PIPISTRO

Short. IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, demands that Iran come clean over its past atomic work, suspected on the base of intelligence suggesting Iran was engaged in weaponization studies, the so called alleged studies. Namely, we must stress, in the past. The West – that is US, its clients and valets – fears Iran could use its nuclear programme to make atomic weapons. Tehran has repeatedly dismissed the intelligence as fabricated, and the allegations that it was seeking to build a bomb as baseless. Western countries such as the United States insist that Tehran should actively disprove the allegations rather than simply dismiss them as untrue. Easy to say, in this respect, that providing the evidence of non existence of something that does not exist is simply impossible. Alas, we got to see the same preposterous claim about alleged Iraqi WMD under heavy pressure from Washington.
It’s easier to suspect that the whole stuff is aimed at frustrating Iranian economic threat to the US & Co. egemony in the Middle East. We’re talking about 70 million young learned people, sitting over a remarkable lot of oil, looking at the Asia market and attracted by newly born western style needs. That’s it. On the path of the after 911, Iran is already under three sets of (US inspired) UN Security Council sanctions over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment work, which can be used to make nuclear fuel as well as the fissile core of an atom bomb. In this respect Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is aimed at peaceful ends and energy production and has so far rejected halting uranium enrichment as a pre-condition to talks, stressing it has a right to the activity under the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT). Moreover the Islamic Republic repeatedly said it is ready to negotiate with world powers to ‘alleviate concerns’ over its nuclear activity.
Three days ago some said, as if it were big news, that inspectors from the UN atomic watchdog were alarmed that Iran has in its possession a document describing the process for making what could be the core of a nuclear weapon. Nothing we did not hear of before, it is the so called uranium metal document, a 15-page document describing process for the reduction of UF6 (Uranium hexafluoride) to uranium metal and machining uranium metal into two hemispheres of the kind used in nuclear warheads. Iran has told the IAEA that the document was received back in 1987 (by the way in 1987 Iran was still at war with Iraq) along with design information for the so-called P1 centrifuges used to enrich uranium, and insists it did not request it. It must be underlined that IAEA reported the existence of such a document since 2006, and received on November 8, 2007, a copy of the relevant 15-page evidence, but later declared that “has seen no indication of any UF6 reconversion and casting activity in Iran” [Report by the Director General of IAEA to the Board of Governors, GOV/2007/58] (1). Much ado about nothing.
This said, in the “Introductory Statement to the Board of Governors” made on June 2, 2008, by IAEA Director General, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, we can read that “To put things into perspective [it must be emphasized] that the Agency currently has no information – apart from the uranium metal document – on the actual design or manufacture by Iran of nuclear material components, or of other key components, of a nuclear weapon. Likewise, the Agency has not seen indications of the actual use of nuclear material in connection with the alleged studies”. And it seems then ludicrous a further worried statement made in order to soften those outcomes, maybe under pressure from some western clowns, that “while the Agency can verify and provide assurances about Iran´s past and present nuclear activities, concerns about Iran´s future intentions go well beyond verification” of the Agency.
_______________________________________________________
(1) Board of Governors – GOV/2007/58 – Date: 15 November 2007
“A.3. Uranium Metal Document – 25. On 8 November 2007, the Agency received a copy of the 15-page document describing theprocedures for the reduction of UF6 to uranium metal and casting it into hemispheres. Iran hasreiterated that this document was received along with the P-1 centrifuge documentation in 1987. TheAgency has shared this document with Pakistan, the purported country of origin, and is seeking moreinformation. Iran stated that the reconversion unit with casting equipment mentioned in the one-page1987 offer was not pursued with the supply network. Apart from the conversion experiments of UF4 touranium metal at the Tehran Nuclear Research Centre (GOV/2004/60 Annex, para. 2), the Agency hasseen no indication of any UF6 reconversion and casting activity in Iran. It should be noted, however,that a small UF6 to uranium metal conversion line in the Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF) wasdeclared by Iran in the design information questionnaire for the UCF (GOV/2003/75, Annex 1, para.3). This line has not been built, as verified by the Agency’s inspectors.”

Some days ago, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki released an interview for Spiegel on the efforts to resolve the conflict about Tehran’s nuclear program and his country’s right to resist the western threat. By the way he remarked that 50 years ago the nazionalization of Iranian oil was termed by the UN Security Council as a threat to international peace and stability. The preposterous absurdity of the double standard in UNSC Resolutions is not over. While some say that the Pentagon is planning to deliver a massive air strike on Iran’s military infrastructure and the British freeze their relations with Teheran, we sit and wait. Everybody knows why the world is being cast into a hell of a situation in the Middle East and it’s very clear who is the victim and who the executioner. Once more we are the bystanders, the hypocrites, the ones who’re going to apologize saying we did not know.

Not answering till now – as far as I know – to the call and to the meeting with freedom of expression and moreover with impartiality, very few western media underlined the existence of the “International Cartoon Contest-Holocaust" launched in Iran the day after the wild opposition that spread against the so called satanic cartoons. If it’s not possible in facts to put in doubt the frightening inopportunity of the principles inspiring that contest, in sight of the further diffusion of potentially offensive cartoons (in this case inspired to the overwhelming tragedy that gave birth to the provocative initiative), one has to emphasize that on one hand every western media made its best to publicize the anti-Islamic cartoons with alacrity, while, on the other hand, no one is showing at least some interest in dealing with that – we can say - peculiar revenge, but in facts it is showing a somewhat light response, exclusively aimed to the specifical theme of the “competition". I mean the vision one may have of the tragedy of the Holocaust in its sole relation with the situation of the Palestinian people. Here is the presentation made on irancartoon, shown as “the first information center of Iranian cartoonists on the web": «Where is The Border for western "Liberty of Expression"? Theme: Why should  the "Palestinian people" pay for  the "holocaust" story? Number of Cartoons:  5 cartoons. Sending cartoons: 1) Sending original Cartoons through the post. 2)Sending cartoons by E –mail Format: JPG and DPI 200 Dimension: Min. A4 and Max. A3. There will be no restriction in techniques of performance of cartoons. Cartoons without name will also be accepted. Deadline: May 15, 2006. Awards …» Among the others on the site of the contest, Brazilian cartoonist Latuff’s work. UPDATE February 21, 2006. I'm glad I was somewhat mistaken about the western nonchalance about the iranian contest. There is an interesting signal from the Jewish side. And now I'm convinced there is a specific European taboo about some issues. Some Jewish cartoonists launched on the site boomka.org the "Israeli Anti-Semitic Cartoons Contest". In the same site we can read something about the reactions to that contest. «In the last two days we’ve received hundreds of emails from all over the world. About 98% percent of them are from Jews saying: You’ve made us proud to be Jews (Or from non-Jews saying you’ve made me wish I was a Jew). A few were concerened that real anti-semitists will use our cartoons to spread hate. I don’t think they need us for that, they have no trouble inventing excuses for hate …»