President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran reads verses from the Koran at Tehran airport before leaving for New York. Photograph: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images
US and Russia to propose ban on WMD in Middle East (click title to entry - thank you)
Tough global talks ahead in review of nuclear treaty as Egypt aims to put pressure on west over Israel
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 2 May 2010 22.15 BST Julian Borger, diplomatic editor
...The proposal – involving the appointment of a special coordinator to conduct exploratory talks with Israel, Iran and the Arab states, followed by a regional conference – will be a central issue at a conference beginning tomorrow in New York aimed at preventing the further spread of nuclear weapons around the world.
Washington and Moscow have circulated the proposal among the three other permanent members of the UN security council, seeking their endorsement....I believe President Medvedev will bring all the influence he has to the table, but, it is safe to say no matter what influence China has with North Korea or Russia has with Iran there seems to be a limit to the 'rhelm of influence' any country has with the two rouge states.
...Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's criticism of Iran (see link below) during his recent visit to the United States came as a pleasant surprise for the Western and Israeli press. Medvedev said, "Iran is causing some problems", adding that "the most important thing now is for us to find evidence of what their nuclear program is."
The Russian president went on to say that Iran either ignores the questions addressed to it or makes suggestive statements. Isn't this enough to silence critics who claim that Russia is indulging Iran's nuclear ambitions?
The problem is that some of Russia's partners in the West overestimate how much influence Russia has over Iran. After U.S. President Barack Obama called off plans to deploy elements of the missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic on September 17, 2009, U.S. and other Western media outlets started saying that Russia should persuade Iran to disarm in exchange....
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20100415/158599756.html
Iran plans to hold talks with all 15 members of the UN Security Council to discuss a nuclear fuel deal, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Monday. (See link below)
He said the deal, under which Iranian stockpiles of low-enriched uranium would be sent to France and Russia to be turned into reactor fuel, could be finalized in two weeks if all sides showed the necessary will, Iran's ILNA news agency reported.
He said the talks, to begin "in the coming days," will focus on the "fuel exchange [deal]" and will be conducted by Iran's missions in the respective countries.
The UN-sponsored deal to supply nuclear fuel for a research reactor in Tehran proposes Iran ship out low-enriched uranium to be processed into higher-grade nuclear fuel and then returned to Iran....
North leader’s visit to China appears imminent (See link below)
May 03, 2010
A trip to China by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il appears imminent, multiple sources from South Korea and China said yesterday.
The North’s leader “has not crossed into China yet, but it appears highly likely that his Chinese trip would come either today or tomorrow as a considerable level of preparations have been done,” a source said on condition of anonymity...
The North’s leader “has not crossed into China yet, but it appears highly likely that his Chinese trip would come either today or tomorrow as a considerable level of preparations have been done,” a source said on condition of anonymity...
