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Defiant Iran eyes retaliation for sanctions
by Staff Writers
Tehran (AFP) Nov 23, 2011

Half of US voters say bomb Iran if sanctions fail
Washington (AFP) Nov 23, 2011 - Fifty percent of Americans believe military action should be taken to stop Iran's nuclear program if sanctions do not work, a national poll released on Wednesday said.

The Quinnipiac University survey also found that more Americans disapprove, by 50 percent to 44 percent, of the job President Barack Obama is doing -- although more people than not approve of the way he has handled foreign policy, including his management of thorny US relations with Tehran.

Some 55 percent of respondents said the United States should not take immediate military action against Iran, with 36 percent in favor.

The number in favor of using force increases to 50 percent however if sanctions fail, with 38 percent against.

"Americans are very concerned about the development of an Iranian nuclear program and don't think the current policy of economic sanctions is effective," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Polling Institute.

"Voters are not yet to the point that they want the US military to stop it, but 50 percent say that if the sanctions eventually prove to be ineffective then they would support the use of force," he added.

The Quinnipiac survey also found that 46 percent of voters believed the United States should support Israel if it attacks Iran, with six percent saying Washington should oppose Israeli action and 44 percent saying the US should stay neutral.

The poll found that two in three Americans (60 percent versus 33 percent) believe economic sanctions against Iran are currently ineffective.

Foreign policy, particularly Obama's handling of Iran, are bright spots for the US president.

While voters said, but a margin of 48 percent to 45 percent that he does not deserve a second term, they felt more charitably towards him on foreign policy, which garnered 49 percent approval against 45 percent disapproval.

The president's handling of Iran meanwhile won the support of 48 percent of respondents, compared to 45 percent who disapproved.

This week, Britain, Canada and the United State announced new sanctions on Iran, citing a report by the UN atomic energy watchdog this month suggesting Tehran was researching nuclear weapons.

Britain said it was "ceasing all contact" between its financial system and that of Iran. The United States and Canada said they would also clamp down on the sector, including on Iran's central bank.

The Quinnipiac poll was conducted by telephone among 2,552 registered voters between November 14 and November 20 and had a 1.9 percent margin of error.


A defiant Iran said on Wednesday that it will not back down despite newly announced Western sanctions over its atomic drive, as it took the first steps to hit back at the measures.

"The Iranian nation will not back down an iota, and will not allow the slightest move to encroach on the nation's rights" in terms of its nuclear programme, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech aired on state television.

In Iran's parliament, lawmakers -- some crying "Death to Britain" -- adopted an emergency bill calling for the expulsion of the British ambassador to Tehran.

If it is passed in a vote scheduled for Sunday, and is subsequently approved by Iran's Guardian Council, the law would see British-Iranian ties downgraded to charge d'affaires level.

The bill also said parliament could take action "on other countries that behave in a manner similar to that of Britain," according to the Fars and Mehr news agencies.

Britain said it would be "regrettable" if Iranian lawmakers vote to expel the British ambassador.

"It is too early to say what will happen next. But it would be regrettable if they were to take such action," a spokesman for Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office said.

"We believe that it is important to maintain senior channels of communication and especially at times like these. It is only through dialogue that we can solve the problems we face."

The sanctions targeting Iran's financial sector were unveiled Monday in coordinated announcements by the United States, Britain and Canada.

France separately called for the West to freeze Iranian central bank assets and slap an embargo on Iranian oil.

Britain, Canada and France have embassies in Tehran. Canada's is headed only by a charge d'affaires; the other two by ambassadors.

The United States does not have a diplomatic mission, having closed its embassy after Islamic students took its diplomats hostage in 1979 following Iran's revolution. US interests are handled by the Swiss embassy.

Russia has called the new sanctions illegal. China on Wednesday warned they would "intensify confrontation" between the West and Iran.

"We believe pressuring and sanctions cannot fundamentally solve the Iranian nuclear issue. On the contrary, they will complicate and exacerbate the issue," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin.

China and Russia used their weight on the UN Security Council to block any possibility of the sanctions being more broadly imposed through a UN resolution.

Ahmadinejad, speaking to a crowd east of Tehran, took a patronising tone with the countries imposing the sanctions.

"I advise them to cease these tantrums, and stop thinking that baring their claws and fangs will stop the Iranian nation," he said.

He reiterated that, contrary to Western claims Iran was pursuing nuclear weapons, "we do not need an atomic bomb."

"They ask us to prove that we do not have an atomic bomb... How can we prove something that does not exist? It is as if someone asks another person to prove that he is healthy... Sickness is proveable."

He took a swipe at France's call, saying "the slightest move to grab Iranian assets is akin to a great heist -- and Iran will treat the person responsible as a thief."

Turning to US sanctions, which declare the whole of Iran's financial sector "of primary money-laundering concern", Ahmadinejad said: "They accuse the Iranian nation of money laundering. We have no need to launder money."

The latest sanctions aim to make it more difficult for Iran to be paid for its oil exports, and put pressure on Iran's currency.

They stop short, however, of hitting the central bank with more draconian measures, which Western officials and analysts feared could cause a spike in oil prices, worsening the global economic downturn and providing Iran with a revenue windfall.

Iran's representative in OPEC, Mohammad Ali Khatibi, told ISNA news agency his country could "adopt special stances" in terms of using its vast oil exports as a political tool if "emergencies and special situations demand."

He stressed, though, that Iran was not at this time changing its approach in the global oil market.

Pressure on Iran looked likely to be raised a notch on December 1, when EU foreign ministers were expected to announce additional sanctions on some 200 Iranian firms and individuals, according to diplomats.

burs/srm

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Britain says downgrade in Iran ties would be 'regrettable'
London (AFP) Nov 23, 2011 - Britain said Wednesday it would be "regrettable" if Iranian lawmakers vote to expel the British ambassador in retaliation for newly imposed Western sanctions.

The Iranian parliament introduced an emergency bill to be voted on Sunday that would see diplomatic relations downgraded to the more junior level of charge d'affaires if passed, the parliamentary website said.

"We are aware of the Majlis's (parliament's) decision that it will vote on whether to downgrade ties with the UK," a spokesman for Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office said.

"It is too early to say what will happen next. But it would be regrettable if they were to take such action.

"We believe that it is important to maintain senior channels of communication and especially at times like these. It is only through dialogue that we can solve the problems we face."

Britain on Monday, in coordination with the United States and Canada, announced new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, after a report by the UN atomic energy watchdog this month suggesting Tehran was researching nuclear weapons.

Britain, which hosts one of the world's biggest financial market in the City of London, said it was "ceasing all contact" between its financial system and that of Iran.

Britain and Canada have embassies in Tehran. The United States does not, having closed it after Islamic students took its diplomats hostage in 1979 following Iran's revolution.

Saudi minister accuses Iran of meddling in Gulf
Riyadh (AFP) Nov 23, 2011 - Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on Wednesday accused Iran of continuing to interfere in neighbouring Gulf states, warning that its nuclear programme could pose a threat to regional security.

In a ministerial meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Faisal spoke of "continued Iranian meddling in the internal affairs of the countries of the region."

He also warned that Tehran's "work to develop nuclear capabilities, which would allow it in the future to have nuclear weapons, would represent a clear threat to the security and stability of the region."

Tension escalated between Tehran and Riyadh following an alleged Iranian plot to kill the Saudi envoy to Washington.

Iran, facing four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions over its nuclear programme, called the US allegations part of an "evil plot" against it and wrote to the UN Security Council, accusing Washington of "warmongering."

Relations between the Sunni-ruled Arab states in the Gulf and non-Arab predominantly Shiite Iran were further strained following a crackdown in March on protests in Bahrain that had been led by the tiny kingdom's Shiite majority.



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NUKEWARS
British sanctions are 'unprofessional': Iran central bank
Tehran Nov 23, 2011
Britain's decision to cut off all financial links with Iran as part of new Western sanctions over Tehran's nuclear programme is "utterly unprofessional," the head of Iran's central bank was quoted as saying by state television Wednesday. "The British move is a political, utterly unprofessional one," Mahmoud Bahmani said, according to the website of Iranian state television. "The issue of ... read more


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