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Comments (0)Iran says it will only do the minimum required to cooperate with the U.N.‘s nuclear watchdog agency.
Tehran officials will only inform the International Atomic Energy Agency of its progress in building its 10 new nuclear enrichment sites 180 days before it injects gas into centrifuges, and not during the construction phase of the plants as the IAEA had demanded, according to media reports.
“According to the safeguards, after installation of equipments and only 180 days ahead of injecting gas into centrifuges ... we should inform the IAEA,” senior Iranian diplomat Abolfazl Zohrehvand told the official Iranian news agency IRNA. “And we will act within the framework of the safeguard.”
The IAEA censured Iran last week for its building of a second nuclear enrichment site in Qom.
Meanwhile, in an interview Dec. 3 with Politico, U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) said he intended to pass the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act by the end of the year, and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told Democrats that the bill would come to the floor in the next two weeks.
The legislation would sanction companies that help Iran import or produce refined petroleum, which is seen as potentially having a large impact on Iran’s economy because the country imports 40 percent of its refined petroleum.
EU Foreign Ministers Call for Jerusalem Talks
European Union foreign ministers called for negotiations over the status of Jerusalem as a capital for two states.
In a statement agreed upon Tuesday, the 27 ministers representing the member states of the European Union said, “If there is to be a genuine peace, a way must be found through negotiations to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of two states,” according to reports.
The foreign ministers meeting in Brussels also called Israel’s 10-month freeze on construction in West Bank settlements a “step in the right direction.”
EU envoys on Monday failed to agree on the wording of a Swedish proposal to divide Jerusalem and make east Jerusalem the Palestinian capital, which led to the foreign ministers’ meeting.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry, responding to the statement, said it “ignores the primary obstacle to achieving a resolution between Israel and the Palestinians: the Palestinian refusal to return to the negotiating table. Given the Israel Government’s efforts to renew the negotiations, Israel regrets that the EU has chosen to adopt a text that, although containing nothing new, does not contribute to the renewal of negotiations.
“We expect the EU to act to promote direct negotiations between the parties, while considering Israel’s security needs and understanding that Israel’s Jewish character must be preserved in any future agreement.”
The European Jewish Congress called the EU foreign ministers’ declaration disappointing and one-sided.
“Although the declaration goes some way to correcting the unprecedented proposals by the Swedes, it is still extremely lopsided towards the Palestinian point of view,” said Dr. Moshe Kantor, president of the EJC. “This will only embolden the Palestinians by sending them the message that they don’t need to negotiate because they will receive everything on a silver platter. It also ignores the fact that Israel has repeatedly called for immediate and direct negotiations without preconditions, something repeatedly ignored by the Palestinians.
Israeli officials had pressed EU foreign ministers to reject the Swedish plan, which reportedly said that “Europe calls for an independent, democratic, contiguous and viable state of Palestine, comprising the West Bank and Gaza and with east Jerusalem as its capital. If there is to be a genuine peace, a way must be found to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the capital of two states.”
The Israeli daily Ma’ariv reported that the draft resolution also added, “Europe has never recognized Jerusalem’s annexation” and “The European Union will not recognize any changes to ‘67 borders unless agreed upon by both states.”
The proposal reportedly did not explicitly identify western Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Palestinian Grocer Sues Sacha Baron Cohen
A Palestinian grocer is suing actor Sacha Baron Cohen for $115 million over his portrayal in “Bruno.”
Ayman Abu Aita filed the lawsuit in the United States against the movie’s producers and Cohen, according to reports.
In the movie, Ayman Abu Aita, a Christian peace activist, escorted Cohen’s alter-ego Bruno, a gay fashion journalist, to a Lebanese refugee camp. Abu Aita was identified in a caption as “Terrorist group leader, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.”
Abu Aita says he has received death threats in the wake of the movie. He says he did not realize that Cohen was an actor filming a comedy movie, and said that Cohen misrepresented himself, saying the movie would help the Palestinian cause.
Aita served in the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades from 2000 until 2003, then spent two years in an Israeli prison on charges of shooting at Israeli soldiers, according to World Net Daily.
He is now a representative of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Party in the West Bank town of Beit Sahor, near Bethlehem.