Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the United Nations yesterday most people believe the US government was behind the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, prompting the US and European delegations to leave the hall in protest.
Addressing the General Assembly, he said it was mostly US government officials and statesmen who believed al Qaeda Islamist militants carried out the suicide hijacking attacks that brought down New York’s World Trade Center — less than 6km from where the Iranian president was speaking.
Ahmadinejad walks alone as he does on most things, heading to an official meeting in Tehran Dec 14, 2009
The son of an Iranian woman sentenced to be stoned to death for adultery said Monday that he fears she will be executed shortly after this week's end to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani's 22-year-old son Sajjad Mohammadi Ashtiani was speaking by telephone to a news conference organised in Paris by the French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy.
"Ramadan is coming to an end and, according to Islamic law, executions can resume," the young man warned. The Islamic calendar varies a little around the world, but Ramadan is due to come to an end everywhere this week.
A demonstrator holds an image of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani's portrait during a support rally in Rome
Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani was convicted on May 15, 2006 of having an "illicit relationship" with two men
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged Palestinians to keep up their armed struggle against Israel a day after Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to continue talks on a US-backed peace deal.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who hosted in Washington the first session of talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, voiced confidence that this latest attempt to bring peace to the region could succeed where so many others have failed.
Attackers smashed windows and damaged security cameras at the home of Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karoubi ahead of a rally which authorities fear could reignite protests, his website said today.
Saham News said members of the Basij, a militia loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had been surrounding the house for days, “savagely assailed” Karoubi’s home on Wednesday night.
An Iranian military officer said Monday that Iran's armed forces have prepared a crushing plan to respond to any possible aggression of the U.S. or the Zionist regime of Israel, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Political Deputy of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Yadollah Javani made the remarks reacting to the Sunday statement of the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, the report said.
A Boeing 747 of Iran's national airline Iran Air at Mehrabad International airport in Tehran
Iran Air's jets have been banned from flying to Europe because of safety concerns, it was revealed today.
The move is not related to U.N. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, EU officials emphasised.
The 27-nation bloc also relaxed restrictions on two airlines from Indonesia and put a Suriname airline on its blacklist of carriers the EU believes do not meet international safety standards.
For months, the US has been trying to build the maximum international unity for sanctions against Iran.
The importance of the UN resolution was "less the specific content than the isolation of Iran by the rest of the world", the US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said in April.
After patient and persistent diplomacy and a few perks, Russia and China, Iran's powerful trading partners, finally fell into line.
Hunting falcons in Iran? Osama bin Laden (file photo)
He's not in Iran, he's in Washington: Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, shown here at UN headquarters in New York yesterday, has sarcastically dismissed the claims
Osama bin Laden is alive and well and living in luxury in Iran, it is claimed.
That is the astonishing suggestion in a documentary to be shown at a film festival in New York.
Bin Laden has been housed in a guarded compound north of Tehran with his wife, several children and grandchildren since 2003, protected by the Iranian regime, according to Feathered Cocaine, an Icelandic film about the illicit multi-million-dollar trade in falcons.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki speaks during a joint press conference with his Austrian counterpart Michael Spindelegger (not pictured) in Vienna April 25, 2010.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said here on Sunday that Iran is willing to consider enriching uranium in other countries as suggested by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
At a joint press conference held after meeting his Austrian counterpart Michael Spindelegger, the visiting Iranian official said his country is willing to negotiate on the issue, but details should be worked out later. He said he will discuss the issue with members of the UN Security Council.
Mottaki reiterated that Iran has the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and there was no reason for sanctions against Iran on the issue. Furthermore, the sanctions imposed on Iran over the past five years have been ineffectual, he added.
Robert Mugabe (2nd L) introduces Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (L) to unidentified Zimbabwean army chiefs
Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe (R) welcomes Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Zimbabwean greet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his arrival at Harare Airport
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday condemned "satanic pressures" on Zimbabwe and his own country which he said were fighting to maintain their sovereignty, during a visit to Harare.
"Iran and Zimbabwe are two countries that continue the effort to maintain their sovereignty and freedom," Ahmadinejad said at a dinner with Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe.
"Of course, our strength had provoked the hostility of expansionist countries," he said. "Here, I condemn all pressures, all satanic pressures, pressures on the government and people of Zimbabwe."
"We believe victory is ours and humiliation and defeat for our enemies," he said.
F-4 Phantom fighter jets fly during the Army Day parade in the Iranian capital Tehran on April 18
Iran began a massive air, land and sea exercise Thursday in the Persian Gulf aimed at showcasing the Islamic regime's military strength, state-run media reported.
Dubbed the "Great Prophet 5," the military maneuvers conducted by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps fall on the 31st anniversary of the elite force and are designed to demonstrate new weapons systems.
Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi told Press TV that Iran plans to produce missile defense systems similar to the Russian S-300, an advanced surface-to-air system that can defend against aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses the nation on the occasion of Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, in Tehran March 20, 2010.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, sharply denounced the United States on Sunday, accusing it of plotting to overthrow the clerical leadership in a chilly response to an overture by President Obama for better cultural ties.
Ayatollah Khamenei did not outright reject Mr. Obama’s offer, saying Iran would keep an eye on Washington’s intentions. But he said that so far Washington’s offers of engagement had been a deception.
In his message, released to coincide with the Iranian new year, Nowruz, Mr. Obama told the Iranian people that Americans want better cultural exchanges with Iran. He also criticized the Iranian leadership for “turning its back” on American overtures.
Ayatollah Khamenei, who has the final say on all political matters in Iran, lashed back in a nationally televised address in an annual provincial visit to his hometown, Mashhad, telling the Americans, “You cannot speak about peace and friendship while plotting to hit Iran.”
In particular, he denounced the American criticism of Iran’s own postelection crackdown. Iran has arrested thousands because of protests over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s lopsided victory in June, which the opposition says is fraudulent.
The ayatollah said that in response to past American overtures, “We said that if they are extending a metal hand inside a velvet glove, we won’t accept. Unfortunately, what we had guessed took place.”
American support for the opposition proved that Mr. Obama’s claims to seek dialogue were a deception, the ayatollah said.
“The new U.S. administration said they are willing to normalize relations. But unfortunately in practice they did the opposite,” Ayatollah Khamenei told a crowd in Mashhad, who several times broke into chants of “death to America” and “death to Obama.”
In his message, Mr. Obama said that the American offer of diplomatic dialogue still stands, but that the Iranian government had chosen isolation.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday that the United States failed to act on its promise to establish better ties with the Islamic Republic, Iran's satellite channel Press TV reported.
"The new (U.S.) administration and president claimed interest in just and fair relations; they wrote letters and sent messages... saying they are willing to normalize relations with the Islamic Republic, but in practice they did the opposite," Khamenei said in a New Year address to Iranians in the holy city of Mashhad.
The Iranian supreme leader also lashed out at the United States for supporting the unrest following Iran's presidential election in June 2009, saying the enemies had plans to start a "civil war" in the country.
"They tried very much to divide the people but they failed... this was a victory for the nation," Khamenei said. "Eight months after the election, they took the worst possible stance. The (U.S.) president called those rioters and saboteurs 'civil rights activists'," he added.
Khamenei said it was normal for Iran to have enemies as "it is supported by the nations around the world" and the United States, on the other hand, "is hated by the nations around the world for decades of aggression and invasion."
Khamenei's remarks came just one day after U.S. President Barack Obama said that his administration still seeks dialogue with Iran over its nuclear issue but the Iranian government has chosen isolation.
Obama made the remarks in a special video message in celebration of Nowruz, or "New Day," which marks the arrival of spring and the beginning of the New Year for Iranians.
"We are working with the international community to hold the Iranian government accountable because they refuse to live up to their international obligations," Obama said in the message.
"But our offer of comprehensive diplomatic contacts and dialogue stands," Obama stressed.
Obama delivered a similar video message on the occasion of Nowruz last year in which he said his administration sought "the promise of a new beginning" in its relationship with Iran.
The United States has been accusing Tehran of attempting to build nuclear weapons. Tehran has rejected the accusation and insisted that the Islamic republic has the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purpose.
Over the past few months, the Obama administration has pledged to pursue tough sanctions against Iran in a bid to prevent the Islamic Republic from acquiring nuclear weapons.
The Iranian people put on a show of solidarity for the Islamic revolution anniversary despite foreign-backed efforts to wreck the event with opposition protests, the Friday prayer leader in Tehran said.
"The bombardment of propaganda by enemies through their websites and networks ... had no impact but created more solidarity," as hundreds of thousands took part in state-sponsored celebrations, said Kazem Sedighi.
"Those inside the country who had ... contaminated the atmosphere ... thought the revolution had been defeated and it was the funeral of the revolution," he said at Tehran University, in a sermon aired on state radio.
"Some of them moved out and some stayed thinking 'Let us make a deal with the United States and Britain,'" said Sedighi.
"Even under the harshest circumstances, we will never give up on our leader, country, independence and security which we have achieved at the cost of martyrs," he said in the Islamic republic's main weekly sermon.
On Thursday, the anniversary of the 1979 revolution which toppled the Western-backed shah, Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards and police clamped down on opposition protests. Related article: Key dates since the 1979 revolution
As vast crowds massed in central Tehran, the security forces attacked opposition leaders Mohammad Khatami and Mehdi Karroubi while clashing with their supporters, an opposition website said.
The State Department said US monitoring showed Iran had attempted "a near total information blockade" to deal with the protesters, which a spokesman labelled as an "unprecedented, overwhelming step."
Opposition website Rahesabz and witnesses said clashes took place at Sadeghieh Square, about a kilometre (half a mile) from a massive regime-organised rally at Azadi (freedom) Square.
The website said the cars of the two leaders came under attack by police and plainclothes security men but that neither man was hurt. It added that police fired tear gas at crowds of opposition supporters at several sites.
Zahra Rahnavard, wife of main opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, was also "beaten" while Mousavi himself was prevented by security forces from joining the rally, according to another opposition website, Kaleme.org.
The reports could not be independently confirmed.
The foreign media have been barred from covering opposition street protests which broke out after the disputed re-election of hardliner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last June.
Celebrations to mark the anniversary have traditionally been festive and an opportunity for Iranian leaders to showcase public support. This year's event was marred by protests despite a massive security operation.
The scale of the crackdown was evident on the streets of suburban Tehran late on Thursday, when witnesses saw queues of up to 150 people outside police stations hoping to check on arrested relatives.
President Ahmadinejad stands in front of a portrait of Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran
Clashes, opposition heads 'attacked' on Iran revolution day
* Gordon Brown: The world's patience is wearing thin
* Security forces fire tear gas and paint balls on opposition protesters
* Internet connections attacked in Tehran as regime tries to foil opposition
* Opposition leader attacked
Iran is now a 'nuclear state', President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced this morning.
As Gordon Brown warned that the world's patience is wearing thin, Ahmadinejad told scores of cheering Iranians that the Islamic Republic is capable of producing weapons-grade uranium.
He spoke as tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Tehran to mark the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution.
Despite fears of violence, opposition supporters found themselves largely overwhelmed by the clerical regime and pro-government demonstrators.
The massive security clampdown appeared to succeed in preventing protesters from converging into a cohesive demonstrations.
Large numbers of riot police, members of the Revolutionary Guard and Basij militiamen, some on motorcycles, deployed in back streets near key squares and major avenues in the capital to move against protesters.He said it had produced its first batch of 20 per cent enriched uranium - and had the capability to enrich to far higher levels at its Natanz plant.
Enriching uranium produces fuel for a nuclear power plants but can also be used to create material for atomic weapons.
The international community has warned Iran against further enrichment activities, threatening new UN sanctions.
Today Gordon Brown again reiterated the threat of sanctions.
'I believe the mood around the world is now increasingly one where, patience not being inexhaustible, people are turning to look at the specific sanctions we can plan on Iran,' Mr Brown said.
'This is a critical time for Iran's relationship with the rest of the world.'
MrBrown said the international community did not want to impose sanctions but would do so if Iran did not cooperate more fully over its nuclear plans
The Iranian leader insisted the material was not intended to produce an atomic bomb, however.
'We have the capability to enrich uranium more than 20 percent or 80 percent (the level needed to create an atomic bomb),' he said in a speech broadcast live on state television.
'But we don't enrich (to this level) because we don't need it...
When we say we do not manufacture the bomb, we mean it, and we do not believe in manufacturing a bomb,' he told the crowd. 'If we wanted to manufacture a bomb we would announce it.'
Thousands of supporters had been brought in on buses to hear Ahmadinejad speak as security forces threatened to crush any opposition protests.
Witnesses say security forces fired paint balls to disperse anti-government protesters in one of the first clashes of the day's ceremonies.
The unrest began after protesters began to chant opposition slogans in Sadeqieh Square, which is about a half-mile (one kilometer) from a huge pro-government gathering where President Ahmadinejad delivered his speech.
Witnesses say there were no apparent injuries among the several hundred protesters.
Internet speeds around the capital dropped dramatically this morning as the government tried to foil demonstrations against the regime.
State television showed live footage of crowds carrying Iranian flags and pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei making their way to Azadi (freedom) Square in central Tehran, where the main gathering is being held.
Opposition members went on rooftops late Wednesday and shouted Allah-u-Akbar ('God is greatest') in protest - echoing similar cries after the disputed June election as well as anti-shah protests more than three decades ago.
'There is a heavy presence of security forces everywhere. Police trucks are at every major intersection,' said a witness in central Tehran. Police helicopters were flying over the city.
An opposition website, Iran Green Voice, reported large numbers of opposition supporters gathering in several cities, including Tehran and the northern city of Tabriz.
'In some parts of Tehran, opposition supporters are chanting 'Death to the Dictator'' the website said.
Security forces are equipped with water cannon to disperse opposition protests, the opposition website Jaras reported.
Other opposition websites spoke of groups of protesters in the hundreds, compared to much larger crowds in past demonstrations
One protester told The Associated Press she had tried to join the demonstrations but soon left in disappointment.
'There were 300 of us, maximum 500. Against 10,000 people,' she told an AP reporter outside Iran. She said there were few clashes.
'It means they won and we lost. They defeated us. They were able to gather so many people,' she said. 'But this doesn't mean we have been defeated for good. It's a defeat for now, today. We need time to regroup.'
Another protester insisted the opposition had come out in significant numbers, but 'the problem was that we were not able to gather in one place because they (security forces) were very violent.'
'Maybe people got scared,' he said. 'The idea wasn't to lose or win today ... But what is certain, today was not a good day.'
The opposition leaders have promised to join street rallies, including the Green movement founder and former presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.
Police chief Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam said on Wednesday the Revolutionary Guards and Basij Islamic militia were ready for any incident.
'In case of any riots, public disturbance and disorder ... police will detain and keep rioters in prison until April 9,' an unnamed official told the semi-official Fars news agency on Thursday.
The Islamic state is facing its worst domestic crisis in three decades as opposition supporters have rallied round reformists who lost to Ahmadinejad in the election.
In recent months, the opposition has built its street protest strategy around days of important political or religious significance in attempts to embarrass authorities.
The tone of the rallies, however, has shifted from outrage over alleged fraud in President Ahmadinejad's re-election to wider calls against the entire Islamic system, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Neither side has shown much appetite for compromise in the eight months since the disputed June presidential vote, which the opposition says was rigged to secure Ahmadinejad's re-election.
Iran faces growing Western calls for targeted sanctions against it after Ahmadinejad ordered production of higher-grade uranium, stirring fears that Tehran aims to make nuclear bombs, not just fuel for civilian use as it says is the case.
The authorities, who say the poll was fair, have struggled to suppress the protests, and opened trials in recent weeks of people charged in connection with bloody riots on December 27.
Opposition leaders have said the trials were an attempt to deter people from taking part in protests today.
Iranian authorities again tried to squeeze off text messaging and Web links in attempts to cripple protest organisers. The opposition has used internet and text messaging as its main communication channels.
Internet service was sharply slowed, mobile phone service widely cut and there were repeated disruptions in popular instant messaging services such as Google chat.
But several Iranians reached by The Associated Press said some messenger services, including Yahoo!, and mobile phone texting were still sporadically accessible. Many Internet users said they could not log into their Gmail account, Google's e-mail service, since last week.
'We have heard from users in Iran that they are having trouble accessing Gmail,' said Google in a statement. 'We can confirm a sharp drop in traffic and we have looked at our own networks and found that they are working properly.'
An Iranian opposition website claimed today that security forces attacked opposition leader Mehdi Karoubi when he attended a rally.
'Karoubi was attacked by security forces in central Tehran... they shattered his car's windows ... Karoubi was not seriously injured,' Jaras website reported. The same website said security forces also attacked former president Mohammad Khatami.
The Islamic Republic has survived many challenges, not least a 1980-88 war started by Iraq's Saddam Hussein, whose forces were propped up by Gulf Arab oil money and Western weaponry.
But the national unity forged in that trauma has long given way to rifts within clerical and political elites that widened after the June election. Street protests have flared periodically ever since, sometimes around official rallies.
Attending February 11 events is a tradition for many in the country of 70 million, over half of whom have only ever known the Islamic Republic established by the revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
'If we all stay at home, our youngsters will be left alone on Bahman 22 (February 11). We should support them,' said Laleh, a 67-year-old housewife. 'I have nothing to lose.'
Iranian Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi said on Wednesday her country faced a catastrophe that would wreck peace in the whole Middle East if what she called government repression of the people were not halted.
Opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Karoubi say the reform movement is alive despite pressure from the hardline rulers to disband. Karoubi predicted last month that Ahmadinejad would not be able to complete his four-year term.
'Even if he stays in power until the end of his term, he will be the weakest president since the revolution,' an Iranian analyst who did not want to be named said this week.
Pro-government Iranian female demonstrators stand behind posters showing late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, right in each poster, and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at left in posters, during today's rally
A close-up of the giant Iranian flag as it snakes down the street as supporters march in Azadi (Freedom) Square
President Ahmadinejad, centre, greets well wishers from his car, as he arrives at the rally
Supporters wave flags and placards as they gather in Tehran's central square
Iranian women wave flags and a sign reading 'Down with USA' in Tehran today
Security forces stand guard as crowds of Iranians gather to listen to President Ahmadinejad's address
Exiled Iranians shout slogans as they stand behind posters showing Khaminei and Ahmadinejad during a protest outside the Iranian embassy in Berlin today
An Iranian student in Singapore holds a sign during a protest to call on the Iranian government to stop violence against demonstrators
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses tens of thousands of Iranians gathered in Azadi (Freedom) Square in southwestern Tehran today, marking the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution
Pro-regime supporters shout slogans (left) while a caricature of US President Barack Obama joins the sea of Iranian flags
Today President Ahmadinejad announced that the Islamic Republic had produced its first batch of 20 per cent enriched uranium. He is pictured here at the Natanz nuclear plant
Opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi (left) and former president Mohammad Khatami (right), who is said to have been attacked by security forces today
.Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei yesterday promised Iran will deliver a ‘punch’ that will stun the West to mark today's celebrations
Ahmadinejad, centre left, is told about the motor of a satellite rocket during the unveiling ceremony in Tehran today. The West is concerned Iran is using its nuclear and space industries to develop atomic and ballistic weapons
Ahmadinejad, 7th left, poses with government officials underneath the Simorgh (Phoenix) home-built satellite rocket during the unveiling ceremony in Tehran today, after hailing the successful launch of Kavoshgar 3 (Explorer) rocket
New fears? Press TV footage shows the launch of Iran's new Kavoshgar 3 rocket at an undisclosed location this morning
Concession: Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appeared on TV last night to say he had 'no problem' sending enriched uranium abroad
Attack: Joe Biden
Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said Iran is currently talking with some countries to swap its low-grade uranium for the high- grade uranium needed for a research reactor in Tehran, Iran's Labor news agency (ILNA) reported on Wednesday.
Rejecting any final agreement on the uranium swap with some countries which are able to produce 20 percent enriched uranium, Salehi said "the talks are currently underway and we will announce the final agreements."
Asked whether Iran has entered the negotiations with countries other than France and Brazil, Salehi, who is also Iran's vice president, said there are a number of countries involved in the swap and one of them is from Asia, but he refused to specify the Asian state as Japan.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that the country is ready to ship its low-enriched uranium abroad for further enrichment as requested.
Under a draft deal brokered by the international nuclear watchdog, most of Iran's existing low-grade enriched uranium, nuclear fuel for its research reactor, will be shipped to Russia and France, where it will be processed into fuel rods with a purity of 20 percent.
The higher-level enriched uranium will then be transported back to Iran. Tehran had been standing against the deal till Tuesday.
Western countries have accused Iran of covertly building nuclear weapons, but Tehran maintains that its nuclear program is peaceful and aims to generate electricity for civilian use.
Petraeus says strike on Iran could spark nationalism
A military strike on Iran could have the unintended consequence of stirring nationalist sentiment to the benefit of Tehran's hard-line government, U.S. General David Petraeus told Reuters.
Iran's June election gave President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a second term but sparked the worst internal crisis in the Islamic Republic's history, putting internal pressure on a government already facing the threat of more sanctions over its nuclear program.
"It's possible (a strike) could be used to play to nationalist tendencies," Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command region, which includes Iran, said in an interview this week.
"There is certainly a history, in other countries, of fairly autocratic regimes almost creating incidents that inflame nationalist sentiment. So that could be among the many different, second, third, or even fourth order effects (of a strike)."
Tensions over Iran's nuclear program have set off speculation that Israel could make good on veiled threats to hit its arch-foe pre-emptively. But Israel's envoy to Washington said in December the U.S.-Israeli dialogue on Iran has not reached the point of discussing the military option.
U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates, have warned that any strike on Iran would not stop the Islamic Republic from pursuing nuclear weapons. Instead, it would only delay Tehran, an opinion Petraeus said he shared.
Dennis Blair, the U.S. director of national intelligence, told Congress on Tuesday that Iran was keeping open the option of developing nuclear weapons but that it remained unclear whether Tehran had the political will to do so.
Petraeus, commenting on advances of Iran's nuclear program, said: "On the one hand, there is no question that there has been a continuation of various aspects of the nuclear program but I'm not sure it has always proceeded as rapidly as has been projected at various times."
GRADUAL BOOST IN DEFENSES
Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday Iran was ready to send its enriched uranium abroad in exchange for nuclear fuel under a plan the West hopes will stop the material from being used for atomic bombs.
The same day, Iran also said it would soon hang nine more rioters over unrest that erupted after the June presidential vote, which protesters said was rigged.
Petraeus cautioned that the "big winner" of the election had been Iran's security apparatus, expanding the influence the Revolutionary Guards Corps, including its elite Qods force.
"It's gone from I think a theocracy that had democratic elements in a narrow spectrum ... to a government that is the result of a hijacked election and a regime that is kept in power by security services to a vastly greater extent than has ever been the case before," he said.
Asked how this changed prospects diplomatically, Petraeus said: "I don't think it simplifies the situation for those who are trying to pursue diplomacy if the role of the Foreign Ministry is diminished further and the role of the Qods force has been augmented."
To counter the Iranian threat and reassure anxious Gulf allies, the United States has expanded land- and sea-based missile defense systems in and around the Gulf.
Petraeus stressed it had been a gradual build-up -- an approach shared by both the Obama and Bush administrations -- and not something sparked by events in Iran in recent months.
"This has been built up over years of inflammatory Iranian rhetoric, alarming Iranian activities and Iranian provision of arms, money, training, explosives and direction in some cases to a variety of different extremist elements," Petraeus said.
Iran has accused the United States of seeking to stoke "Iran phobia" in the Middle East by deploying the missile defense systems in the Gulf.
The United States and major European allies are pursuing broader U.N. sanctions against Iran due to its disputed nuclear activity. The United States, Britain, Germany and France have called for a fourth round of U.N. measures against Iran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment activities as demanded by five Security Council resolutions.
Mix Reaction from Iran
*
Iran has backed down in a nuclear row with the West over sending its enriched uranium abroad.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appeared for the first time last night to give way over a UN-brokered proposal that would see him send the country's enriched uranium overseas to be turned into nuclear fuel.
The move, if carried through, would hobble Tehran's ability to build a nuclear bomb.
However the apparent concession was undermined when Iran test-fired a satellite rocket today, sparking new fears in the West that Tehran is using its space industry to develop an atomic weapon.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has brokered the proposed plan under which Iran would send its low-enriched uranium abroad in exchange for more highly enriched fuel for a medical research reactor.
Iran has always claimed its uranium enrichment plan was to produce nuclear fuel for the country, a claim almost universally doubted throughout the West.
Tehran had already missed a December 31, 2009 deadline to accept the deal when it proposed a new deal of its own last month.
Last night Ahmadinejad finally appeared to be giving in.
'We have no problem sending our enriched uranium abroad,' Ahmadinejad told state television.
'We say: we will give you our 3.5 percent enriched uranium and will get the fuel. It may take 4 to 5 months until we get the fuel.
'If we send our enriched uranium abroad and then they do not give us the 20 per cent enriched fuel for our reactor, we are capable of producing it inside Iran,' he said.
In Washington, a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: 'If Iran has something new to say, we are prepared to listen.'
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the uranium could be exchanged in Turkey, Brazil or Japan if agreement is reached.
Iran has faced intense Western pressure, under threat of new sanctions, to implement the plan.
However the conciliatory gesture came as Tehran launched a new rocket, the home-built Kavoshgar-3 (Explorer-3) satellite rocket.
Ahmadinejad, speaking at a ceremony to unveil three new satellites and other space technology achievements today, said the Islamic Republic hoped to send astronauts into space soon.
Western nations fear Iran is seeking to build nuclear bombs and are concerned that the long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into orbit can also be used to launch warheads.
Iran says it has no plans to do so.
The Iranian president made no mention of the nuclear row at today's aerospace event
The Kavoshgar-3 rocket would transfer electronic data and live footage back to earth.
Press TV showed footage of a rocket blasting off from a launchpad in the desert, leaving a thick vapour trail. Other Iranian media said it was a test launch.
One year ago, Iran launched a domestically made satellite into orbit for the first time. It has said the launch of the Omid satellite was for peaceful telecommunications and research purposes.
In December, Iran said it test-fired a long-range, upgraded Sejil 2 missile.
Gordon Brown at the time said the launch was of serious concern to the international community and underlined the case for tougher sanctions.
On Monday, a Pentagon report said Iran had expanded its ballistic missile capabilities and posed a significant threat to U.S. and allied forces in the Middle East region.
To counter what Washington sees as the Iranian threat, the United States has expanded land- and sea-based missile defence systems in and around the Gulf, according to U.S. officials.
Ahmadinejad spoke after U.S. Vice President Joe Biden launched an outspoken attack on Tehran last night.
Mr Biden said Iran's leaders were 'sowing the seeds of their own destruction' through their harsh crackdown on anti-government unrest.
Speaking on MSNBC, he indicated Washington was sticking to its dual track on Iran of diplomacy and sanctions.
'It's time (for the United States) to reach out, demonstrate that we're not the problem, the hand that gets rejected, and be able to have the whole world stay with us ... against the Iranian government,' he said.
Asked whether it was time for 'regime change' in Iran since President Barack Obama's effort to engage the Islamic republic had failed to make progress, he said: 'The people of Iran are thinking about, the very people marching, they're thinking about regime change.'
Mr Biden said: 'We are moving with the world to put sanctions on them. I think that we have moved in the right direction in a measured way.'
Yesterday Gordon Brown claimed to also be considering sanctions.
Western powers accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian enrichment program that Tehran says will fuel a future network of nuclear power plants so it can export more oil and gas.
Ahmadinejad's statement on the nuclear issue - on which Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the last word - was apparently the first time a top official had publicly accepted exchanging low-enriched uranium for nuclear medicine fuel off Iranian soil.
'We made a good faith and balanced offer regarding the Tehran research reactor,' White House spokesman Mike Hammer said in Washington.
'We believe it makes sense for all parties. If Mr Ahmadinejad's comments reflect an updated Iranian position, we look forward to Iran informing the IAEA.'
Mottaki and the IAEA said last week a deal on uranium enrichment was still possible, despite Western diplomats saying Tehran had in effect turned down the proposal.
Under the proposed deal Tehran would transfer 70 per cent of its low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad for conversion into special fuel rods to keep the nuclear medicine reactor running.
The plan aims to reduce Iran's reserves below the quantity needed for the fissile core of a nuclear weapon, if the material were refined to a high degree of purity.
'For us the real matter is to reach an agreement about fuel exchange,' Mottaki said in an interview with Turkish television TRT.
'If we can reach an agreement on the formula then we can talk about the place. About timing we can always talk. Turkey might be a place, Brazil or Japan might be a place.'
The United States and European allies are pursuing broader UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear activity.
The United States, Britain, Germany and France seek a fourth round of UN measures against Iran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment as demanded by five Security Council resolutions.
Cracking down on internal dissent, Iran said it would soon hang nine more rioters over unrest that erupted after the June presidential vote. The opposition said the poll was rigged.
'Nine others will be hanged soon. The nine, and the two who were hanged on Thursday, were surely arrested in the recent riots and had links to anti-revolutionary groups,' said senior judiciary official Ebrahim Raisi, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
The two men hanged last week were among 11 people sentenced to death on charges including 'waging war against God'.
The June election gave Ahmadinejad a second term, but sparked the worst internal crisis in the Islamic Republic's history. The government denied any fraud in the voting.
Opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi, a former prime minister, said the repression showed the 1979 revolution that overthrew the U.S.-backed Shah 'had not achieved its goals'.
