“The United States has the power to cause harm and pain,” said an statement delivered by the Iranian delegation and later repeated to reporters by top nuclear negotiator Javad Vaidi.

“But the United States is also susceptible to harm and pain. So if that is the path that the U.S. wishes to choose, let the ball roll.”

The AP is reporting the above statement given by the Iranians to the 35-member board of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. The US and its European allies are not amused, and according to Scott McClellan, the White House position is:

“I think that provocative statements and actions only further isolate Iran from the rest of the world,” (…) “And the international community has spelled out to Iran what it needs to do.”

Although the Russians and the Chinese were more hesitant, the AP story states that the Western European nations seem to, along with the US, have finally had enough of the harsh rhetoric, stalling, and subterfuge of Ahmadinejad and his Mullah handlers.

Separately, France, Germany and Britain, which spearheaded the Feb. 4 IAEA resolution clearing the path for Security Council action, warned that what is known about Iran’s enrichment program could represent only “the tip of the iceberg.”

“We believe that the time has … come for the U.N. Security Council to reinforce the authority” of the IAEA and its board, the European statement said.

Yesterday Vice President Dick Cheney made the U.S. position perfectly clear.

“For our part, the United States is keeping all options on the table in addressing the irresponsible conduct of the regime,” Cheney said. “And we join other nations in sending that regime a clear message: We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

Then later, according to the NY Times, Sec.State Condi Rice was a bit more diplomatic.

“There is still time, of course, for the Iranians to react,” Ms. Rice said after meeting with the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, at the State Department. “But we have been very clear that we did not think that as a first matter, we would try to move to sanctions in the first step of the Security Council.”

Of course, we’re all on pins-&-needles wanting to know what the Iranian president personally has to say about all this — what Ahmadinejad’s latest warning tirade against the West happens to be for the moment — and Al Bawaba is happy to accommodate that desire.

“Everyone must accept and respect the Iranian nation’s desire to obtain peaceful nuclear technology”, Ahmadinejad stated while at a rally in the city of Khorramabad, according to AFP.
(…)
“If anyone shows aggression to the Iranian nation’s rights, Iran will wipe the dark stain of regret on their foreheads,” he added.

“If the world accepts Iran’s desire then fine, but if it wants to ignore the rights of the Iranian nation then Iran will know what path to pursue”.

“If we stand strong the enemies will be defeated in the face of the Iranian nation’s will”.

Uh, well — if he really feels that way . . . guess it’s close to time for the good ol’ Uncle and his Euro posse to flex a bit, or as the Tobey Keith song Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue puts it:

Justice will be served
And the battle will rage
This big dog will fight
When you rattle his cage
And you’ll be sorry that you messed with
The U.S. of A.
‘Cause we’ll put a boot in your ass
It’s the American way

(db)

Technorati Tags: Iran, Condoleezza Rice, Dick Cheney, Ahmadinejad, Nukes, Vienna, IAEA, UN Sanctions

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 8th, 2006 at 10:02 am and is filed under Iran Threat, Radical Islam. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.  |   Print This Post  |   Email This Post

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