Israel and Iran hold 'positive' nuclear talks in Brussels

Brussels conference could help pave way for full international conference on banning weapons of mass destruction in Middle East

The Iranian ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh,
centre, is among those taking part in the talks. Photograph: AFP/Getty

Julian Borger, diplomatic editor 

Israeli and Iranian officials are taking part in a nuclear non-proliferation meeting in Brussels on Monday, in the hope of paving the way for a full international conference in the next few months on banning nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction from the Middle East.

A handful of officials from both Israel and Iran are involved in the two-day event, ostensibly in their capacity as private citizens, in what was billed as an academic seminar.

But the delegations are led by senior officials and have the permission of their respective governments to take part in an informal discussion with representatives from about 10 Arab states, US officials and European moderators to explore the possibility of holding a UN-sponsored conference on establishing a WMD-free zone in the Middle East.

The Israeli team is led by Jeremy Issacharoff, an ambassador for strategic affairs at the foreign ministry; the chief Iranian representative is Ali Asghar Soltanieh, the country's long-serving ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. Also taking part is Jaakko Laajava, the Finnish diplomat tasked by the UN secretary general to organise the planned conference in Helsinki.

In contrast to the ever-worsening sabre-rattling over the Iranian nuclear programme, the mood at the meeting, convened by the EU Non-Proliferation Consortium, was described by one participant as "respectful and positive".

Mark Fitzpatrick, a non-proliferation expert from the International Institute for Strategic Studies and former state department official, said "there were no fireworks and no denunciations" at the conference. That marks an improvement over a similar event held last year, when the tone was described as mutual finger-wagging. However, it was unclear from the meeting whether the Helsinki conference would go ahead on schedule in December.

Washington has been going out of its way in recent weeks to brief observers that the talks would be postponed, although it was not clear whether that was a tactic to avoid reports emerging in the midst of the election campaign that the US had pressured Israel to sit at the negotiating table with Iran.
Two junior US officials are taking part in this week's meeting but have so far said little. One source said Washington's intentions would be clear once the elections were over, but noted that participants had taken to calling the UN-sponsored event the 'Helsinki conference', rather than the '2012 conference', as uncertainty increases over its timing.

Israel's official position is neither to confirm nor deny its widely reported nuclear arsenal, and it would consider signing the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, thereby renouncing its right to have such weapons, only if its existence and its right to exist had been guaranteed by its neighbours and the region was at peace.

Nevertheless, European mediators hope the UN conference will initially represent a way of coaxing Israel into more transparency in return for continued Arab and Iranian abstinence from nuclear weapons under the increasingly strained treaty.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/05/israel-iran-brussels-nuclear-conference

Iran Offers to Send Emergency Aid Crew to New York After Hurricane Sandy

By JG Vibes
theintelhub.com

In the wake of the destruction caused by hurricane Sandy the people of Iran are reaching out in a variety of ways, by offering help and emergency aid relief.

Even the Red Crescent Organization of Iran has offered to send an emergency response team to help with the rescue and clean up effort.

Mahmud Mozaffar, the leader of the Red Crescent Organization told the Fars News Agency that:

“We are ready to help the flood-stricken people of America.  Given its preparedness and ample experience in rescuing storms and floods victims, Iran’s Red Crescent can provide relief assistance for those affected in New York.

If American authorities agree, we can send our rescuers with equipment and tools to American cities in the shortest period of time.”

It is very possible that American authorities will not accept this offer because the Red Crescent Organization is known to have deep connections with the Iranian government.

Another organization close with the Iranian government made a similar request a few years ago in offering to help clean up the Deep Horizon BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, this offer was quickly turned down by the US government.

Iran is a much more complicated situation than the half dozen other countries that have already been invaded in this conquest, it’s far more delicate.

Iran’s population and military capabilities far surpass that of Iraq and Afghanistan, it is one of the most powerful countries in the Middle East and has been for a very long time.

Despite their immense power and influence in the region they have not waged a foreign conflict in over a century, and they don’t pose much of a threat today either.

However, they are still being demonized because they don’t comply with Anglo-American business interests like the extremely brutal and fascist dictatorship in Saudi Arabia does.

That is not to say that the government of Iran is totally harmless, all governments are inherently criminal and corrupt because they operate on a basis of force, fraud and coercion.  However, it does mean that at least historically the aggression of the Iranian government has been focused inside its own borders.

All of that aside, this is still a commendable offer of peace on the part of this government connected group in Iran, and believe it or not, this is an offer which reflects the sentiments of the average Iranian person.

For well over a year now peace activists in Iran have been teaming up with other peace activists in Israel and the United States to spread a message of love and unity among people of all geographical locations…..regardless of what all the crazy politicians say.

One of the most popular of these efforts is the Iran loves Israel and Israel loves Iran campaign, which started out as a viral Facebook phenomena where Iranians and Israelis would send messages of love to one another and reassure each other that the hateful rhetoric put forward by governments and media outlets are totally out of line with the true feelings of the average person.

Wars belong to the politicians, the weapons manufactures and the bankers, it is their hate and their propaganda that drives the violence in these conflicts.  The people at home just want to live long, happy and peaceful lives.

The following is the front page quote on the Iran Loves Israel web page:

“Nothing about war is healing. It doesn’t plant seeds of change – only of discord and pain. The people of Iran, like our counterparts in Israel, are vibrant, creative, and forward-thinking.

We need a transparent arena where ideas can be exchanged, thoughts developed, and discourse inspired by our similarly ancient cultures. Although many countries in the Middle East suffer from debilitating international stereotypes, we can unite to transform the media’s image of us as violent and intolerant aggressors to loving and cooperative partners.

As we go through the crucible of our inherited animosities, we can burn away our superficial differences and together emerge with a greater understanding of humanity.”

The Israel Loves Iran web site has an equally positive quote on their front page:

“Once you see your enemy as a human being similar to yourself, being expressing his love and understand he doesn’t hate you as years of propaganda succeed to make you believe, you can never go back to blind hate, then you can start to know each other and you will be ready for peace.”

Last month we reported on the insanity of trade sanctions, and how they are literally killing millions of people, simply because they are under the oppression of a government that is not in favor with the west.

The activism that is truly needed to stop this sort of madness is going to be situations where the average people of waring nations extend love and support to one another.

This will totally undermine the propaganda of war, by helping others to understand that individuals should not be punished for the actions of the governments that oppress them.