Top Israeli officials tour Europe to urge tougher sanctions on Iran
Officials visiting Brussels, Berlin, Vienna, and Rome to push range of steps against Tehran over nuclear program.
By Reuters Tags: Iran EU Iran nuclearSenior Israeli officials are touring Europe this week to raise the alarm about Iran's accelerating nuclear program and urge European Union governments to take tougher sanctions without waiting for the United Nations.
"We are concerned that people in Europe are not aware of the Iranian threat. There is little discussion about it," one of the officials told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
While European Union policymakers are aware of the strategic implications if Iran achieves a nuclear capability, the official said the European public and media seemed largely oblivious.
The officials, visiting Brussels, Berlin, Vienna and Rome on this trip, are carrying a list of suggested political and commercial measures they want the Europeans to take to increase pressure on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment.
They range from declaring an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guards Corps a terrorist organization, as the United States has done, to ending export credits and foreign trade insurance for business with Iran, a move the EU is debating.
Other steps the officials say would hit key forces in Tehran include banning all dealings with Iran's revolutionary economic foundations, which fund the clerical leadership, barring the sale of spare parts for oil refineries and prohibiting insurance for merchant vessels entering Iranian ports.
The officials also want the EU states to end the sale of tunnelling and mining equipment, which they say Iran is using to conceal and protect its nuclear facilities deep underground.
EU officials say some of these steps are already under consideration, although several member states want a UN resolution for any further measures, arguing that China and Russia will otherwise simply take European business in Iran.
Tehran insists its secretive nuclear program is for purely civilian purposes to generate electricity. The West suspects the oil-and-gas rich state is seeking a bomb, asking why else it would be racing to enrich fuel for non-existent power stations.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Mohammed ElBaradei, are due to report this month on whether Iran is still defying UN demands to halt enrichment and withholding information on past activities.
Six major powers - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France and Germany - have agreed to present a third Security Council sanctions resolution if the reports are negative, but they disagree on the scope of any new measures.
China is most reluctant to restrict trade with Tehran, with Russia also reticent and Germany hesitant, diplomats say.
The Israeli officials said the International Atomic Energy Agency knew where to go and whom to interview in Iran to get on the trail of efforts to develop nuclear warheads, known in the jargon as "weaponiation", but its work program with Iran did not cover these issues.
The IAEA, the UN watchdog, says it has found no evidence of a military nuclear program in Iran but does not have full access.
The Israeli delegation's European itinerary charts Jerusalem's main concerns about foot-dragging. While France and Britain are pressing for tougher EU sanctions, Germany says a UN resolution is needed, while Italy and Austria are the strongest opponents of trade restrictions.
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I really pity you if these are the only two choices that you have in life: posting day after day about Israel's sins or knitting.
what if, what if.... what if pop goes there and -contrary to you- is ready to take off the blinkered attitude and just sees the joys and the sorrows which exist on both sides of the "wall"? come on guys, i cant believe that you have such a closed mind that on the palestinian side you see only the suffering and on the israeli side only the joy. with such a biased attitude you ignore reality. if you walk with open eyes through israel you notice that there's not just black and white but that there are many colours. i wish both of you and pop to see these colours, so that your world is not longer this boringly grey.
discussed the Iran problem with French president Sarkozy. I have no information to whom "top Israeli officials" were talking. Perhaps they had an appointment with some intern at the foreign ministry.
"to be antisemitic against diaspora Jews is not fashionable anymore" Shoot...thanks for telling me, Sarah. I didn't know. I'll stop posting on Talkback at once and take up knitting instead. By the way - you very nearly committed the ultimate discussion board sin. "Don`t you have a life of your own?" was very, very near to "Get a life". "Get a life" must never, ever be said on any discussion board, as well you know. It is even worse than "Wake up and smell the coffee".
What aggression? I'm just asking pointed questions to make you focus on the fallacies in your own arguments. If you feel that having your beliefs questioned is too much aggression for your tastes, I would humbly and kindly suggest that this forum is not for you. I'm not sure where you want him to visit. The Tel Aviv market? He's not going to see Pals being taunted and harassed by Settlers from there. On the other hand, he could go to Jerusalem and see The Wall, but he still wouldn't see the children who can no longer go to their school because of the wall. Israelis can live their entire lives and never even see a West Bank Palestinian in person. Does that mean the Pals couldn't possibly be suffering from apartheid-like conditions? You really are implying exactly what I said. You are saying that his picture is "wrong" unless he sees it with his own eyes. That's a fallacy. We don't all need to observe everything personally for it to be true.
Don't you have a life of your own? I think you live only through Israel, you should be happy we are here,what would you have done otherwise, to be antisemitic against diaspora Jews is not fashionable anymore!
"i just asked pop whether he had been in israel. and i still wait for the answer.... and if his answer is "no", i ask him to go there for correcting his wrong picture of israel being an apartheid-state and an uncivilized society" What if POP goes to Israel, manages to visit the Occupied Territories, sees Palestinians being made to wait for hours at checkpoints etc, and comes back totally convinced that Israel is a barbaric, racist, apartheid State? Are would you rather that POP only stayed in nice hotels at beach resorts and schmoozed with Israelis who are as ignorant as you about conditions that Palestinians have to endure?
"...nobody can comment on these places..." Every body can comment if he is intelligent and made his homework, nobody can comment if he is ignorant and prejudiced. They can watch TV if they are bored.
why do you think that i imply nobody can comment on places where he hasnt been? i just asked pop whether he had been in israel. and i still wait for the answer.... and if his answer is "no", i ask him to go there for correcting his wrong picture of israel being an apartheid-state and an uncivilized society. so, calm down pablo b. dont get infected by pop's aggression.
Please, please, please help us to keep our nuclear monopoly. OK, we're not saying that we do have any nuclear warheads - not us, the nice guys - but let's all imagine that we do, and we'd like to be the only ones that have these imaginary weapons in the Middle East. Come on, be a pal to Israel. Come on- Fiddler on the Roof, jolly singalongs by the bonfires at our peaceful Kibbutzim, Schindlers List and all that stuff. This time we only want you to go to war against Iran on our behalf. Try these sanctions for starters. Is that too much to ask?
have you ever been to Iran? Gaza? Lebanon? Syria? The West Bank? Iraq? North Korea? Are you implying that nobody can comment on these places unless they've been to these places?
have you ever been in israel?
POP, It is really sad when you have an accusation from a biased person. Israel is as democratic as Breat Britin, USA, Germany, Italy, and even so-called Russia. 1. Israelis dont practice capital punishment in public like most muslim countries. "Violation of Humanitrian law". 2. Israelis do NOT send their children to commit suicide bombing on civilian. "Violation of Humanitrian law, and Geneva Convention." 3. Israel did not initiate the wars with the arab neighbors. "Geneva conventions, UN resolutions, Humanitraian laws...." 4. Israel do NOT strick at civilians indiscrimenetly. 5. Israel never threatened to wipe another sovrign coutry off the map like Iran did and still does! "Geneva convention, UN resolution, and humanitarian laws" Should I go on? Look at the whole picture before you make a biased opinion. Most muslim coutroes have a long humanitarian violation than any coutry known. What will happen if G-D forbid Iran wipes out Israel? Then what? Europe? USA?..
From the story "why else it would be racing to enrich fuel for non-existent power stations" The premise is false. The Bushehr reactor is real, it exists. It is near completion. The fuel must be on site 6 months before the reactor can be put into full operation. That means enrichment must begin long before that so that it can be made into fuel rods. Any implication that Iran doesn't need to enrich uranium until after Bushehr is already running just isn't supported by the facts. Russia has already failed to meet their fuel delivery dates. The first deliveries should have began last spring. With that record of reliability, Iran would be fools not to strive for energy independence instead of relying upon outsiders who have failed to deliver in the past (for whatever reason). The only people falling for this sort of rhetoric are those people who have set their minds for war and really don't want to hear the truth.
After having been the closest trade partner of the mullahs in the West for many years making billions so that the mullahs could continue with exporting terror, after having delivered vital parts for the bomb of the mullahs since the late Eighties, after having extended the nuclear cooperation treaty with Tehran in 2002 and again in 2006, knowing well that Iran is cheating about his nuclear program, Germany is now referring to the UN and the IAEA to decide upon possible sanctions, because the German government knows very well that these institutions will decide against sanctions, it must be concluded that Germany wants to continue with its usual way of deception and with trading with the mullahs. As Iran is only months away from the necessary material for a first dirty bomb, Germany is playing with fire and with the survival of Israel. It is blocking EU sanctions too, which have been rightly called by the French President.
Israel is in violation of many more international mores & folkways than Iran. Israel: In violation of the IAEA In violation of the Geneva Conventions In violation of UN resolutions In violation of Humanitarian Laws Involved in Land Theft Involved in Water Theft Illegal Occupation (40+ Years) Restrictions of Movement for all Non-Jews/Israelis Summary Killings Collective Punishment of en entire demographic The list could go on & on... Most significantly, Israel has violated the sovereignty of several nations this summer while conducting belligerent air raids on it's neighbors. Israel is an Apartheid State, sadly, so we can expect little from such an uncivilized society.
Israel is in violation of many more international mores & folkways than Iran. Israel: In violation of the IAEA In violation of the Geneva Conventions In violation of UN resolutions In violation of Humanitarian Laws Involved in Land Theft Involved in Water Theft Illegal Occupation (40+ Years) Restrictions of Movement for all Non-Jews/Israelis Summary Killings Collective Punishment of en entire demographic The list could go on & on... Most significantly, Israel has violated the sovereignty of several nations this summer while conducting belligerent air raids on it's neighbors. Israel is an Apartheid State, sadly, so we can expect little from such an uncivilized society.
discussed the topic of Iran sanctions last weekend with the president of the USA. That's the level where the course is charted. Does anybody expect that some anonymous Israeli officials have the slightest impact on this opinion making? Save the travel expenses and give the money to your holocaust survivors.