By Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII)

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Introduction

The current U.S. standoff against Iran, like the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, was instigated by the neoconservatives of the Bush Administration based on their doctrine of “maintaining U.S. pre-eminence, thwarting rival powers and shaping the global security system according to U.S. interests”. [1] In the case of Saddam’s regime, its fictitious Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and its alleged links to Al-Qaida were used in the U.S. propaganda war to first impose U.N. sanctions and eventually invade Iraq.

We now have a déjà vu situation in which the U.S. and its allies, prodded by Israel, demonize Iran as a threat to world security and accuse it of having a program to develop nuclear weapons. As with Iraq, the real aim is a regime change in Iran to set up a U.S. puppet government in this oil- and gas-rich country in the key strategic Persian Gulf region. This has also happened before in the 1953 U.S.-British coup against the nationalist government of Dr. Mossadegh in Iran. The same forces in U.S., U.K., Israel and allies today distort the truth and engage in deceit, coercion and aggression to achieve their goals. We will briefly examine some of the key facts in the standoff.

Iran has the right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Iran was among the first of 190 countries to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in order to “prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology and to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. The Treaty represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon States”. [2] As a party to the NPT Iran has an “inalienable right” to develop and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. [3]

The NPT further requires that all parties to the treaty should help other members wishing to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. But Western pressure has blocked Iran’s access to such cooperation, forcing the country to strive for self-reliance in nuclear technology. [4]

There is no evidence that Iran is developing nuclear weapons.

The U.S. now nominally recognizes Iran’s legal right under the NPT to develop nuclear technology for civilian use, but charges that Iran’s nuclear program is a cover for developing nuclear weapons. There is absolutely no proof to back up this charge. [5] Thousands of hours of United Nations inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the most intensive and intrusive ever undertaken in history, have not produced one shred of evidence of nuclear weapons planning in Iran. [6] Every IAEA report on Iran to date, including that of May 31, 2010, has stated that the “Agency continues to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran.” [7]

Nuclear power plants and atomic weapons both require enriched uranium. But militarization requires uranium enriched to very high degree (above 90%), unlike “low-enriched uranium” (LUE) suitable for power plants (up to 5%) or for medical applications (up to 19.75%). And yet the U.S. demands that Iran terminate its enrichment process altogether, in essence denying Iran its inalienable right to pursue civilian nuclear technology under the NPT.

Further, Western leaders and media often quote from the IAEA reports that “Iran has not provided the necessary cooperation to permit the Agency to confirm that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities.” [8] However they never mention in public that this kind of arbitrary accusation is applicable also to dozens of other NPT members, including South Africa, Egypt and Brazil, that have not agreed to the optional NPT Additional Protocol to allow extra-intrusive inspections. [9]

The U.S. and its allies have singled out Iran and demand that Iran prove it is not intent on developing nuclear weapons now or in the future. [10] That is a logical impossibility, like when the U.S. demanded that Iraq prove it was not making weapons of mass destruction; charged Iraq with fabricated evidence that it had purchased “yellow cake” uranium powder from Niger; and that it had links with Al-Qaeda. Nothing Iraq said or did could stop the 2003 catastrophic invasion of that country – after which the U.S. had to admit that the charges were false. [11]

In an exact replica of the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, the U.S. and its allies now allege that Iran has engaged in “nuclear weaponization studies,” but have even refused to hand in their alleged evidence to the IAEA so Iran can investigate them and give a response. Iran has insisted categorically that these documents are fabricated and are forgeries. [12]

Iran’s need for nuclear energy and technology is real.

Iran’s population has more than doubled in three decades and its per capita energy consumption has grown even faster. Demand has outpaced production so much that electricity is rationed with rotating scheduled cuts in Tehran during peak periods of summer heat, and in July 2010 most public sector agencies in 20 of Iran’s 30 provinces are shut down intermittently for conservation. So the country needs to diversify its energy sources to keep up with demand and still have enough oil and gas for export and for future generations. This need was recognized years before the 1979 Revolution, when Iran, under prodding from the U.S. government which was acting in the interests of U.S. energy-related companies such as General Electric and Westinghouse, planned multiple nuclear power stations. [13]

Iran’s dependency on Western-dominated global markets, as well as on the refining and importation of petroleum products, make Iran vulnerable to foreign economic warfare. Iran has the largest fleet of oil tankers in the Middle East, but these ships are easy targets for attack or sabotage. [14]

It is in Iran’s legitimate security interest to develop alternatives to oil for domestic consumption. With global oil derivatives such as gasoline and petrochemical items shrinking in availability and increasing in price, Iran truly needs to reduce its dependency on imports.

Iran’s need for nuclear technology is not limited to economic and security aspects. The country also needs nuclear fuel for its medical purposes. The Tehran Research Reactor (TRR), which produces isotopes for the treatment of more than 800,000 cancer patients and people with other complicated diseases, is running out of fuel this year. More has to be produced by Iran itself, because not only the half-life of the radioisotopes used by the TRR is too short to be imported from other countries but also because the U.S. and its allies have a history of blocking Iran’s right to purchase fuel for the TRR from the international market. [15]

All these considerations fully justify the urgency of Iran’s civilian nuclear program.

UN Security Council’s involvement and sanctions against Iran are illegitimate

Since there has never been any evidence of a nuclear weaponization program in Iran and because Iran has cooperated with the IAEA, the two votes in 2005 and 2006 in the Governors’ Board of the IAEA to report Iran’s nuclear file to the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) were coerced and politicized moves that were legally untenable, as explained by a leading international lawyer. [16, 17] Therefore, the UNSC’s imposition of sanctions on Iran violates the IAEA’s own statute and lacks legitimacy.

The process that led to the UNSC’s involvement also was flawed because, under Western pressure, the IAEA’s expectations of Iran exceeded NPT’s Safeguards requirements. To boost confidence in its nuclear program during the course of two years of negotiations with the EU3 (France, U.K., Germany) , the Iranian government voluntarily suspended its nuclear enrichment program and in December 2003 also voluntarily implemented the IAEA’s Additional Protocol that allows more intrusive inspections than those required under the NPT. [18] However, under U.S. pressure, Iran received nothing in return and a new administration decided to resume the enrichment program and dropped its adherence to the Additional Protocol. [19]

When the public is told that Iran did not disclose the construction of a new enrichment facility in Qom, it is important to remember that the expectations would be valid only if Iran were still bound by the optional Additional Protocol. [20] Under the NPT, Iran was only required to disclose the facility six months before it intended to introduce uranium fuel. In fact, it did so 18 months in advance, but still was accused of violating its international responsibilities under the NPT. Iran has offered to implement the Additional Protocol again if its file is returned from the Security Council to the IAEA. [21]

The politicized nature of the IAEA’s referral of Iran’s case to the UNSC and the resulting sanctions is evident in the support by the U.S. for Israel’s open secret “nuclear deterrence” and the fact that U.S. allies South Korea and Egypt were not punished after revelations in 2009 that they had experimented with near-weapons-grade nuclear material. [22]

Iran is not a threat to the U.S. or Israel.

In order to justify depriving Iran of nuclear technology, many U.S. and Israeli political figures portray the Iranian leadership as irrational fanatics hell-bent on using nuclear weapons as soon as they can develop them. But Iran has not attacked any country in more than 200 years and its military spending per capita is among the lowest in its region. On the contrary, it is Iran that has been attacked on many occasions, including an Iraqi invasion in 1980 which led to eight years of full-scale conflict at the cost of hundreds of thousands of Iranian lives. Iraq used chemical weapons during its Western-backed invasion of Iran, but Iran never retaliated in kind. [23]

In fact, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has issued a fatwa (religious decree of the highest order) banning the production, stockpiling and the use of nuclear weapons and any other weapons of mass destruction as anti-Islamic. He has reiterated this fatwa in his message to the Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Conference in Tehran in April 2010. [24]

It is no secret that Iran is opposed to Israeli policies, but despite constant references to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad supposedly calling for Israel to be “wiped off the map,” no Iranian leader has ever called for the physical destruction of the Israeli state. [25]

On the other hand, the U.S. and Israel with vastly superior military capabilities, including massive nuclear arsenals, and U.S. military bases in most of the countries around Iran and a constant naval presence off the southern coast of Iran, constantly threaten Iran with military attack and destruction.

Iran is under constant threat of illegal foreign intervention.

All leading U.S. politicians, including President Obama, have stated that in dealing with Iran “all options are on the table,” which is the code phrase for threatening Iran with military intervention, including a nuclear attack. [26] The new Nuclear Posture Review of the United States singles out only one non-nuclear armed country, namely Iran, as possible target for American nuclear attack. [27] Israeli officials have also threatened to launch war on Iran. [28]

The U.S. has funded anti-Iranian terrorist groups both in and outside Iran [29] and has itself engaged in kidnapping and sabotage operations inside Iran in direct violation of that country’s sovereignty. [30] Under the Obama administration, the U.S. has intensified its covert military operations in Iran. [31]

In addition, the U.S. government annually spends millions in public funds in antigovernment propaganda operations directed at Iranians. [32] All these are violations of the Article 2 of the U.N. Charter, which calls for respect of national sovereignty and forbids member countries from threatening or using force against other countries. [33] U.S. interference in Iran’s internal affairs also is specifically banned by the bilateral Algiers Accord of 1981. [34]

The 2009 Iranian presidential election and its aftermath are being exploited by pro-war forces

Many Western commentators point to the disputed 2009 Iranian elections and claim that, since there is a domestic opposition to the Iranian government, Iranians would support foreign intervention or an attempt at regime change. This is false and disingenuous. No opposition figure in Iran has ever asked for any kind of war, sanctions or even monetary help from outside the country. In fact, the reformist leaders and other internal opposition to the current government in Iran have clearly and publicly condemned any kind of sanctions or foreign intervention against Iran. [35]

While the idea of “targeted” sanctions may have some currency among a minority of exile-based Iranians, it is strongly opposed by the overwhelming majority of Iranians in general. There were reports of similar “popular support” for threats and “smart” sanctions against Iraq by exile groups like Ahmad Chalabi’s Iraqi National Congress. Those claims were cynically cultivated by the U.S. and British neoconservatives to justify their drive toward war.

The Obama Administration has backtracked on its own engagement pledge and now actively opposes peaceful solutions.

Barack Obama’s presidential campaign included promises to move U.S. policy away from confrontation with Iran and toward “direct and unconditional negotiations.” Disappointingly, the Obama administration has backed away from that position. Its current policy is virtually the same as that of the Bush/Cheney administration: i.e., before there can be any negotiations, Iran must first give up its nuclear program altogether.

Washington’s intransigence under the Obama administration is most evident with regard to the Iranian nuclear fuel swap proposal in May of 2010. Before the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Iran received U.S. assistance under the Atoms for Peace program to build a nuclear research reactor in Tehran. [36]

As previously stated, the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) is used for producing medical isotopes for the treatment of some 800,000 cancer patients. The reactor is fueled with uranium enriched to a higher degree than fuel needed for a nuclear power plant, but still far below the level required to build a nuclear weapon. That reactor is now running out of fuel. [37]

In the fall of 2009, the Vienna Group (U.S., France, Russia and the IAEA) proposed that

Iran swap 1,200 kilograms of its low-enriched uranium (LEU) for fuel rods with the higher-enriched uranium needed to fuel the TRR. Iran accepted this offer in principle, but insisted on guarantees to ensure it would actually receive the fuel rods. The Obama administration walked away from the negotiating table, adopting a “take it or leave it” position. [38]

Iran, on the other hand, emphasized its readiness for more negotiations over the fuel swap proposal. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated their willingness for mediating the Iranian nuclear swap deal in a meeting with President Obama during the Nuclear Security Summit in New York in April 2010. Accordingly, President Obama stated in a letter to President Lula that, for the U.S., “Iran’s agreement to transfer 1,200 kg of Iran’s low enriched uranium (LEU) out of the country would build confidence and reduce regional tensions by substantially reducing Iran’s LEU stockpile.” President Obama further stated that “this element is of fundamental importance for the United States. For Iran, it would receive the nuclear fuel requested to ensure continued operation of the TRR to produce needed medical isotopes and, by using its own material, Iran would begin to demonstrate peaceful nuclear intent.” [39]

On May 17, 2010, after 18 hours of negotiations in Tehran, Turkey, Brazil and Iran signed a third-country swap agreement (the “Tehran Agreement”) in which Iran compromised in every area it considered vital to its interests along the lines that President Obama had mentioned in his letter. [40] And yet, regardless of initial support for the Iran- Turkey-Brazil Agreement, President Obama decided to dismiss the Tehran Agreement and push for a new round of sanctions against Iran in the UNSC. [41] This fourth round of UNSC sanctions was thus imposed against Iran while Turkey and Brazil cast negative votes and Lebanon abstained. [42]

The sanctions policy is deeply flawed, as well as counter-productive.

The stated goal of what are now four sets of Security Council-imposed sanctions as well as unilateral sanctions imposed by the U.S. is to pressure Iran to abandon its nuclear program. In reality, the sanctions are meant to promote “regime change” by creating popular discontent in Iran.

This policy is not only criminal, but also flawed. People rarely engage in anti-government activity when their countries are threatened, as shown by the examples of both Cuba and Iraq, as well as the 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. With Iraq in particular, sanctions resulted in a genocidal level of civilian casualties, but still did not produce the intended results. [43]

Sanctions are a gateway to war.

Sanctions are not only a form of warfare but they can also lead to actual war. The only way to make sanctions viable would be to impose a total military blockade of all Iranian trade and forcefully intercept Iranian shipping. By any definition, that would be an act of war.

In retrospect, many Iraqis now see the sanctions of the 1990s not simply as “pressure” designed to force Iraq to end its non-existent WMD program, but as a cynical ploy to physically disrupt and weaken Iraq for an eventual military action. Those sanctions did succeed – costing the lives of 1.5 million civilians, including at least a half-million children. [44]

The U.S. and Israeli advocates of sanctions are fully aware of the clear and direct risk of war. Indeed, some of the most vocal advocates for sanctions are the same ones who promoted the 2003 illegal invasion of Iraq.

A catastrophic war or a peaceful resolution of the stand-off?

From the standpoint of the neoconservatives, sanctions on Iran must lead to a U.S. or Israeli military strike on Iran. This is a direct and gross violation of the U.N. Charter, which forbids military aggression on another country.

Further, the Iranian government has vowed to respond to any attack with full force. Many analysts warn of a quick chain reaction that could lead to a devastating regional war, from Afghanistan to Gaza, as Iran and its regional allies would retaliate against the U.S., Israel and their allies, resulting in unprecedented human and economic costs for both the region and the interfering forces.

A peaceful resolution of the conflict can only be achieved by rejecting the current illegitimate course of threats and sanctions. The U.S. policy of aggression should be replaced with unconditional and comprehensive negotiations between Iran and the U.S. based on mutual respect to build trust between the two sides and to find a solution to the standoff that recognizes Iran’s sovereignty and national rights.

References and Notes

1 Ebrahim Afsah, “Creed, Cabal, or Conspiracy – The Origins of the Current Neo-Conservative Revolution in US Strategic Thinking”, The German Law Journal, No. 9 (September 2003), n. 5,

2 NPT, UN Office for Disarmament Affairs http://www.un.org/disarmament/WMD/Nuclear/NPT.shtml

3 NPT Article IV, Section 1 http://www.un.org/disarmament/WMD/Nuclear/pdf/NPTEnglish_Text.pdf

4 NPT Article IV, Section 2 http://www.un.org/disarmament/WMD/Nuclear/pdf/NPTEnglish_Text.pdf

5 IAEA chief El Baradei, quoted “I don’t think Iran is developing, or we have new information that Iran is developing, a nuclear weapon today,” BBC, April 9, 2010 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8611864.stm

6 IAEA chief El Baradei, “’No credible evidence’ of Iranian nuclear weapons, says UN inspector”, Guardian September 30, 2009 – http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/30/iranian-nuclear-weaponsmohamed-elbaradei

7 IAEA report on Iran, May 31, 2010. [parag. 46] http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Board/2010/gov2010-10.pdf

8 IAEA report on Iran, May 31, 2010. [parag. 46] http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Board/2010/gov2010-10.pdf

9 Bruno Tertrais, “Back to Earth: Nuclear Weapons in the 2010s (ARI)” Real Instituto Elcano, June 25, 2010 http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/rielcano_eng/Content?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/elcano/elcano_in/zonas_in/ari110-2010 and for the Additional Protocol view http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Factsheets/English/sg_overview.html

10 White House: Iran must prove it is not developing nukes”, Haaretz, September 29, 2009. http://www.haaretz.com/news/white-house-iran-must-prove-it-is-not-developing-nukes-1.7033

11 FRASER NELSON and JASON BEATTIE, “British officers knew on eve of war that Iraq had no WMDs”, Scotsman, February 4, 2004. http://news.scotsman.com/wariniraq/British-officers-knew-oneve.2500388.jp

12 Generally, in recent IAEA reports (e.g., the May 31, 2010 report), the phrase “lran has not provided the necessary cooperation”, the IAEA is referring to “Alleged Studies” documents received from Western intelligence agencies purporting to show studies of nuclear weapon systems. But the authenticity of many of these documents has been challenged even by officials of the IAEA and some Western intelligence agencies. Even the IAEA does not possess these documents, as it stated in its 2008 report:

“Concerning the documents purporting to show administrative interconnections between the alleged green salt project and a project to modify the Shahab-3 missile to carry a nuclear warhead, Iran stated that, since some of the documents were not shown to it by the Agency, it could not make an assessment of them. Although the Agency had been shown the documents that led it to these conclusions, it was not in possession of the documents and was therefore unfortunately unable to make them available to Iran.” [IAEA report on Iran, May 26, 2008, parag. 21] http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Board/2008/gov2008-15.pdf; See also Gareth Porter, “Leaked Iran paper exposes IAEA rift”, Asia Times Online, October 8, 2009. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KJ08Ak05.html. Gareth Porter, “Outgoing UN Nuclear Inspector Pushed Dubious Iran Nuclear Weapons Intel”, Antiwar, July 3, 2010. http://original.antiwar.com/porter/2010/07/02/outgoing-un-nuclear-inspector-pushed-dubiousiran-nuclear-weapons-intel/

13 US Department of State, “Atoms for Peace Agreement with Iran,” Department of State Bulletin 36 (15 April 1957), p. 629; in Daniel Poneman, Nuclear Power in the Developing World (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1982), p. 84; “US-Iran Cooperation,” Department of State Telegram, 11 April 1974, in Digital National Security Archive, http://nsarchive.chadwyck.com; “US-Iran Joint Statement,” Unclassified Briefing Paper, 3 November 1974, in Digital National Security Archive, http://nsarchive.chadwyck.com; “Past Arguments Don’t Square With Current Iran Policy,” Washington Post, March 27, 2005. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3983-2005Mar26.html

14 US Energy information administration, January 2010 – http://www.eia.doe.gov/cabs/Iran/Oil.html

15 Interview with Iran’s IAEA Ambassador, Ali Asghar Soltanieh (by Mohammad Kamaali), CASMII, June 29, 2008. http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/5439 and Interview with Iran’s IAEA Ambassador, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Press TV, February 9, 2010. http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118228

16 Siddharth Varadarajan, “The Sawers letter: The game plan on Iran is becoming clearer”, March 25, 2006. http://svaradarajan.blogspot.com/2006/03/sawers-letter-game-plan-on-iran-is.html

17 This has been confirmed by Stephen Rademaker, a senior US official involved in the process; See Siddharth Varadarajan (Interviewed by Abbas Edalat), “US Coercion of India against Iran at IAEA”, CASMII, March 7, 2007. http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/1545

18 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) News Center, Oct. 21, 2003 http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Focus/IaeaIran/statement_iran21102003.shtml

19 Pepe Escobar, “Iran knocks Europe out”, Asia Times Online, September 7, 2005. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GI07Ak06.html; “Majlis Seeks to Suspend Additional Protocol Implementation if Iran Referred to UN,” Fars News Agency, 9 September 2005, in FBIS Document IAP20050909011017.; 29 September 2005: Majles [i.e. Iranian parliament] passes a draft law that directs the government to suspend the Additional Protocol of the NPT. “With the goal of guaranteeing the rights and national interests of Iran, the Majlis obliges the government to suspend the supplemental protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty until the right of Iran to use atomic energy for peaceful purposes is acknowledged.”; Safa Haeri, “Iran Confirms Stopping Additional Protocol of the NPT,” Iran Press Service, 9 October 2005.

20 Daniel Joyer, “The Qom Enrichment Facility: Was Iran Legally Bound to Disclose?”, Jurist, March 5, 2010. http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forumy/2010/03/qom-enrichment-facility-was-iran.php; Gareth Porter, “Secrecy shrouds Iran’s contingency centers”, Asia Times Online, November 19, 2009. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KK19Ak02.html

21 CASMII Press Release, “Chance for peace: UN should accept Iran’s offer to implement Additional Protocol”, CASMII, February 29, 2008. http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/4185

22 “Weapons grade uranium found in Egypt”, Press TV, May 6, 2009. http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=93821§ionid=351020502 Kang, Jungmin; Hayes, Peter; Bin, Li; Suzuki, Tatsujiro; Tanter, Richard. “South Korea’s Nuclear Surprise”. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. January 1, 2005.

23 Joost R. Hiltermann, A poisonous affair : America, Iraq, and the gassing of Halabja, New York,

NY : Cambridge University Press, 2007; “Chemical Warfare In The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988” – SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) Fact Sheet, May 1984

24 Ali Khamenei (message), “Message to the Tehran International Nuclear Disarmament Conference “Nuclear Energy for All, Nuclear Weapons for None”“, Monthly Review, April 18, 2010. http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/khamenei180410.html

25 Juan Cole, “Hitchens the Hacker; And, Hitchens the Orientalist And, “We don’t Want Your Stinking War!” – translation of Ahmadinejad’s remarks, Informed Comment, May 3, 2006. http://www.juancole.com/2006/05/hitchens-hacker-and-hitchens.html

26 President George W. Bush, “Bush: ‘All options are on the table’ regarding Iran’s nuclear aspirations”, USA Today, August 12, 2005. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-08-13-bushiran-nuclear_x.htm; Vice-President Dick Cheney, “Where We Are and Where We Are Going”, Craig Barnes, February 24, 2007. http://www.craig-barnes.com/speeches/2007/03012008.html; Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain, “McCain: Military Option on Iran Remains”, Fox News, August 14, 2005. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,165666,00.html; Presidential candidate Barack Obama, CBS News, February 2007 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/11/60minutes/main2458530_page3.shtml;

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, February, 2007 http://www.nysun.com/national/clinton-praisesbloombergs-focus-on-environmental/53960; and Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards, January 22, 2007. http://www.herzliyaconference.org/Eng/_Articles/Article.asp?ArticleID=1728&CategoryID=223

27 Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett, “The nuclear posture review and American credibility in Iranian eyes”, The Race for Iran, April 13, 2010. http://www.raceforiran.com/the-nuclear-posturereview-and-american-credibility-in-iranian-eyes; and Jake Tapper, Huma Khan, and Karen Travers, “New US Nuclear Policy Sends ‘Strong Message’ To Iran, North Korea, Officials Say”, ABC World News, April 6, 2010. http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Politics/us-nuclear-policy-sends-strong-message-irannorth/story?id=10298475

28 Dan Williams, “Israel threatens to attack Iran unless enrichment stops: minister”, Reuters, June 6, 2008. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL0625195820080606

29 Seymour Hersh, “Preparing the battlefield”, The New Yorker, July 7, 2008. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/07/080707fa_fact_hersh; and William Lowther and Colin Freeman, “US funds terror groups to sow chaos in Iran” – Telegraph, Feb. 25, 2007. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1543798/US-funds-terror-groups-to-sow-chaos-in-Iran.html

30 Seymour Hersh, “The Coming Wars”, The New Yorker, January 24, 2005. http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/01/24/050124fa_fact

31 Mark Mazzetti, “U.S. Is Said to Expand Secret Actions in Mideast”, The New York Times, May

24, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/world/25military.html

32 Seymour Hersh, “The Coming Wars”, as cited above, and Ewen MacAskill and Julian Borger, “Bush plans huge propaganda campaign in Iran”, Guardian, February 16, 2006. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/feb/16/usnews.iran

33 UN Charter, Chapter 1, Article 2.4 – http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter1.shtml

34 Algiers Accord: Point 1: “The United States pledges that it is and from now on will be the policy of the United States not to intervene, directly or indirectly, politically or militarily, in Iran’s internal affairs.” http://www.iusct.org/general-declaration.pdf

35 Quote from Hashemi Rafsanjani, “US will fail in ‘bullying’ Iran: ex-president”, AFP, July 3, 2010. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hzYHRVmJ_ibLrhvg11RKn3jmd6bQ

36 US Department of State, “Atoms for Peace Agreement with Iran,” Department of State Bulletin

36 (15 April 1957), p. 629; in Daniel Poneman, Nuclear Power in the Developing World (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1982), p. 84; and Peter Grier, “It was Uncle Sam who first gave Iran nuclear equipment”, Christian Science Monitor, October 2, 2009. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Foreign-Policy/2009/1002/p04s01-usfp.html

37 Interview with Iran’s IAEA Ambassador, Ali Asghar Soltanieh (by Mohammad Kamaali), CASMII, cited above and Interview with Iran’s IAEA Ambassador, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Press TV, cited above.

38 Parisa Hafezi, “Iran rejects sending uranium abroad”, Reuters, November 18, 2009. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5AH2H820091118

39 “Obama’s Letter to Lula Regarding Brazil-Iran-Turkey Nuclear Negotiations”; CASMII, April 20, 2010, http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/1015

40 “Nuclear Swap Agreement between Iran, Turkey and Brazil”, CASMII, 17 May 2010 http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/10032

41 Glenn Kessler, “US, Brazilian officials at odds over letter on Iranian uranium”, Washington Post, May 28, 2010. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/05/27/AR2010052705151.html

42 “Brazil slams UN Security Council Sanctions Resolution against Iran”, CASMII, June 9, 2010. http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/10314

43 “The debate over UN sanctions”, Frontline (PBS), November, 2002.

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/iraq/sanctions.html; and Andrew Cockburn, “The Human Price of Sanctions”, Counter Punch, July 16-18, 2010. http://www.counterpunch.org/andrew07162010.html

44 Discussing the Iraq sanctions on May 12, 1996 on the CBS program “60 Minutes,” interviewer Lesley Stahl asked US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, “We have heard that a half-million children have died. I mean, that’s more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?” Albright replied: “I think this is a very hard choice, but the price – we think the price is worth it.”