U.N. Atom Talks With Iran Fail, No New Meeting Set

[Purveyor]

Source: REUTERS

By Fredrik Dahl
VIENNA | Thu Feb 14, 2013 9:03am EST

(Reuters) - U.N. inspectors returned on Thursday from talks in Tehran with no deal on access to Iran's nuclear sites and no date for new talks, failing to produce even a small signal of hope for wider big power diplomacy aimed at averting a war.

"Despite its many commitments to do so, Iran has not negotiated in good faith," said a Western diplomat accredited to the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna who was not at the talks. "It appears that we now have to ask ourselves if this is still the right tactic."

The deadlock is a chilling signal for a wider effort by six major powers to get Iran to curb a program that they fear could give it the capacity to build a nuclear bomb, something Israel has suggested it will prevent by force if diplomacy fails.

The IAEA and Iran "could not finalize the document" setting out terms for an IAEA inquiry into possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program, chief U.N. inspector Herman Nackaerts said at Vienna airport after returning from Iran.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/14/us-iran-nuclear-iaea-idUSBRE91C1GM20130214

[Purveyor]

1. Related: Iran’s Bid To Buy Banned Magnets Stokes Fears About Major Expansion Of Nuclear Capacity

Joby Warrick, Published: February 13

Iran recently sought to acquire tens of thousands of highly specialized magnets used in centrifuge machines, according to experts and diplomats, a sign that the country may be planning a major expansion of its nuclear program that could shorten the path to an atomic weapons capability.

Purchase orders obtained by nuclear researchers show an attempt by Iranian agents to buy 100,000 of the ring-shaped magnets — which are banned from export to Iran under U.N. resolutions — from China about a year ago, those familiar with the effort said. It is unclear whether the attempt succeeded.

Although Iran has frequently sought to buy banned items from foreign vendors, this case is considered unusual because of the order’s specificity and sheer size — enough magnets in theory to outfit 50,000 new centrifuges, or nearly five times the number that Iran currently operates.

The revelation of the new orders for nuclear-sensitive parts coincides with Iran’s announcement that it plans to add thousands of more-advanced, second-generation centrifuges that would allow it to ramp up its production of enriched uranium even further, analysts said.

MORE...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/iranian-buying-spree-raises-concerns-about-major-expansion-of-nuclear-capacity/2013/02/13/2090805c-7537-11e2-8f84-3e4b513b1a13_story.html

[kelliekat44]

2. Well, I guess so after one of Iran's top officials was just assassinated in Syria.

Why is it the the US, Israel, UK and western allies think other countries have no right to look out for their own national interests?
Why can't every nation belong to a human alliance where they all look out for one another?

[Light House]

3. Uh Oh.

What's that sound I hear (cups ear)? Is that the sound of war drums in the distant?

I hope to hell not.

[struggle4progress]

4. Nuclear Watchdog Says No Deal Reached With Iran

By ALAN COWELL
Published: February 14, 2013

PARIS — A senior official of the United Nations nuclear supervisory body said on Thursday that talks a day earlier in Iran had ended inconclusively and international inspectors had not been given access to a site that they suspect may have been used for testing bomb triggers

Herman Nackaerts, the deputy director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the discussions “could not finalize” a document that “once agreed, should facilitate the resolution of outstanding issues regarding possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear program.”

He declined to say whether any progress had been made.

The talks have been going on for months, veering from apparent optimism last May when Yukiya Amano, the I.A.E.A. director general, said there had been a decision “to conclude and sign” an agreement, to far more muted recent assessments. Before Wednesday’s talks, Mr. Amano said: “The outlook is not bright” ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/world/middleeast/nuclear-watchdog-says-no-deal-reached-with-iran.html?_r=0