Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva is calling on world leaders to develop new tactics with Iran, to engage the country rather than isolating it. Lula da Silva and Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met in Brazil Monday 23 November and Lula, the rare leader to welcome Ahmadinejad, said in a joint press conference at the end that he supports Iran’s efforts to develop a peaceful nuclear energy programme. Lula’s background includes years as a union negotiator.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The question marks hanging over Iran’s nuclear activities, peaceful or warlike or possibly both, are bringing together in Geneva today 1 October top officials from Iran and the group known as 5+1: Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany. It follows an earlier meeting of the group in July 2008, which ended on a sour note, and where the head of the US delegation, William Burns, reportedly left the room to avoid shaking hands with his Iranian counterpart, Saeed Jalili. Early in 2009 US President Barack Obama’s administration said it intended to take a fresh approach, and Obama has since said that he wants to allow time to reassess the US relationship with Iran.
This session is described by Iran as an opportunity to discuss security in the region, and by some of the others as a chance for Iran to clarify its nuclear activities. It is also being seen in the West as a chance for China and Russia, whose attitudes towards Iran may have shifted in the past year, to provide their reaction to the announcement that Iran has a uranium enrichment plant at Qom.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss federal council refuses to give up documents related to the Tinner affair and intends to go ahead with its decision to destroy them, despite a court order to the contrary, Swiss president Hans-Rudolf Merz told Swiss German radio DRS yesterday.
The North Korean government announced it would enrich uranium and weaponize its plutonium stocks in a defiant response to the UN Security Council’s resolution to impose stricter sanctions on the country. The sanctions include a ban on arms purchase from North Korea, with which it finances its nuclear program, and searches of its ships at sea. The United States is considering applying greater restrictions on North Korea’s access to the international financial system. FT, BBC, CNN
Jaime Flor-Cruz of CNN, a longtime reporter in China who has visited North Korea, says on his most recent visit to the China-N Korea border that the dilemma for other nations of how to handle a very poor nation seeking respect with its nuclear efforts cannot be resolved by China, which has its own difficult relationship to sort out.
French officials denied claims of a relationship between nuclear weapons tests and health problems among the testers for decades. Defense Minister Hervé Morin told Le Figaro, Tuesday 23 March, that they will compensate those suffering from illnesses linked to radiation exposure from the test. French authorities carried out more than 200 nuclear tests between 1960 and 1996 that theoretically affected approximately 150,000 civilian and military personnel, according to Morin. International Herald Tribune
South Korea says that international nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea may be breaking down; N Korea announced it intends to start plutonium production again soon. AFP
