Transcript
News Wrap 5-27-08
IAEA Report on Iran
In a report released yesterday, the IAEA found that Iran has not ceased its uranium enrichment activities, and said that Tehran’s alleged research into the construction of nuclear warheads needs “substantive explanations.”
Iran today rejected International concerns over its nuclear program, saying the latest report by the IAEA once again proved the peaceful nature of its nuclear activities.
French and German officials as well as Israeli government officials said that they remained concerned about Iran’s nuclear drive and its lack of full cooperation with the IAEA.
According to the AFP, U.S. envoy to the IAEA, Gregory Schulte yesterday said, “Iran continues to rebuff the IAEA’s efforts to investigate troubling indications that Iran has engaged in studies, engineering work, and procurement relevant to building nuclear weapons.”
Khamenei Firm Against Israel
Ayatollah Khamenei met Damascus-based political leader of Hamas, Khaled Mashaal, in Tehran today, and praised the Palestinian group’s resistance against Israel, encouraging it to persevere.
Khamenei said that Hamas’ efforts had rendered Israel “powerless,” and told Mashaal that God would grace those who “stood steadfast” against Israel.
The meeting came a week after Israel and Syria, a close ally of Iran, announced they were holding indirect peace talks. Israel has asked Damascus to cut ties with Iran, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Hamas.
Ahmadinejad Addresses Majlis
Today, in the opening session of the eight Majlis, President Ahmadinejad urged members to work with the government to resolve an array of economic issues ranging from “inefficient distribution of resources” to the “low parity of the Iranian currency”.
Despite the president’s statements, conservative politicians, who hold about 70% of the seats in the 290-member assembly, have joined reformists in accusing Ahmadinejad of triggering inflation now standing close to 25 % by pouring large sums of cash into the economy to fund local infrastructure projects.
UAE-Iran Dispute Over Islands
Today, the United Arab Emirates dismissed Iran’s response to the three-decade territorial dispute between the two countries as a “misunderstanding” and said Iran was “occupying” UAE islands in the Persian Gulf.
Iran has rejected the UAE’s request to have Russian mediated negotiations, saying that Iran and the UAE can resolve the issue bilaterally.
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