
He was speaking on the anniversary of an attempt in 1980 by the U.S. military to rescue Americans held hostage in the U.S. embassy in Tehran. The mission failed when the helicopters crashed in a sand storm in the Tabas desert in eastern Iran.
"If America chooses the military option a humiliating defeat worse than their failure in the Tabas desert will await them," Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar was quoted by IRNA as saying.
Iran says the sand storm was "divine wrath."
Iran is embroiled in a dispute with the West over its nuclear program, which the United States says it designed to build bombs. Washington says it wants a diplomatic solution but has refused to rule out military action.
"Bringing up the issue of military option, threatening Iran with it ... contradicts the charter of the United Nations and other international regulations," Najjar said.
Iran has also staged high-profile wargames in the Gulf and boasted of new home-grown missiles that experts say would enable the country to wreak havoc in the vital oil shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, if pushed.
Iran has been referred to the Security Council, where Western nations have threatened to press for sanctions.
Iran says its program is purely civilian and says it only wants to make fuel for nuclear power plants.

WWIII actors lining up

Russian MoD says missile sale to Iran to go ahead
By ASSOCIATED PRESS MOSCOW - 24th April 2006
Russia's defense minister confirmed Monday that his country will go ahead and supply Iran with sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles, news agencies reported.
"Unless there are some circumstances beyond our control, this contract will be honored," Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov was quoted as saying by Interfax and RIA Novosti in Beijing, where he was on an official visit.
The United States last week called on all countries to stop all arms exports to Iran and to end all nuclear cooperation with it to put pressure on Tehran to halt uranium enrichment activities.
But Moscow insisted it would not stop a project to construct a US$800 million (€645 million) nuclear power plant in Bushehr, southern Iran.
And Nikolai Spassky, the deputy head of the Kremlin Security Council, said Russia would not end military cooperation with Iran, including the commitment to provide the country with Tor-M1 air-defense systems.
Russia's Defense Ministry has said Moscow will supply 29 sophisticated Tor-M1 air defense missile systems to Iran under a $700 million (€565 million) contract, according to Russian media reports.
Ivanov also defended the Bushehr project, saying it "has nothing to do with the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," according to ITAR-Tass.

Israel raises alert for possible Iranian missile attacks
JERUSALEM, April 24 (Xinhua)
-- Israel has raised the vigilance level of its Arrow 2 anti-ballistic missile defense system for fear of possible missile attacks from Iran, local newspaper the Jerusalem Post reported on Monday.
The post quoted a senior commander of the Arrow missile battery at Palmahim Air Force Base as saying that the missile crews had been recently instructed to "raise their level of awareness" because of the latest developments on the Iranian front.
The decision of raising the vigilance level was made due to specific intelligence but did not mean general tension in the region, the report said.
The Arrow missile could intercept and destroy any Iranian missile fired at Israel, including those carrying non-conventional warheads, the report added.
Meanwhile, the command center in Palmahim Air Force base was also reinforced to prevent such possible attacks from Iran, according to the post.
Earlier this month, Tehran announced for the first time that it had successfully enriched uranium to a low level used in power plants and vowed to proceed to industrial-scale enrichment despite western pressure on it to freeze enrichment related activities.
The United States and Israel have accused Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons under a civilian front, but Iran denied the charge, saying that its nuclear program is fully peaceful.
Israeli President Moshe Katsav has described Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's regime as "the most hostile" since the 1979 Islamic Revolution after the hardline Ahmadinejad's call forIsrael "to be wiped off the map." Enditem

Murdochs war pigs continue the same old farmyard noises

Target: Iran
Yes, there is a feasible military option against the mullahs' nuclear program.
by Thomas McInerney 04/24/2006, weekly standard Volume 011, Issue 30
A MILITARY OPTION AGAINST Iran's nuclear facilities is feasible. A diplomatic solution to the nuclear crisis is preferable, but without a credible military option and the will to implement it, diplomacy will not succeed. The announcement of uranium enrichment last week by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shows Iran will not bow easily to diplomatic pressure. The existence of a military option may be the only means of persuading Iran--the world's leading sponsor of terrorism--to back down from producing nuclear weapons.
A military option would be all the more credible if backed by a new coalition of the willing and if coupled with intense diplomacy during a specific time frame. The coalition could include Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Turkey, Britain, France, and Germany. Solidarity is important and would surely contribute to potential diplomatic success. But should others decline the invitation, the United States must be prepared to act.
What would an effective military response look like? It would consist of a powerful air campaign led by 60 stealth aircraft (B-2s, F-117s, F-22s) and more than 400 nonstealth strike aircraft, including B-52s, B-1s, F-15s, F-16s, Tornados, and F-18s. Roughly 150 refueling tankers and other support aircraft would be deployed, along with 100 unmanned aerial vehicles for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and 500 cruise missiles. In other words, overwhelming force would be used.
The objective would be, first and foremost, to destroy or severely damage Iran's nuclear development and production facilities and put them out of commission for at least five years. Another aim would be to destroy the Iranian air defense system, significantly damage its air force, naval forces, and Shahab-3 offensive missile forces. This would prevent Iran from projecting force outside the country and retaliating militarily. The air campaign would also wipe out or neutralize Iran's command and control capabilities.
This coalition air campaign would hit more than 1,500 aim points. Among the weapons would be the new 28,000-pound bunker busters, 5,000-pound bunker penetrators, 2,000-pound bunker busters, 1,000-pound general purpose bombs, and 500-pound GP bombs. A B-2 bomber, to give one example, can drop 80 of these 500-pound bombs independently targeted at 80 different aim points.
This force would give the coalition an enormous destructive capability, since all the bombs in the campaign feature precision guidance, ranging from Joint Direct Attack Munitions (the so-called JDAMS) to laser-guided, electro-optical, or electronically guided High Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM) for suppression of Iranian surface-to-air missiles. This array of precision weapons and support aircraft would allow the initial attacks to be completed in 36 to 48 hours.
The destruction of Iran's military force structure would create the opportunity for regime change as well, since it would eliminate some or all of Ahmadinejad's and the mullahs' ability to control the population. Simultaneously or prior to the attack, a major covert operation could be launched, utilizing Iranian exiles and dissident forces trained during the period of diplomacy. This effort would be based on the Afghan model that led to the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Not only would the overt and covert attacks weaken the ability of Iran's leaders to carry out offensive operations in retaliation, they would cripple the leaders' power to control their own people.
Iran's diverse population should be fertile ground for a covert operation. Iran is only 51 percent Persian. Azerbaijanis and Kurds comprise nearly 35 percent of the population. Seventy percent are under 30, and the jobless rate hovers near 20 percent.
Iran's leaders have threatened to unleash a firestorm of terrorism in the event military action is taken against them. Any country involved in the attack would be subject to retaliation by Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and al Qaeda, the Iranians have claimed. If nothing else, this threat demonstrates how closely tied Iran is to terrorist groups. The United States and its allies would have to be prepared for stepped-up terrorist acts. Iran could also project forces into Iraq, but this is unlikely because they would encounter the full strength of the American military. However, Iran might encourage proxies among Iraq's militant Shiites. Coalition forces in Iraq would have to be ready to respond.
No doubt the Iranians would attempt to close the Gulf of Hormuz and block the extensive shipping that goes through it. American air and naval forces are quite capable of keeping the gulf open, though shipping might be slowed. The most adverse economic consequences of shipping delays would be felt in Iran itself.
President Bush is right when he says Iran cannot be permitted to have nuclear weapons. The prospect of leaders like Ahmadinejad, who advocates wiping Israel "off the map," with their hands on nuclear weapons is a risk we cannot take. Diplomacy must be pursued vigorously, but the experience with Iraq suggests there's little reason for optimism. Thus, a viable military option is imperative.
Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney (Ret.) served as assistant vice chief of staff of the United States Air Force.

sanctions

Iran 'will stop cooperating' if sanctions imposed
25/04/2006 - Iran's top nuclear negotiator today said that Iran would withdraw from all cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog agency if the UN. Security Council imposed sanctions against it.
The statements by Ali Larijani came a day after Iran's president - facing a Friday UN deadline to stop uranium enrichment - boldly predicted the Security Council would not impose sanctions on Tehran and warned he was thinking about dropping out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Today, Larijani, speaking to an international conference on Iran's energy programme, said flatly that if the Security Council imposed sanctions on Iran, the country would suspend its co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which oversees compliance with the treaty.
"They (the Western countries on the IAEA board) have to understand they cannot resolve this issue through force," Larijani said. - IOL

Satellite shenanigans - so why didn't they use this on Iraq?

Israeli spy satellite to monitor Iranian nuclear programme
25/04/2006 Israel is to launch a spy satellite today to collect information on Iran's nuclear programme.
The Eros B satellite is capable of spotting images on the ground as small as 70 centimetres, the Israeli daily newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported.
The satellite, a more sophisticated version of the Eros A that is currently in space, will be launched in Russia.
"We are talking about an extraordinary capability that will allow intelligence officials to follow small details in sensitive places," Yediot quoted an unnamed Israeli expert as saying. "This camera has a sharp eye that sees everything." - IOL
so they didn't use this on Iraq to spot potential WMD - because they hadn't got the technology? BOLLOCKS!

Blair's official spokesman parrots the same line over & over again...deja vu

Blair warns over Iran threat
Press Association Tuesday April 25, 2006 12:48 PM
Downing Street has urged the world to take the threat posed by Iran "very seriously", as the United Nations deadline for it to cease uranium enrichment looms.
The comments by Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman came after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad again appeared to threaten Israel, calling it a "fake regime" which should not exist.
Mr Blair's spokesman said: "I think everybody should read the Iranian President's comments, because once again it underlines that we have to take the situation very seriously."
The spokesman continued: "These are not actually remarks made by somebody without power, these are remarks repeatedly made now by the Iranian President. "We all have to take very seriously the issues which are now before the UN and therefore take forward this issue with due seriousness."
Iran has until Friday to comply with the UN demand to stop uranium enrichment.

Eco war

U.S. terrorism finance expert arrives to discuss measures against Iran
By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent 25th April 2006 -
An official U.S. terrorism finance expert arrives here Tuesday to discuss economic measures against Iran and the Palestinian Hamas government. The official, Stuart Levey, is Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence in the Department of the Treasury.
It was reported this week that Washington was planning a "financial assault" on Iran that would include targeting Iranian bank accounts in Europe and Iranian-owned financial institutions.
Israel and the U.S. are also cooperating in efforts to prevent the transfer of funds to the Hamas government.
Levey is in charge of financial aspects of the administration's war on terror, mainly blocking financial channels of international terror and imposing economic sanctions on rogue states. He previously served as anti-terror coordinator in the Justice Department.
Levey will meet senior officials in the Foreign Ministry, National Security Council, the Mossad and probably with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni as well.
Livni met Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos on Tuesday and told him that as long as Hamas was running the Palestinian Authority, the international community should present a united front against it.
She cautioned that Hamas leaders would make seemingly moderate statements to obtain legitimacy and financing.

hide & seek

Iran Threatens to Hide Nuclear Program
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI Associated Press Writer Apr 25, 9:30 PM EDT TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran ratcheted up its defiance ahead of a U.N. Security Council deadline to suspend uranium enrichment, threatening Tuesday to hide its program if the West takes "harsh measures" and to transfer nuclear technology to chaos-ridden Sudan.
Ali Larijani, the top Iranian nuclear negotiator, also renewed a vow to end cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency and said increasing pressure on Iran would only stiffen its resolve.
"If you take harsh measures, we will hide this program. If you use the language of force, you should not expect us to act transparently," Larijani said, adding that Western nations "have to understand they cannot resolve this issue through force."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice fired back almost immediately, saying, "Iranians can threaten, but they are deepening their own isolation."
Top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the offer to transfer nuclear technology at a meeting Tuesday with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
"Iran's nuclear capability is one example of various scientific capabilities in the country. ... The Islamic Republic of Iran is prepared to transfer the experience, knowledge and technology of its scientists," Khamenei told al-Bashir.
Al-Bashir said last month that his impoverished, violence-ridden country was considering a nuclear program to generate electricity.
Such a technology transfer would be legal as long as it is between signatory states to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, and the International Atomic Energy Agency is informed.
We "have to be concerned when there are statements from Iran that Iran would not only have this technology, but would share it, share technology and expertise," Rice told reporters during a visit to Ankara, Turkey.

global retaliation

Iran threatens global retaliation if US attacks
Thursday April 27 - source Iran's supreme leader warned the United States it would be "harmed" across the globe if it decided to attack the Islamic republic over its disputed nuclear programme. The threat came as hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed the regime would resist any UN Security Council demands for a halt in uranium enrichment, at the centre of fears the country could acquire nuclear weapons. Amid the escalating war of words, the head of Iran's nuclear organisation Gholam Reza Aghazadeh held talks with International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei ahead of Friday's UN deadline for the enrichment freeze.
There was no sign of a breakthrough after the 90-minute meeting in Vienna, although Aghazadeh's deputy at the Iranian Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammed Saidi, said the talks had been "encouraging."
In one of his toughest threats, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned: "The Americans should know that if they launch an assault against Islamic Iran, their interests in every possible part of the world will be harmed.
"The Iranian nation will give a double response to any strike."
The Security Council has given Iran until Friday to suspend enrichment work, which makes fuel for civilian nuclear reactors but can also be extended to also material for a bomb. Oil-rich Iran has rejected the demand, insisting it wants only to generate electricity. The deadlock could open the door to UN economic sanctions or even military action, something the United States has not ruled out although Russia and China are opposed.
"The alert and decisive nation and government of Iran... will not pay attention to these threats," Khamenei said in a speech to factory workers in Tehran.
The previous day, Khamenei had also said the Islamic regime was ready to share nuclear technology with other countries. The US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, said this showed "how irresponsible Iran is and why it represents, in our view, a grave threat of proliferation."
The hardline president meanwhile repeated that the country "won't back down one iota" in the worsening crisis -- which has already helped nudge world oil prices to record highs.
Prices slid slightly on Wednesday, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, at just above 72 dollars a barrel.
"If international institutions respect our legitimate rights, we will respect their decisions. However, we will not regard these decisions as valid if they are intended to deny us our rights," Ahmadinejad told the official IRNA news agency. He also warned Iran could "reconsider its relations" with the world body.
The IAEA has been investigating Iran for more than three years, but the UN watchdog says it is still not in a position to judge the true nature of the country's nuclear programme. Western powers, led by the United States, are convinced Iran is seeking either the bomb or the "strategic capacity" to make one.
But according to Ahmadinejad, the dispute was merely serving as a "trial for international bodies to prove whether they are defending the rights of nations or whether they are acting as puppets in the hands of some bullying powers". The rest of the world must "accept Iran as a nuclear country, which is an undeniable fact", he asserted.
Iran's national security chief Ali Larijani had warned on Tuesday that sanctions would merely bring an end to UN inspections, while an attack would send Iran's nuclear activities underground.
The IAEA is still seeking documents on dealings Iran had with a nuclear black market network run by disgraced Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Kahn, the father of his country's atomic bomb. It also wants to interview military officers who may have overseen secret enrichment or "dual-use" activities and to find out if Iran hid work with sophisticated P2 centrifuges, which can enrich uranium more quickly and abundantly than earlier models. The IAEA also seeks documents Iran has on making uranium hemispheres that form the core of atom bombs and has questions about work that could be aimed at designing missiles with nuclear warheads.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks in central Siberia city focused on, among other things, the Iranian nuclear standoff. The Security Council's five permanent members -- Britain, China, France, the United States and Russia -- plus Germany plan to meet in Paris on May 2 to thrash out a strategy.

US House passes this bill:

109TH CONGRESS
REPORT
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session
109-417
IRAN FREEDOM SUPPORT ACT

APRIL 25, 2006- Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. HYDE, from the Committee on International Relations, submitted the following
R E P O R T
together with
ADDITIONAL VIEWS
[To accompany H.R. 282]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on International Relations, to whom was referred the bill (H.R. 282) to hold the current regime in Iran accountable for its threatening behavior and to support a transition to democracy in Iran, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment and recommends that the bill as amended do pass.

SUMMARY
H.R. 282 would codify certain sanctions currently imposed by executive order with respect to Iran. Additionally, the bill would require the President to publish in the Federal Register a list of all foreign and domestic entities that have invested more than $20 million in Iran's energy sector. If an agency or instrumentality of a country, or a person owing allegiance to that country, has invested more than $20 million in Iran's energy sector, the bill would prohibit the provision of assistance to that country, unless the President certifies that such assistance is important for national security. Finally, the bill would authorize the appropriation of such sums as may be necessary for the President to provide assistance to individuals and organizations that support the establishment of democracy in Iran.
CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 282 would cost $1 million in 2006 and $81 million over the 2007-2011 period, assuming appropriation of the estimated amounts over the next several years. Enacting the bill would not affect direct spending or receipts.
H.R. 282 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
H.R. 282 would impose a private-sector mandate, as defined in UMRA. It would require managers of pension plans and mutual funds to notify investors if their plans or funds are invested in firms that have invested more than $20 million in Iran's energy sector. CBO expects that the direct cost of the mandate would not exceed the annual threshold established by UMRA for private-sector mandates ($128 million in 2006, adjusted annually for inflation). more

Olmert compares Ahmadinejad to Hitler
ynetnews.com
In interview with German newspaper Bild, acting Prime Minister says Iranian president a 'psychopath of the worst kind who speaks as Hitler did in his time of exterminating the entire Jewish nation'; adds that 'West will make certain Iran doesn't reach position in which it will be capable of holding unconventional weapons'
In a recent interview with German daily Bild Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert launched a scathing attack against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, referring to the Iranian president as a "psychopath" and comparing him to Adolf Hitler.
"He is a psychopath of the worst kind," Olmert was quoted by the newspaper as saying. "He speaks as Hitler did in his time of the extermination of the entire Jewish nation."
Following IAEA report, U.S. president refuses to rule out option of military action, but emphasizes pursuit of diplomatic efforts; meanwhile, Americans preparing to establish external body to impose economic sanctions on Tehran
According to Olmert, this is the reason Iran must be prevented from furthering developing its nuclear program.
When asked whether he believes Iran will be attacked, Olmert said "this is a sensitive question. The West, under the United State's leadership, will make certain that Iran does not reach a position in which it will be capable of holding unconventional weapons."
However, Olmert added "I suppose Ahmadinejad will never be as dangerous and destructive as Hitler. Apparently he will never be able to realize his threats."
On Friday the International Atomic Energy Agency said that Iran has defied a U.N. Security Council call for a freeze on enriching uranium and its lack of cooperation with nuclear inspectors was a "matter of concern."
U.S. President George W. Bush said Friday "the world is united and concerned" about what he called Iran's "desire to have not only a nuclear weapon but the capacity to make a nuclear weapon or the knowledge to make a nuclear weapon."
Bush said he was not discouraged by Iran's vow to continue despite global pressure, and while he has refused to rule out the possibility of military action against Iran, he emphasized the pursuit of diplomatic efforts.
"I think the diplomatic options are just beginning," he said in Washington.
As to the Hamas government, Olmert told the German newspaper that it is not only a threat but also an opportunity for Israel to offer the international community a better understanding of the regional situation. The acting PM referred to the recent terror attack in Tel Aviv, which Hamas said was "an act of self defense."
'We will never forget'
Olmert defended his decision not to respond harshly to the attack, adding that he is resolved to continue the war on terror. During the interview Olmert expressed his admiration for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying Germany has learned the lessons of the past.
"Merkel is an amazing woman, very experienced in international politics. The role (chancellor) is a very sensitive one due to the historic responsibility that lies with Germany, especially with regards to the Jewish people," he said.
Olmert said Germany is contributing to the "uncompromising battle against those that threaten global peace, such as the Palestinian terror organizations."
However, Olmert said regarding the Holocaust "we will never forget and never forgive," adding that "nothing can diminish from the German nation's responsibility for its actions."

Imposing Sanctions on Iran Illegal - Russian Diplomat
Created: 30.04.2006 MosNews
A former Russian Duma speaker said here Saturday that there was no legal basis for the imposition of sanctions on Iran by the UN Security Council, IRNA agency said Saturday.
Talking to IRNA, Ruslan Khazbulatov said Iran's nuclear activities were being conducted within the framework of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
On the report of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei to the UN Security Council, he was of the view that the Security Council has "only the authority to ask Iran to cooperate with the IAEA and continue negotiations." The Islamic Republic of Iran is an active member of both the IAEA and the UN, he said, and stressed that Tehran had repeatedly declared it had no intention of producing nuclear weapons.
Since Iran has not violated its obligations under the Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT), there is no ground for the imposition of sanctions on the country, the Russian diplomat stressed, and added that coercive measures will only damage the interests of countries, including the West and even the U.S.
Terming the positions taken by Russia and China regarding Iran's peaceful nuclear activities "logical," Khazbulatov said US accusations against Iran were part of its war-mongering policies in the region.
Urging Washington not to repeat past mistakes such as its attack on Iraq, he said even western leaders believe an attack on Iran would be suicidal.
Exacerbating the Iran-US conflict will make tens of regional states involved in a possible war, he said, and stressed that any war will inflict the largest damage on Washington's interests in the region.

Iran said to be keeping all options open
Big News Network.com Sunday 30th April, 2006
Iran has warned that it will take "radical measures" if the U.N. Security Council imposes sanctions over Iran's nuclear program.
But the Foreign Ministry also says Iran will cooperate fully with the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, if its case is referred back there.
Iran is continuing efforts to head off international action over its nuclear program, combining promises of cooperation with vows never to back down.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters, Iran is open to dialogue, but he said the imposition of sanctions would provoke a strong response.
"If the Security Council discusses Iran's case and decides against us, Iran will keep all its options open," he said. "This means that if their decision is radical, Iran's reaction will be radical. If it is rational, our decisions will also be rational."
The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency reported to the Security Council on Friday that Iran has failed to comply with Security Council demands that it stop its nuclear-enrichment program.
Iran says it has successfully enriched uranium to the level needed for nuclear power plants, and insists that the process is irreversible. Tehran says the international community must now deal with it as a nuclear power.
Western nations believe Tehran could be building a nuclear bomb. Iranian leaders have denied that, and say their nuclear ambitions are peaceful.
The United States, France and Britain want the Security Council to legally require Iran to freeze its nuclear-enrichment activity. Such a decision could pave the way for sanctions, if Iran still fails to comply. But the two other veto-holding nations on the Security Council, Russia and China, favor continued diplomatic efforts.
Iran has made several attempts to have the case referred back to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
On Saturday, Iran offered to let the agency, known as the IAEA, resume snap inspections of its nuclear facilities. Asefi says if the agency and the Security Council commit to dealing with the case only through the IAEA, in his words, "We are ready for maximum cooperation." Speaking in Pakistan, Iran's deputy oil minister said he doubts the Security Council will impose sanctions on Iran, because it would increase oil prices.
Iran has 10 percent of the world's proven oil reserves and is the second-largest producer in OPEC (the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries).
The foreign ministers of the five Security Council members plus Germany are scheduled to meet in New York in one week to discuss the next step.

US rejects Iran's offer to allow nuclear inspections
Denis Staunton in Washington - ireland.com
The United States has rejected Iran's offer to allow inspections of its nuclear facilities and Washington will continue to press the UN Security Council to penalise Tehran.
Iran offered to allow inspections to resume if the Security Council turned the dispute over to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice yesterday dismissed the offer as a ploy.
"I think they're playing games. Every time we get close to a Security Council decision there's some effort to say, 'Oh no, we really were interested in that proposal that we rejected'," she told ABC's This Week.
The IAEA reported last Friday that Iran had defied the nuclear body's instruction to stop enriching uranium and Washington now wants the Security Council to approve a resolution against Tehran that could open the way to sanctions and eventual military action.
"The international community's credibility is at stake here. And we have a choice, too. We can either mean what we say, when we say that Iran must comply, or we can continue to allow Iran to defy," Ms Rice said.
Three of the Security Council's five members - the US, France and Britain - favour sanctioning Iran but Russia and China are opposed.
Iran said yesterday that it was open to dialogue but warned that imposing sanctions would provoke a strong response. "If the Security Council discusses Iran's case and decides against us, Iran will keep all its options open. This means that if their decision is radical, Iran's reaction will be radical. If it is rational, our decisions will also be rational," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said.
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said Iran would continue to defy the council. "Iran will not implement any forced resolution," he said in speech to university students in Tehran. "We have thought about a possible military attack," Mr Larijani said. "What the leader [Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei] said should be taken seriously . . . If they want to harm us, we will harm them."
The country's deputy oil minister, Mohammad Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian, said there was little risk of UN sanctions on Iran's energy sector while oil prices move towards record levels above $70 a barrel.
Iran's atomic energy minister disclosed yesterday that the country has enriched uranium to 4 per cent - enough for nuclear energy but far short of the 80 per cent required to make nuclear weapons.Tehran insists that it does not want to develop nuclear weapons but that it is entitled under international nuclear non-proliferation rules to develop nuclear power.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday that Iran could only negotiate with the international community if its right to develop a civilian nuclear programme was acknowledged. "Negotiations over an undeniable and internationally acknowledged right would . . . make us eventually lose parts of our rights. Iran has been independent for the last 27 years and would not ask for permission to use the achievements of its scientists," he said.
Although the US supports European diplomatic efforts to resolve the nuclear stand-off, the Bush administration insists that it will consider all options - including military action - to stop Iran developing nuclear weapons.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Saturday that no European country would join a "coalition of the willing" to attack Iraq.

Russia and China will not support sanctions or military action
05/02/2006 - www.eitb24.com
They are not ready to back sanctions, although they might support a UN resolution against Iran.
Russia and China have told Tehran they will not support sanctions or military action over the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme, Iran's foreign minister said on Tuesday, before talks between major powers in France.
Senior officials from the UN Security Council's permanent members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - plus Germany meet later in the day to discuss the next steps after Iran rejected a UN call to halt uranium enrichment.
The United States, Britain and France are expected to introduce a resolution to the council this week that would legally oblige Iran to comply with UN demands. The three countries, which fear Iran wants to build atomic bombs, favour limited sanctions if Tehran remains defiant.
Western diplomats say Russia and China, also veto-wielding permanent council members, are not ready to back sanctions, although they might support a UN resolution against Iran. "The thing these two countries have officially told us and expressed in diplomatic negotiations is their opposition to sanctions and military attacks," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told Iran's Kayhan newspaper in an interview. He said he did not believe the Security Council would put sanctions on its agenda for the moment.
China and Russia both have big energy interests in Iran, the world's fourth biggest oil exporter. Russia is also helping Iran build its first atomic power plant in the Gulf port of Bushehr.
Nicholas Burns, the U.S. under-secretary of state for political affairs, said in Paris that Tuesday's meeting would seek to keep the Security Council members and Germany united before a meeting of foreign ministers in New York on May 9. Asked about Mottaki's comments, he said: "All I know is that China and Russia say that they don't want a nuclear-armed Iran. And China and Russia have voted with us against the government of Iran. So we intend to preserve this unity."
Sanctions Options
Burns said he expected a consensus to emerge over the next 30-40 days on the need to send a "stiff message" to Iran, adding that a range of sanctions had been discussed privately. These included restricting exports to Iran of dual-use technology that could support its research and development or help it fabricate fissile material or a nuclear device. Other options were travel curbs on Iranian officials and a ban on arms sales to Iran, such as a planned Russian missile deal. Oil and gas sanctions were not being discussed now.
Iran says it only wants to make fuel for Bushehr and other plants. But it kept enrichment research secret for 18 years and has not answered all the IAEA's queries on its programme.
The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says it cannot yet confirm that Iran's goals are peaceful, but has found no hard proof of a military programme.
"There is little doubt Iran aspires eventually to be able to enrich uranium to the high level needed for a bomb," said a senior Vienna diplomat familiar with the IAEA's Iran dossier. "But the only way to deter that is security and trade guarantees and only the Americans can offer that, via direct talks," said the diplomat.
The United States, which cut ties with Iran after the 1979 Islamic revolution, says it wants a diplomatic solution, but has not ruled out military options.
A UN resolution would be adopted under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter that makes council resolutions mandatory under international law. Chapter 7 allows for sanctions or even war but a separate resolution is required to specify either step.
"To make a case for Chapter 7, you have to make a determination that Iran is an imminent threat to international peace and security," an IAEA diplomat, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject, said in Vienna. But he said a report by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei and other intelligence did not indicate Iran posed such a threat.
Echoing those comments, Hans Blix, a former chief UN weapons inspector in Iraq, said there was still room for talks. "Can one say that Iranian enrichment of a gram or less than a gram of uranium up to 3.5 percent constitutes a threat today or is there time for further talks?" he told BBC radio.
Iran said last month it had enriched uranium to around 3.5 percent - the level needed to power nuclear reactors - using a test cascade of 164 centrifuges. Uranium would have to be enriched to 80 percent or more to make a nuclear warhead.
Two more 164-centrifuge cascades are under construction and Iran says it start installing 3,000 centrifuges later this year - enough to yield material for one bomb within a year.

Oil prices pass $74 mark
Tuesday, May 2, 2006 Associated Press VIENNA, Austria -
Oil prices rose above $74 a barrel Tuesday amid worries that international pressure on Iran to drop its nuclear program may lead to disruptions in the country's oil exports.
With markets jittery, glitches at several U.S. and foreign refineries also added to bullish sentiment, despite the relatively small amount of gasoline shortfalls involved. Moves by Bolivia to secure greater state control of natural gas reserves and production also supported prices.
Such action by Bolivian President Evo Morales, along with similar plans in Venezuela and Ecuador "could influence further supply worries, as companies might be discouraged to further invest in such countries," said Vienna's PVM Oil Associates
Still, Iran remained the main focus of concern.
"Traders are most concerned about the Iranian issue, as the situation appears to be getting worse," said Tetsu Emori, chief commodities strategist with Mitsui Bussan Futures in Tokyo. PVM also saw Iran as causing the main "stir in the market."
Light, sweet crude futures for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 35 cents to $74.05 a barrel in electronic trading by midday in Europe.
The contract had jumped $1.82 Monday to settle at $73.70 a barrel in response to refinery outages in Italy and California, violence in Nigeria, the fifth-largest source of U.S. oil imports, and Iran's defiance of a U.N. Security Council deadline on Friday to stop enriching uranium.
June Brent crude futures on London's ICE Futures exchange rose 36 cents to $74.25 a barrel.
The United States, Britain and France plan to introduce a new Security Council resolution this week that would make Iran's compliance with their demands mandatory, and enforceable through sanctions or military action.
China and Russia, the two other council members with veto power, oppose sanctions and military action and want the Iran nuclear issue resolved diplomatically, with the International Atomic Energy Agency taking the lead, not the Security Council.
There has been no talk of economic sanctions that could slow Iran's oil exports. China is a big customer for Iranian oil, and a cutoff of its oil exports would likely send oil prices surging.
"At some stage, I think Iran will use its oil as a weapon to negotiate with the U.N. and the U.S., which would push up the market -- although they are unlikely to stop exports altogether because they need the money," Emori said.
Iran denounced the United States on Monday for contemplating possible nuclear strikes against Iranian targets and urged the United Nations to take urgent action against what it called a dangerous violation of international law. Two weeks ago, President Bush had refused to rule out a U.S. nuclear strike on Iran.
Also climbing were prices at the pump, where on Monday the average U.S. price for a regular, unleaded gallon of gasoline was $2.919, up 5 cents on the week and up more than 60 cents from a year ago, according to AAA's daily fuel gauge report and the U.S. Department of Energy's weekly retail gasoline price data.
Adding to market jitters were refinery disruptions Monday -- some small fires at an ERG plant in eastern Sicily, which refines about 160,000 barrels of oil a day, and a power failure at a ConocoPhillips plant in California, which refines about 105,000 barrels a day. The ConocoPhillips plant restored power Monday, but it was unclear how many days the ERG plant would be shut down.
Gasoline and heating oil futures rose by nearly a penny to $2.1560 a gallon and $2.0670 a gallon. Natural gas prices rose by more than 10 cents to $6.798 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Crude-oil prices are about 40 percent higher than a year ago. But accounting for inflation, prices are still about 20 percent below the records reached in 1981, when supplies became tight after a revolution in Iran and a war between Iraq and Iran.

Iran 'shelling PKK in Iraq', say Kurds
By Gareth Smyth Published: May 2 2006 - ft.com
Iraqi Kurdish officials yesterday reported Iranian artillery shelling of positions held by fighters of the Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) inside Iraq. This was a day after the Iraqi defence ministry said Iranian troops had recently attacked PKK positions inside Iraq, crossing 5km into Iraqi territory near Haj Umran. Iran denied the charge.
The PKK is a primarily Turkish group, but an allied Iranian Kurdish group, Pejak, has clashed repeatedly with Iranian security forces over the past year. Both Turkey and Iran, with substantial Kurdish minorities, are concerned about the example of autonomy in Iraq.
Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, Iran's interior minister, said in remarks reported yesterday that northern Iraq was "the centre for terrorist attacks" and that Tehran and Ankara were committed to "intelligence co-operation and increasing border guards". Gareth Smyth, Tehran

Iran bombarded Mount Kandil
KANDIL (01.05.2006)- The Iran military this morning bombed Mount Kandil. The bombardment continued all night, some villages were heavily damaged as a result. Currently there are no loss of life. The bombardment of the Xinere region is still continuing.
Koma Komelen Kurdistan (KKK) Executive Council member Rustem Cudi stated that Iran has also bombed Dola Koke, Zele, Berda Kası, Sehit Harun and Kalatuka region with mullens and hawitzers.
Yesterday Iraq Defence Minister made a statement stating that, "Iran has in the last 24 hours has bombarded kamps of the PKK near the state of Erbil." The statement also stated that Iran had entered 5km into Iraq during the bombardment. - kurdishinfo.com

'Iran Strikes PKK Camp on Mt. Kandil'
By Emrullah Bayrak, Istanbul Published: Tuesday, May 02, 2006 zaman.com
The Iranian army, conducting a large-scale operation against the terror network, Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), is reported to have struck Mt. Kandil, the home of the PKK's headquarters.
A number of villages were evacuated due to the offensive. Firat News Agency, known for its affiliation with the PKK, announced Iran bombed camps on Mt. Kandil early in the morning and that several villages were damaged.
A PKK administrator speaking to AFP said, "We have suffered losses," but declined to give any further details.
The Tehran administration was harshly criticized by Iraq on Sunday because it was reported, "the Iranian forces have entered five kilometers inside Iraq's northern border and bombarded PKK targets."
The Iranian government, however, did not justify the allegation in a statement released yesterday.
Iranian Interior Minister Mustafa Pur Mohammadi said Iran is doing everything it can to prevent the attacks aimed at Turkey from the Iranian border region, highlighting the common benefits of cooperation between Tehran and Ankara.
Turkey's Ambassador to Tehran, Gurcan Turkoglu, expressed satisfaction for the cooperation.
Turkoglu, rejecting claims that Turkey is deploying troops to the Iraqi border as a show of force to Iran, said these forces were deployed to fight against a possible threat to Turkey and Iran.
The terror network PKK had previously warned the Iranian administration "not to interfere in their fight against Turkey."
A PKK ringleader, Rustem Cudi, had said, "Tehran has no reason to attack them and the main struggle is between Turkish soldiers and Kurdish militants far away from the Iranian border."
Border villagers escape
While the news that Iran struck some villages during their operations emerge, many villagers and militants have escaped to safer regions, reporters said.
"Iranian bombardment was severe last night; it continued, easing by the morning. Hundreds of Kurds had to escape to safer regions. I think the Iranian Army conducted this operation in coordination with Turkey," told Iraqi Kurdistan Patriotic Union (PUK) official Arif Rusdi to AFP Agency. A school and a car were hit during the bombing, he added.
Upon claims that the Turkish Special Forces were conducting a cross-border "hot pursuit," the Iraqi government delivered a note to Ankara the other day asserting that Iranian Forces trespassed five kilometers within their borders and bombed PKK (Kurdish Workers' Party) targets in the Erbil and Hajj Umman regions.
The statement released by the Iraq Ministry of Defense reads that 180 heavy shells fell on Northern Iraq. Iranian government Spokesman Gulam Hussain Alham did not confirm the allegation during his statement yesterday.
"We do not confirm any news that suggests Iranian Forces' trespassed into any neighboring countries, let alone Iraq," said the spokesman to al-Jazeera.

Iran faces possibility of US attack: minister
Tue May 2, 2006 By Himangshu Watts NEW DELHI (Reuters) -
Iran's deputy oil minister said on Tuesday there was "some possibility" of a U.S. attack on his country over its controversial nuclear program, as Tehran continued with its uranium enrichment work.
Washington has never specifically threatened a military strike on Iran and has said it would prefer to solve an international stand-off over Tehran's atomic program by diplomatic means. But U.S. officials have consistently declined to rule out an attack.
"There is some possibility," Mohammad Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian told reporters in New Delhi when asked if he expected a U.S. attack because of the standoff. "I am worried. Everybody is worried," he said after talks with Indian officials on a proposed $7-billion pipeline from Iran to India via Pakistan, a plan Washington opposes.
Concerns that Iran's dispute with the West could lead to disruption of its oil output pushed oil prices above $74 a barrel on Tuesday, close to the record of $75.35 U.S. crude touched last month.
Nejad-Hosseinian said crude prices could exceed $100 a barrel by winter as supplies could not be increased in the short term.
But Tehran did not plan to use oil as a weapon in dealing with Western pressure, said Nejad-Hosseinian, Iran's former ambassador to the United Nations.
INDIA COMMITTED TO PIPELINE
"We won't use oil as a weapon," Nejad-Hosseinian said.
His comments came as Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted on Tuesday as saying Russia and China had officially informed Tehran they would not back sanctions or military action over the Islamic republic's nuclear activities.
Western countries fear that Iran could produce highly-enriched uranium for use in warheads. Tehran says it wants nuclear energy only for electricity.
Iran is the world's fourth largest oil exporter and sells about four million barrels per day. Iran continues to engage energy-hungry India to make the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline a reality, despite objections from the United States, which is pushing for a pipeline from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan.
Although India voted with the United States to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council over Tehran's nuclear plans in February, New Delhi said it would not be pressured by Washington to abandon the gas pipeline.
"I don't think Americans can pressurize us," Indian Oil Minister Murli Deora told reporters after talks with the Iranian minister. Nejad-Hosseinian also said India's vote with the United States against Iran had not diminished energy cooperation. "We are working with India in a friendly manner. India is a good friend of Iran."
Washington signed a civilian nuclear pact with India earlier this year, but U.S. lawmakers have yet to ratify the agreement. Some of them have objected to India's ties with Iran. (Additional reporting by Kamil Zaheer)

Iran will hit Israel if US does "evil": agency
TEHRAN (Reuters) - 2 May 2006 -
Iran will target Israel first if the United States does anything "evil," a senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday.
The United States says it wants Iran's nuclear standoff with the West solved diplomatically but has refused to rule out military action.
"We have announced that wherever America does something evil, the first place that we target will be Israel," Revolutionary Guards Rear Admiral Mohammad-Ebrahim Dehqani was quoted as saying by Iran's student news agency ISNA.
The Islamic Republic has never recognized Israel and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map."
Dehqani said naval wargames held in the Gulf last month "carried the warning to those countries that threaten Iran, including America and the Zionist regime."
Experts said the wargames, in which Iran said it had tested new missiles and torpedoes, were a thinly veiled threat that it could disrupt vital Gulf oil shipping lanes if it was attacked.

Crude prices may touch $100 a barrel: Iranian minister
Press Trust of India new Delhi, May 2, 2006 - hindustan times
Iran, the world's second largest oil producer, on Tuesday predicted that crude oil prices might touch $100 a barrel by the winter of 2006.
Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Hadi Nejad Hosseinian, who had last year predicted that crude prices will touch $70, on Tuesday said: "It is possible", when asked if crude prices could touch $100 a barrel.
The minister, who is in New Delhi to meet Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, said that the global demand for oil was much higher than the supply and geopolitical factors were fuelling the price surge.
World oil prices have already touched $75 in key global markets, including in London and New York.

Iran vows to crush any provocation at borders
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 - 2005 IranMania.com
Deputy Commander of Iran's Armed Forces Joint Chief of Staff for Cultural and Defense Affairs Brigadier General Alireza Afshar said that all provocations at Iran's borders will be dealt with heavily, IRNA reported. The Armed Forces Joint Chief of Staff quoted Afshari as saying there had been some incidents in certain areas at the borders and some innocent Iranians had been unfairly targeted and killed. "We cannot be indifferent to these incidents," he added.
The bandits, who have help from certain people, will not be allowed to transgress Iran's borders and carry out terrorist activities inside the country, the deputy commander added. He further said the armed forces remains vigilant and prepared to monitor activities of criminal elements and will act decisively in cases of provocation, IRNA noted.
Last week, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi reaffirmed the country's commitment to the international campaign against terrorism.
Asefi was speaking in reaction to news of certain terrorist groups actively operating near Iran's border with Iraq. "Certain terrorist groups intend to cause insecurity on the borders of the two countries by taking advantage of the ineffective control over the area and possible support from foreign forces deployed in Iraq to undertake operations," he said.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has adopted measures to fight such moves in line with efforts to defend national security and within the framework of bilateral accords already reached with Iraq," Asefi added.
"Iran will not allow any cross-border operation of any terrorist group against Iranian or Iraqi interests consistent with their commitment to the international campaign against terrorism," Asefi said.

Major powers meet in Paris to discuss Iran stand-off
Big News Network.com Tuesday 2nd May, 2006
Senior diplomats from the five permanent United Nations Security Council member countries and Germany were convening in Paris Tuesday to seek consensus on U.N. action on Iran's nuclear program.
The United States wants a binding council resolution demanding that Iran halt uranium enrichment.
The Paris talks, at the political-director level, will be prelude to a ministerial meeting of the same countries May 9 in New York that looms as a critical juncture in the confrontation over Iran's nuclear program.
Iran has ignored a non-binding president's statement by the Security Council calling on Tehran to cease uranium enrichment and related activity and return to negotiations over its nuclear program.
Despite Iranian denials, the United States maintains that Iran's nominally-peaceful nuclear program masks a covert weapons project.
State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States will press the other parties in Paris - Russia, China, Britain France and Germany - to support a Chapter Seven resolution under the U.N. charter that would legally require Iran to freeze enrichment activities.
He said the United States will defer a call for sanctions against Iran until a follow-on resolution, if one is required. 'I wouldn't expect at this point that the first resolution, the first Chapter Seven resolution that you see on this, would include sanctions. Again, what it is intended to do is compel Iranian behavior, to put down a marker, to have the international community and specifically the Security Council put down a marker that the Iranian regime is now compelled by the force of international law to comply with the demands of the I.A.E.A. and the presidential statement,' he said.
Veto-wielding council members Russia and China have opposed the use of sanctions against Iran, and have also signaled opposition to a Chapter Seven resolution, which has been used in the past to justify sanctions or military action.
Though it has refused to rule out the use of force, the Bush administration has said its focus is on resolving the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomacy.
Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, who will represent the United States in Paris said late last week the confrontation with Tehran is leading to a sanctions regime, but not necessarily in the coming few weeks.
Burns and other U.S. officials have said if sanctions are unattainable in the Security Council, the United States and allies in Europe and elsewhere would seek their own sanctions package including visa restrictions and asset freezes aimed at top Iranian officials.
President Bush took a personal hand in Iran diplomacy Monday, telephoning Russian President Vladimir Putin and stressing the importance, according to a White House spokesman, of preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
The issue will also be high on the agenda at White House talks later this week between the President and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Bolton Refuses To Answer Kucinich's Questions About US Troops In Iran
States That US Is Prepared To Act With or Without The UN
By Doug Gordon 05/03/06 "ICH" -- --
Despite numerous public reports stating that US troops are currently conducting operations within Iran, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) refused to answer repeated questions by Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) about US troops in Iran, today at a House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations.
Kucinich, the Ranking Member on the Subcommittee, repeatedly questioned Ambassador Bolton on the effect that US troops operating within Iran will have on diplomatic negotiations already underway, including those at the UN.
Recently, Seymour Hersh reported in The New Yorker magazine that US troops are already operating in Iran. Air Force Col. Sam Gardiner (Ret.) has made similar statements on CNN. In addition, Vincent Cannistraro, a former CIA counter-terrorism chief, told the Guardian newspaper that special forces are operating within Iran identifying targets and aiding dissident groups.
While Ambassador Bolton refused to answer questions about US troops in Iran, Ambassador Bolton did state that the US was prepared to move against Iran, with or without the UN Security Council.
"I find it hard to believe that the United States Ambassador to the United Nations does not know about ongoing military activity in one of the world's most volatile regions, and in a country at the heart of current debate before the UN," stated Kucinich after the hearing. "Congress has a Constitutional role to play in providing checks and balances of this Administration. Ambassador's Bolton testimony today, and his refusal to answer even the most basic questions about Iran, is just another example of this Administration's contempt of Congress."
"This Administration has set our nation on the path to war against Iran," continued Kucinich. "It has done so without consulting the Congress, and without proper Congressional oversight. Today's hearing could have been an important moment to educate the public and the Congress about this Administration's policy towards Iran, and the role US military is already playing in implementing that policy. Unfortunately, Ambassador Bolton's stonewalling prevent this from happening."
"This Administration has set our nation on a very dangerous path with Iran. Congress must intervene before this Administration begins a wider, and far more dangerous war in the Middle East," concluded Kucinich.

Limits to Iran patience with IAEA: president
05/05/2006 bakutoday.net
Iran is not prepared to continue working with the International Atomic Energy Agency if the UN watchdog fails to respect the interest of smaller countries, hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Friday.
"For the moment, our policy is to work within the framework of the (IAEA) rules but if they want to impose limits on us, we will change our policy accordingly," he said on a visit to Azerbaijan, according to a Farsi text that clarified what he had earlier been reported as saying through a translator.
"International organisations must act in the framework of the rules. If they don't, they lose all legitimacy.
"These organizations cannot be tools for a few big powers. They were created to defend the interests of different countries, not to serve the interests of two or three of them."
Iran is under international pressure to abandon its nuclear programme, amid Western concerns it is cover for development of an atomic bomb.
The IAEA confirmed last month that Iran had not complied with a UN Security Council demand to freeze uranium enrichment, opening the way to action by the council against Tehran.

Russia, China dig in against West on Iran
By Evelyn LeopoldFri May 5, news.yahoo.com
Russia and China on Friday opposed key provisions in a U.N. draft resolution that orders Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions, making an agreement unlikely before ministers come to New York next week.
Both nations object to the use of Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, used in dozens of Security Council resolutions for peacekeeping missions and other legally-binding actions. Although Chapter 7 allows for sanctions and even war, a separate resolution is required to specify either step.
Moscow and Beijing, which have veto power, fear too much pressure on Iran would be self-defeating or precipitate an oil crisis. Both worry the United States would use a Chapter 7 resolution to justify military action.
"I think we have serious difficulty with Chapter 7 and the threat to international peace and security. These are the basic ones," China's U.N. ambassador, Wang Guangya, told reporters.
He was referring to a paragraph in the resolution's preamble that indicates Iran's nuclear program was a "threat to international peace and security."
Wang said both provisions should be struck, even though Chapter 7 is basic to France and Britain, which drafted the resolution, and the United States, which backs it.
Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the main purpose of the resolution should be to back the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog. "It's clear this resolution is not about sanctions because they are not in the resolution," he said. "It is clear that this resolution is not providing legal ground for the use of force. Everybody agrees on that." Churkin said the use of Chapter 7 "might in fact detract from the strength of this resolution because (it) might be detracting from our goal of supporting the IAEA in its activities in working with Iran."
WAITING TO HEAR FROM CHINA, RUSSIA
The resolution, introduced on Wednesday, would compel Iran to suspend its nuclear enrichment activities. It does not call for any other action if Iran does not comply, but the United States has made clear that sanctions would be the next step.
The draft also says the Security Council "expresses its intention to consider further measures as may be necessary to ensure compliance," a veiled threat of sanctions without imposing them. Negotiations now concern formulas that would make the resolution legally binding but exclude any hint of the use of force, diplomats said.
"The issue whether there is another way that is acceptable is something that we have asked the Russians and the Chinese to provide. We are waiting to hear how one might do that," U.S. Ambassador John Bolton told reporters.
Bolton had wanted an agreement before foreign ministers from Germany and the five permanent Security Council members -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- meet on Iran late on Monday. This now seems highly unlikely, council members said.
Still, all 15 council nations will discuss the resolution on Saturday at Britain's U.N. mission.
The Security Council in late March issued a nonbinding statement asking Iran to abandon uranium enrichment, a process than can lead to a nuclear weapon or produce fuel to generate electricity. The council asked for a report within 30 days from the IAEA, whose director, Mohammed ElBaradei, said on April 28 that Iran had not complied.
Iran maintains its activities are legal and peaceful. It recently accelerated its pace of uranium enrichment but remains far below levels needed to make an atomic bomb. Iranian officials note that the IAEA has not found a weapons program after three years of scrutiny.