Go-it-alone plan on Iran sanctions

[Demeter]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2e1afa06-9876-11dd-ace3-000077b07658.html


By Daniel Dombey in Washington and James Blitz in London



The US and its allies are discussing a “coalition of the willing” that would impose sanctions on Iran’s energy and financial sectors without UN backing as concerns increase about Tehran’s accelerating nuclear programme and a possible Israeli military response.

A foreign policy adviser to Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, recently helped to write a report that warned: “The Europeans make war more likely if they do not strengthen sanctions against Iran.” The September report was produced by the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington-based think-tank, with the co-operation of Dennis Ross, perhaps Mr Obama’s most influential adviser on the Middle East. While backing an intensive diplomatic effort, it calls for immediate military steps to deal with Iran, such as “pre-positioning additional US and allied forces, deploying additional aircraft carrier battle groups and minesweepers emplacing other war matériel in the region”.

Referring to discussions about a possible Israeli strike on Iranian facilities, a European diplomat told the Financial Times: “As we go along 2009, you’re going to hear more and more about it .” He added there was a growing consensus that Tehran could have sufficient fissile material for a bomb by the end of next year. Iran insists its nuclear programme is purely peaceful.

The diplomat said that, in light of concerns, European countries and the US were planning to impose sanctions on Iran’s energy sector as “like minded countries” – rather than through the UN – and were discussing targeting exports of engineering products for Iranian refineries as well as refined oil itself. He said that after a largely empty UN resolution this month, western countries had concluded: “If there is another it will take a lot of time and there will be very little substance in it.” Another western diplomat said: “The idea would be to get together a coalition of the willing ... given the difficulties we would have getting this past Russia and China .”

“Iran has a limited refining capacity, so they rely on petrol imports ... We are therefore working on targeting investment in the Iranian refinery industry,” he said, adding that measures, which might also target the financial sector, could be agreed in early November. “You would try and stop investment in new projects inside Iran, preventing extraction and transportation,” he said. Iran meets about one-third of its petrol needs through imports, estimated to cost more than $10bn (€7bn, £6bn) this year....While Israel may ultimately be ready to launch a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, it is for the time being looking for other solutions. It supports UN-led efforts to impose sanctions, although it has repeatedly called for a tougher line.


Additional reporting by Tobias Buck in Jerusalem and Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran

[BrklynLiberal]

1. I heard on the radio this weekend that a man who is considered a moderate by most measures,

is going to challenge Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a run for the Presidency this coming June.

Wouldn't it be smart to let the Iranians themselves solve this problem?


http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1436327.php

Tehran - Iranian opposition groups are gradually preparing to mount a challenge to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in next June's presidential elections, local media reported Saturday.

Mehdi Karroubi, the 71-year-old head of the moderate Etemad Melli (National Trust) party, will most likely be the first to confirm his candidacy for the June 12, 2009 elections in a press conference on Sunday.

Reformers are still hoping to persuade former president Mohammad Khatami to run for office, but the 65-year-old cleric has not yet decided.

An alternative for Khatami could reportedly be former vice- president Mohamad-Ali Najafi, 56, who is currently member of the Tehran City Council.

Another potential candidate from the opposition camp could be the former National Security Council Hassan Rowhani, 60, a moderate cleric who is also close to influential ex-president Akbar Hashemi- Rafsanjani.

All four are known to be fiercely opposed to Ahmadinejad's policies but observers believe that too many candidates would result in them splitting up the opposition vote, to Ahmadinejad's advantage.

There have been reports that the conservative groups critical of the president might choose Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani as their candidate. But the former chief nuclear negotiator on Saturday said he had no plans to run.

[Demeter]

2. While Smartness Would Be My First Choice

there is a tremendous urge upon the PTB to be dictators. I couldn't care less if Iran went nuclear--what's one more? I don't believe anything they tell us, because everything else they said was a lie.