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Saturday, May 28, 2011

Iran Vows to Unplug Internet?

Wall Street Journal' reports Islamic Republic intensifying "soft war" against western culture and influence spread through web.

A project to set up a "national" internet is underway in Iran, a move that would serve to disconnect the Islamic Republic from the rest of the world, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

The internal network, which experts see as a way for Iran to end the regime's fight for control of the internet, is expected to extend to the entire country within two years time.

The ambitious internet plan is not without its difficulties. Such a closed off system could stunt investment opportunities with other censor-minded nations such as Russia and China. It will also immediately create a technology information dearth, boosting a need to reinvent the wheel for now seemingly mundane activities, such as pulling up Google to perform a search.

Estimates place around 11 of every 100 Iranians as internet users, making their famously interactive blogging culture one of the most vibrant in the Middle East. In the early days of Iranian internet use in the 1990s, leaders encouraged citizens to log on and spread their own brand of Islamic ideology. Recent counter movements in the country, stoked by Twitter, have the country’s social engineers now on the defensive.

Such products are designed primarily to combat malware and viruses, but can be used to block other things, such as websites. Iranian officials several years ago designed their own filtering system—based on what they learned from the illegally obtained U.S. products—so they could service and upgrade it on their own, according to the Iranian engineers.

A Fortinet spokesman said he was unaware of any company products in Iran, adding that the company doesn't sell to embargoed countries, nor do its resellers. McAfee Inc., which owns Secure Computing, said no contract or support was provided to Iran. Intel Corp. recently bought McAfee, which added that it can now disable its technology obtained by embargoed countries. A Juniper spokesman said the company has a "strict policy of compliance with U.S. export law," and hasn't sold products to Iran.

The notion of an Iran-only Internet emerged in 2005 when Mr. Ahmadinejad became president. Officials experimented with pilot programs using a closed network serving more than 3,000 Iranian public schools as well as 400 local offices of the education ministry.

The government in 2008 allocated $1 billion to continue building the needed infrastructure. "The national Internet will not limit access for users," Abdolmajid Riazi, then-deputy director of communication technology in the ministry of telecommunications, said of the project that year. "It will instead empower Iran and protect its society from cultural invasion and threats."

Iran's government has also argued that an Iranian Internet would be cheaper for users. Replacing international data traffic with domestic traffic could cut down on hefty international telecom costs.

The widespread violence following Iran's deeply divisive presidential election in June 2009 exposed the limits of Iran's Internet control—strengthening the case for replacing the normal Internet with a closed, domestic version. In one of the most dramatic moments of the crisis, video showing the apparent shooting death of a female student, Neda Agha-Soltan, circulated globally and nearly in real time.

The new network will be compliant with Islamic Law, "a genuinely halal network," according to Ali Aghamohammadi, Iran's head of economic affairs.

Aghamohammadi added that the new network would initially work alongside the normal internet but could eventually replace the world wide web, not only in Iran, but in other Muslim countries as well.

The Stuxnet computer worm, which reportedly set back Iran's nuclear program pushed the regime to accelerate the internal internet initiative.

Iran nuclear envoy dismissive of sanctions

Russia is not ready to accept the logic for new sanctions against the country, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said, Ria Novosti reported.

Washington and its western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.

Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for turning down West's calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment.

Tehran has dismissed West's demands as politically tainted and illogical, stressing that sanctions and pressures merely consolidate Iranians' national resolve to continue the path.

Iran insists that it should continue enriching uranium because it needs to provide fuel to a 300-megawatt light-water reactor it is building in the southwestern town of Darkhoveyn as well as its first nuclear power plant in the Southern port city of Bushehr.

Iran currently suffers from an electricity shortage that has forced the country into adopting a rationing program by scheduling power outages - of up to two hours a day - across both urban and rural areas.

Earlier this month, a report by U.N. experts said Iran is continuing to use front companies and other concealment methods to circumvent U.N. sanctions but that the bans have succeeded in slowing its nuclear and ballistic missile program.

"Please be assured that none of the sanctions has affected our nuclear activities," Soltanieh said in what he described as a message to the EU and diplomats in New York, home of the U.N. Security Council.

Instead, "you are harming Iranian passengers," Soltanieh alleged.

Soltanieh implied that the Stuxnet computer virus that affected some centrifuges at its main enrichment facility in the central city of Natanz had little effect on its nuclear work. Scientists immediately worked on antivirus software to protect against the malware, which Tehran blames on the United States and Israel, he said.

"No matter what, the Iranian people are more determined to continue," Soltanieh said.

He commented during a discussion of Iran's nuclear capabilities at Vienna's Diplomatic Academy just days after the IAEA said in a restricted report that it has received new information alleging that Tehran my be working on a nuclear weapons program.

In other remarks Friday, Soltanieh insisted Iran doesn't want nuclear weapons.

"Are we hiding anything? No!" he said.

If that's the case, then Iran should fully cooperate with international community, said Germany's envoy to the IAEA, Ruediger Luedeking, who also participated in the discussion.

"Iran is not ready to address squarely the nuclear issue and that is something that needs to be addressed.

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Friday, November 27, 2009

Iran nuclear crisis: are new sanctions on the way

The latest criticism of Iran by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is another sign that new sanctions could be on the way.

The IAEA resolution, censuring Iran's secret construction of another uranium enrichment plant, was supported by Russia and China.

This does not mean they will join in a new round of international measures against Iran. But it does mean that Iran cannot count on them for diplomatic support.

And it possibly indicates that Russia will not supply Iran with the S-300 anti-missile system that Iran has ordered. That would be a sanction in itself.

US President Barack Obama has indicated that he will assess the Iranian position by the end of the year.

If he goes for more sanctions, he will try to get Russia and China on board. If he cannot, he will act with fellow negotiators Britain, France and Germany, plus, he hopes, the whole EU and other players.

Western 'trick'

Only two things could stop such moves. The first is Iranian compliance with the security demands for it to stop uranium enrichment.

This opportunity should be seized and it would be highly regrettable if it was missed

Mohamed ElBaradei
That will not happen, according to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He has been consistent on this so it is realistic to believe him.

The other is an agreement on a proposal to take Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium (LEU) and send it to Russia and France for conversion into fuel rods for use in Iran's small research reactor in Tehran, which produces isotopes for cancer treatment.

Some Iranian leaders see a trick in this, a way for the West to get hold of its uranium, then keep it.

However the head of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei has said that Iran does have a proposal of its own.

He said this week: "My understanding of Iran's position so far is that it is ready to exchange LEU produced in Iran, in two batches, simultaneously upon receipt of an equivalent amount of fuel for its research reactor.

"Pending receipt of the fuel, Iran is ready to place the LEU under IAEA custody and control, but only in Iran."

Mr ElBaradei, who retires from his post next week, also said: "This opportunity should be seized and it would be highly regrettable if it was missed." This is an understatement.

Target oil

The UN Security Council has approved three rounds of sanctions so far - covering trade in nuclear material, as well as travel and financial restrictions aimed at Iranian organisations and individuals.

If there are to be new sanctions, then the targets will be Iran's oil trade, especially its reliance on imported refined petroleum products, and the buzzword is reinsurance.

Q&A: Iran and the nuclear issue
Nuclear fuel cycle
Reinsurance is the means by which insurers can protect themselves against losses and the idea would be to stop or dissuade companies from proving such services for trade with Iran.

According to Wilkie, Farr and Gallaher, an international law firm, the intent is this: "The Obama Administration's sanctions could affect most Iranian import and export trade.

"[Its] proposals could ban goods, services, technology, information, or other activities that support the importation or production of refined petroleum by Iran, including refinery construction, modernization, and repair."

Some governments might be satisfied with that for the time being, bearing in mind that there is no evidence of actual nuclear bomb-making activity and Iran's statement that it will not build any such device.

However, Israel is not and will not be convinced.

New sanctions would have to be given time to work or not.

So a military strike on Iran's nuclear sites at some stage might be less likely in the shorter term, but cannot be not ruled out.
:Article Source:bbc.co.uk

Brazil enters minefield of Ahmadinejad's visit

President Ahmadinejad's short visit to Brasilia is being seen as a calculated risk for Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. But it promises significant boosts to both leaders. To the grizzled hawks in Washington it must be something of a nightmare. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is using his first official trip abroad since his contentious reelection in June not to visit traditional allies in the Middle East or Asia, but to do business with Brazil. Considering the United States' traditionally fraught relations with its South American neighbors, the welcoming of an outspoken anti-American leader by President Lula could be seen as a diplomatic minefield. Ahmadinejad's good relations with Venezuela's openly anti-American regime are well-known. As well as President Hugo Chavez, the Iranian leader has already nurtured relations with Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa. But this is the first time an Iranian leader has visited Brazil, a country with major international aspirations. Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Ahmadinejad has become even more infamous since his contested reelection The one-day visit is the first leg of a Latin American and African tour that will also take in Venezuela, Bolivia, Gambia and Senegal, and is being seen as part of a concerted Iranian campaign to win influence in parts of the western hemisphere. Back in May, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Iran's growing influence in South America "disturbing" and Ahmadinejad was forced to cancel his intended visit to Brazil at the last minute following protests by thousands of demonstrators. The antipathy to Ahmadinejad has not left Brazil in the interim. Demonstrations organized by homosexual organizations, Jewish leaders, and the opposition group the Front for the Liberation of Iran took place in 15 cities across the country in the last week. But the international mood has also changed since May. The meeting has the blessing of US President Barack Obama, who, Brazilian diplomats said, asked Lula to begin a dialogue with Ahmadinejad during a meeting in London. For its part, Brazil has ambitions to raise its profile on the international stage. Currently preparing to take up a rotating seat on the United Nations Security Council next year, Brazil is eager to show it can foster peace talks in the Middle East. Ahmadinejad's visit to Brazil comes barely a week after a visit by Israeli president Shimon Peres, and Lula plans to travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories in March 2010. Eventually, Lula wants Brazil to win a permanent seat on the Security Council. New business opportunities There is a lot on the agenda in the short meeting. Ahmadinejad is being accompanied by some 200 Iranian business leaders looking for a range of opportunities from oil to financial investments, and the two leaders are expected to sign 23 commercial agreements. These new business ties could pose diplomatic difficulties for Lula, since the US and Europe have imposed economic sanctions on Iran. Konstantin Kosten, Iranian policy expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations, told Deutsche Welle that, "Iran could become more dependent on economic relations with South America if the economic relations with the US and Europe continue to degenerate. Iran certainly has a strong interest in expanding its opportunities there." This means that Lula is under pressure to bring up the darker sides of the Iranian regime at their meeting. But on the perennial issue of Teheran's controversial nuclear program, Lula also faces a minefield. Like Iran, Brazil has a nascent nuclear power industry. "There could certainly be an interest in creating a stronger exchange of atomic technologies between Iran and Brazil," said Kosten. Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Lula has the valuable backing of Barack Obama Calculated risk This is a risk that the Brazilian president has measured carefully. And it is important he has done so. Despite Obama's support for the meeting, there have been plenty of American voices of condemnation. "This is a gross mistake for a respected president of a respected country," US Representative Eliot Engel, a Democrat who is co-chairman of a congressional caucus created to promote better relations with Brazil, said recently, "To elevate Ahmadinejad, when he represses his own people, denies the Holocaust, says he'll wipe Israel off the map - it shows Brazil isn't ready to be taken seriously as a world player." But Professor Guenther Maihold, research fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, is convinced that such statements will not do Lula long-term damage. "Unlike Chavez, Lula is not taking a loyal and supporting position to Ahmadinejad. He has promised to raise human rights issues, and he has very different views from those of Chavez," he told Deutsche Welle. Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Ahmadinejad is already an ally of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez The meeting comes a week after a Tehran court sentenced five people to death in connection with protests that followed Ahmadinejad's reelection, and Lula will be under pressure should Ahmadinejad choose to make another speech in which he denies the Holocaust. "It is a learning experience for Lula," said Maihold, "He will learn to understand how the economic interests tied up with the meeting come into conflict with the human rights issues. These are exactly the kinds of conflicts that countries that play leading international roles need to handle." Kosten agreed: "It could be true that Lula is risking a small part of his image, but he has already said clearly that he wants to speak to everyone, even if some countries disapprove." It may seem that Ahmadinejad has more to gain economically and diplomatically from finally being received by South America's largest nation - an increasingly important player in world politics. But the Brazilian president has clearly calculated that he does not have much to lose either, and, if he can make a foothold for his ambitious nation in Middle East politics, at least as much to gain. :Article Source:dw-world.de