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Sanctions Are the Talk of the Day
Mohammed A. Salih, Interpress Service
f there were any doubts about what exactly U.S. President Barack Obama meant when he warned Iran of "growing consequences" during his State of the Union address last month, they seem to be dispelled by recent statements from top administration officials, who are beating the sanctions drum loud and clear.

When U.S. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates spoke of sanctions Monday as the sole remaining option in dealing with Iran's nuclear ambitions, he was echoing another more outspoken colleague - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"The only path that is left to us at this point, it seems to me, is that pressure track but it will require all of the international community to work together," Gates said during a news conference Monday in Paris with French Defence Minister Herve Morin, regarding the need for tougher sanctions.

Harve was in "complete agreement" with his U.S. counterpart. But should Iran have a last-minute change of heart and concede to Western demands, the U.S. and its allies would be open to "a peaceful way to resolve this issue," the Pentagon chief said...
(8 Feb 2010)

U.S. Wants Iran Sanctions In Weeks; Embassies Attacked
Reuters via the New York Times
The Pentagon said on Tuesday that the United States wanted a U.N. Security Council resolution "within weeks" to tackle Iran's nuclear program as Iran said it had begun making higher-grade nuclear fuel.

The Islamic Republic, which denies its program has military aims, defied the international community by announcing on Sunday that it would enrich uranium to 20-percent purity for a Tehran reactor making medical isotopes for cancer patients.

As tensions with the West rose and Russia indicated it could back fresh U.N. sanctions, members of an Islamic militia threw stones at the Italian embassy in Tehran.

The big powers have already stepped up discussions on how to respond to Iran and what form a possible fourth set of U.N. sanctions over its still-expanding nuclear program could take.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Fox News: "I think it's going to take some period of time -- I would say weeks, not months -- to see if we can't get another U.N. Security Council resolution," according to the transcript of his interview...
(9 Feb 2010)

Iran begins enriching higher-grade uranium, says state TV
Haroon Siddique, The Guardian
Iran began enrichment of higher grade uranium today, state TV said, ignoring the threat of further UN sanctions by the US and its allies.

Iran's Arabic-language television channel, al-Alam, said production of 20% enriched uranium had started at the Natanz plant.

Ali Shirzadian, a spokesman for the country's Atomic Energy Organisation, told Reuters that "preparatory work" had began at 9:30am in presence of representatives from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said on Sunday that Iran would produce uranium enriched to a level of 20%. That announcement was greeted with alarm in the west and raised fears that Tehran wants to advance a nuclear weapons programme.

The US and France led calls for what would be a fourth, broader set of punitive UN security council sanctions. A senior politician in Russia, which in the past has urged talks rather than punishment, also said economic measures should be considered.

The Pentagon stepped up the pressure for sanctions saying it wanted measures in place "within weeks, not months". The remarks from Russia raise the prospect of China standing alone among the major powers in opposing sanctions against Iran.

...Last week Italy said it was blocking new Italian investments in the sector. It was not clear if this had prompted the protest at the Italian embassy in Tehran.

Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said members of Iran's Basij militia had attacked the embassy with stones.

"About a hundred Basij dressed as civilians tried to assault the embassy shouting 'Death to Italy' and 'Death to Berlusconi (Italian Prime Minister)'," he told the Senate in Rome, adding that police had intervened to "stop a full-blown assault."..
(9 Feb 2010)