Suspected spy pigeons arrested near nuclear site; Tripartite meeting among Iran, Russia, and Qatar for cooperation in the energy sector; IAEA: Iran’s nuclear material remains under the agency’s containment and surveillance
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Whatsapp
  • Linkedin
  • Print

    • Reports noted that security forces in Natanz arrested two suspected ‘spy pigeons’ near Iran's uranium enrichment facility in the city of Kashan in Isfahan province. The report noted that some metal rings and invisible strings were attached to the bird. Earlier in the month, a black pigeon was caught bearing a blue-coated metal ring, with invisible strings1.

    Iran, Qatar and Russia meanwhile began their first tripartite meeting for gas cooperation. The meeting, attended by Iran’s Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari, his Qatari counterpart Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah and senior executive director of Russia's Gazprom Company, was aimed at developing trilateral cooperation, enhance the level of economic and political ties and make efforts to rationalize natural gas prices in the global market. The three sides studied ways to use the existing infrastructure for production, transport and export of natural gas. They proposed setting up a center for coordinating cooperation of the three countries in Doha, Qatar, a technical center in Tehran and a market survey center in Moscow, Russia2.

    The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohammed el-Baradei meanwhile stated that Iran was far from developing nuclear weapons. El-baradei’s remarks came even as the US, Israel and their European allies alleged that Iran, a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), was secretly developing nuclear weapons. In its latest report however, the IAEA had reported that the agency had been unable to continue to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran. The report also noted that the agency had conducted “seventeen unannounced inspections” at the country’s nuclear plants, where Iran had managed to enrich uranium-235 to a level “less than 5 percent.” It added that the agency had not discovered any “components of a nuclear weapon” or “related nuclear physics studies” in Iran, confirming that all nuclear material remained “under the agency’s containment and surveillance3.”

    The US Treasury imposed sanctions on the Export Development Bank of Iran (EDBI), alleging that the bank helped with the Islamic Republic's disputed nuclear program. The sanctions freezes assets held by the bank under US jurisdiction and US citizens are barred from dealing with the institution. The Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Stuart Levey charged that Iran had adopted a strategy of using less prominent institutions, such as the EDBI, to handle its illicit transactions. The Treasury also stated that EDBI was providing or attempting to provide financial services to Iran's ministry of defense and armed forces logistics. Sanctions will also affect three companies controlled by EDBI - the EDBI Stock Brokerage Company and EDBI Exchange Company, based in Tehran, as well as Banco Internacional de Desarollo, based in Caracas. EDBI was established in 1991 with the objective of increasing Iran's exports and developing trade with other countries4.

    In other developments, the US imposed sanctions on 13 companies accused of aiding the weapons programmes of North Korea, Iran or Syria. The companies included firms based in Russia, South Korea, China, Sudan, Venezuela and the United Arab Emirates, as well as in the three targeted countries. State Department spokesman, Gordon Duguid asserted that the US had “credible information” that the companies made sales that could make a material contribution to weapons of mass destruction or cruise or ballistic missile systems. The companies that were affected included Russia's Rosoboronexport, South Korea's Yolin/Yullin Tech, Chinese firms Xinshidai Company, China Shipbuilding and Offshore International Corporation and Huazhong CNC, Venezuelan Military Industries Company, and UAE firm R and M International FZCO. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized the sanctions as a violation of international law, and warned that they would harm ties between the two countries. Under the sanctions, which remain in place until September 2010, no US government department or agency can have dealings with the affected companies. More than 50 companies have now been targeted for sanctions by the United States for arms dealings with Iran, Syria or North Korea5.

    In other developments, aides of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated that he was suffering from exhaustion, after Mr. Ahmadinejad cancelled several appointments recently, fuelling growing rumours about his health. Reports noted that reports about his health would increase speculation about his prospects for re-election in the presidential poll to be held next summer6.

    Top