. Military Space News .




.
NUKEWARS
IAEA's Iran visit anything but 'good', diplomats say
by Staff Writers
Vienna Feb 3, 2012


The UN nuclear agency's trip to Iran was not as "good" as its chief inspector described this week, with real pressure now on Tehran for the next visit later this month, diplomats and analysts said. International Atomic Energy Agency chief inspector Herman Nackaerts's comment at Vienna airport on Wednesday that he had a "good trip" was "off the cuff" and "not meant to be a substantive comment," one diplomat said. "There is no indication that Iran offered substantive cooperation in terms of answering the IAEA's questions," agreed another envoy. "Iran seemed focused on modalities rather than substance." During their three-day visit from Sunday to Tuesday, the six-member IAEA team held talks with Iranian officials, but "not all" those whom they had wanted to meet, the first diplomat said. In addition, they did not visit any sites mentioned in a damning November report in which the IAEA said it suspected Iran "has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear device". Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi's comments to the Fars state news agency that Tehran was "ready to facilitate such visits if they had wanted to" was also disputed by diplomats to the Vienna-based IAEA. The Iranians "quite cleverly stonewalled for three days," one said. That the trip achieved so little was no huge surprise, with experts and diplomats stressing that Nackaerts going to Tehran was a step in the right direction, particularly given the spike in tensions since November's report. But more will be expected from the February 21-22 visit, which will be a closely watched test of Iran's readiness to engage with the international community, just as Western powers ramp up ever-tougher sanctions. "It's possible that Iran gives some additional information to the agency at the next meeting," said Peter Crail, nonproliferation analyst at the Arms Control Association in Washington. "But significant progress is unlikely to happen until Iran decides it can come clean on its past work on a nuclear warhead," Crail told AFP. "At some point Iran is going to have to give the agency access to personnel and sites involved in the programmes the IAEA is concerned about." The second Vienna diplomat said it was unclear if the next visit would achieve much, however. "I don't think the agency has assurances that the next meeting will be more substantive, I think that is still to be decided ... The outcome seems to be 'let's talk some more'," said the diplomat, from a Western power. If there is no progress "it won't look good for Iran," the first envoy said, with the IAEA expected to prepare a report on its cooperation with the Islamic republic for a board meeting of the agency on March 5. "I think the agency is under no illusions that the member states and the international community are going to be shining a very high-beam spotlight onto this visit," the first diplomat said. "The question is, on the next trip, with the Iranians knowing that there are certain areas and places where the agency would like to go, is that on the cards? At this point I don't think the agency knows -- yet." Mark Hibbs, analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that the IAEA "needs a major breakthrough with Iran to prevent the conflict from escalating at the board in March". "They will need to get firm commitments from Iran that it will cooperate. That may need to be negotiated still. At this point a conditional maybe won't suffice," Hibbs told AFP. What won't suffice, diplomats say, is some sort of "work plan" similar to the one agreed with Iran in 2007 that included a series of steps towards resolving the IAEA's concerns. "We would like to avoid being in a work plan situation," said one, adding that his country wanted to "avoid becoming hostage to a box-ticking exercise."

Related Links
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com




.
.
Get Our Free Newsletters Via Email
...
Buy Advertising Editorial Enquiries






.

. Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle



NUKEWARS
Panetta says Israel could strike Iran in spring: report
Brussels (AFP) Feb 2, 2012
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes there is a "strong possibility" that Israel will strike Iran's nuclear installations this spring, the Washington Post said Thursday in an editorial. When asked about the opinion piece by reporters travelling with him to a NATO meeting in Brussels, Panetta brushed it aside. "I'm not going to comment on that. David Ignatius can write what he will ... read more


NUKEWARS
Russia to build space defense missiles

NATO to base missile shield command in Germany

Lockheed Martin Receives Contract for Production of PAC-3 Missiles

Israels seeks to fill its quiver of Arrows

NUKEWARS
Thales bids for $3B Saudi missile deal

Iran mass producing anti-ship cruise missile: TV

MBDA developing new missile system

Raytheon's RAM Strikes Twice During Back-to-Back Tests

NUKEWARS
NATO agrees on long-delayed drone programme

N. Korea developing unmanned attack aircraft: report

Northrop Grumman Awarded Contract for Integration of Battlefield Airborne Communications Node on Global Hawks

Iraq says US needs its permission for drones

NUKEWARS
Brazil to assemble Harris tactical radio

Northrop Grumman Wins Award for USAF Design and Engineering Support Program

Fourth WGS Satellite Sends First Signals from Space

Boeing to Build More Wideband Global SATCOM Satellites for USAF

NUKEWARS
Raytheon and US Navy Complete JSOW C-1 Developmental Testing

Boeing begins production of F/A-18E/F distributed target system

AAI Logistics and Technical Services Awarded USAF Contract for B-1B Training System Support

Lockheed Martin Awarded Contract to Support US Army Research Lab

NUKEWARS
Asia-focused US vows Europe commitment

Cash-strapped Europe struggles to up military might

Dassault tops EADS for Indian jet deal

F-35 problems force US to upgrade old fighter jets

NUKEWARS
Europe has 'nothing to fear' from US focus on Asia: Germany

US vows commitment to Europe despite Asia focus

Old weapons, new threats fuel India's military build-up

Putin declines to host China's future premier: report

NUKEWARS
Self-assembling nanorods

Perfect nanotubes shine brightest

Bright Lights of Purity

Nano-oils keep their cool


.

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2012 - Space Media Network. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement