Which newspaper? Why the New Duranty Times, where else? This story comes from Reuters:
WASHINGTON – Iran on Friday took the highly unusual step of running a costly full-page ad in the New York Times defending its nuclear activities and accusing the United States and European allies of creating an “unnecessary crisis.”
As U.S. and other key officials met in London to discuss efforts to force Tehran to abandon what they believe is a weapons-related program, Iran in its advertisement issued a detailed rebuttal of all charges and said it resumed uranium conversion this week because Britain, France and Germany, under U.S. pressure, violated a 2004 agreement.
But Iran also held out the possibility of resolving the dispute, saying “a diplomatic and negotiated framework is the desired approach for a successful outcome and Iran is ready to consider all constructive and effective proposals.”
Central to Tehran’s argument is the assertion that it is pursuing only peaceful nuclear energy — not nuclear weapons — despite concealing its activities for nearly two decades.
“In fact, the predominant view among Iranian decision-makers is that development, acquisition or possession of nuclear weapons would only undermine Iranian security,” read the ad, headlined “An Unnecessary Crisis” and issued in the name of Iran’s U.N. mission.
Tehran suspended nuclear activities at its facility at Isfahan under a November 2004 deal with Britain, France and Germany — the EU3 — but resumed work at the plant in August, prompting the trio to suspend negotiations.
Iranian officials confirmed on Friday that it had resumed uranium conversion at the plant this week…
In a related story: “Iran admits to UN it bought designs for nuclear bomb,” from the Telegraph with thanks to Interested.
Iran has admitted obtaining designs that could help it make a nuclear bomb, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said yesterday in a confidential report.
After more than two years of investigations, it is the closest that inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency have come to linking Teheran’s electricity generation project with an alleged weapons programme.
The discovery will raise tensions before next week’s meeting of the IAEA board of governors, which will debate whether to report Iran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.
The IAEA report said documents bought by Iran on the black market included designs “on the casting and machining of enriched, natural and depleted uranium into hemispherical forms”. Experts said the casts are used in atomic weapons.
The IAEA said Iran had insisted it had not used the designs. But Gregory Schulte, the chief United States delegate to the IAEA, said the find “opens new concerns about weaponisation that Iran has failed to address”…