AP: EU: Too Early for Sanctions Against Iran

[Eugene]

EU: Too Early for Sanctions Against Iran

By ROBERT WIELAARD, Associated Press Writer

Friday, September 1, 2006

(09-01) 06:53 PDT LAPPEENRANTA, Finland (AP) --

The European Union said Friday it was too early to impose sanctions
on Iran for its failure to halt uranium enrichment by a U.N.-imposed
deadline, and announced it would be meeting early next week with Iran's
top nuclear negotiator.

"For the EU, diplomacy remains the No. 1 way forward," said Finnish
Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country holds the rotating EU
presidency.

He told a news conference "this is not the time or place" for the
international community to hit Iran with sanctions over its nuclear
program.

Iran defied a Thursday U.N. Security Council deadline to stop uranium
enrichment, raising the prospect of U.N. economic and other sanctions.
In Tehran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated that his
country would not be bullied into giving up what he called Iran's
right to nuclear technology.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/09/01/international/i065346D33.DTL

Also: Iran vows not to give up nuclear program - AP

[jwirr]

1. Iran supplies some of EU oil so they see the reality of this idiocy.

[Demeter]

2. Considering that Iran Isn't Doing Anything Illegal, By All Indications

that's damn white of them, to use an unfortunate but very appropos phrase.

[Vidar]

3. Hang tough, Europe: no sanity coming from the US & precious little

from Iran.

[Spazito]

4. Oh dear......oh dear....

Boorish bolton isn't going to like that one bit! I heard him on CNN this morning spewing his garbage. The UN better be prepared for another temper tantrum from that POS. He really does generate warm feelings for the US by his actions, NOT.

[IChing]

5. I want it now!!! Screw diplomacy!!! Waaaaaaa

Must have war, must have war, need war, gotta have war.

[Spazito]

6. ROFL! Love the toon, couldn't be more apropos!

:rofl:

[bdamomma]

8. that cartoon says it all

[MrPrax]

7. If we dig deeper...

Then we find a lot of stories contradicting yesterday's Amerikan MSM headlines, including even Raw Story's attempt to catapult Bolton propaganda with the manufacturered Drudge headline "Russia, China may back Iran sanctions" which links to the well-respected 'Voice of America' news service (but oddly enough on the 'comment' page the story excerpted is from Haaretz...

But nevermind the US warmonger press

Thankfully we have:

Russia calls sanctions for Iran a "dead end"

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's foreign minister cast new doubt on whether the U.N. Security Council can reach a quick consensus on punitive measures against Iran over its nuclear programme when he called sanctions a "dead end" on Friday.

Iran faces the sanctions threat after the U.N.'s atomic watchdog said Tehran had refused to stop enriching uranium by a Thursday deadline. But Russia and China have so far opposed sanctions and could use their vetoes to block them.

"We take into account the experience of the past and we cannot ally ourselves with ultimatums, which all lead to a dead end," Interfax news agency quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying.

"Yes, there are countries whose policies raise doubts, and cause discontent, but we all live in the same world and we need to ... draw them into dialogue, and not isolation and sanctions."
Reuters

****

China, Iran Pursue Diplomacy To End Nuclear Conflict

August 30, 2006 6:18 p.m. EST

Jacob Cherian - All Headline News Staff Writer

Beijing, China (AHN) - The Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday that Iran and China would resolve the nuclear crisis by looking towards a diplomatic solution.

Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing met with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Beijing. The Chinese foreign ministry made a brief statement on its website stating, "Both sides exchanged views on developments in the Iranian nuclear issue, and stressed that it should be appropriately resolved through diplomatic negotiations."

All Headline

****
Nuclear weapons claim a lie, says Iran president

Iran's president continued his defiance of the West on Friday, telling a crowd that nuclear activity is "our obvious right" and that a claim Tehran is trying to build a nuclear weapon is a "sheer lie."

Iran is under threat of sanctions from the United Nations Security Council after a report Thursday by the International Atomic Energy Agency said Tehran had not complied with a UN-imposed deadline to stop enriching uranium by Aug. 31.
...
"Exploitation of peaceful nuclear energy is our obvious right. We will never give up our legal right," state television quoted him telling a rally in the northern Iranian town of Maku.
...
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi on Friday urged the West to avoid hasty action, saying the current situation underlined the need for further talks.

That position was echoed by European Union and Russian leaders.

CBC

But that never stopped the US media from listening to Bolton 'drive to war' for perspective.