Iran yesterday denounced next month's emergency meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog as "political," but said it was not worried about the crisis over its disputed atomic drive ending up at the Security Council.
"We are not worried by the Security Council, but it is the wrong method," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters.
"An emergency meeting of the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] is not necessary. It is a political act," he added.
Iran faces the threat of being referred to the Security Council for resuming sensitive nuclear fuel research work that Western powers and Israel fear would give the clerical regime the know-how to build a bomb.
Tehran insists such work is legal, given that it has signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and has branded atomic weapons "un-Islamic" -- but a lengthy IAEA probe has yet to confirm the claimed civilian nature of the program and has uncovered suspect activities.
Britain, France and Germany have called an urgent meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation board for Feb. 2. The meeting is widely expected to result in Iran being referred to the Security Council, despite the reluctance of Russia and China.
"It is clear in advance that the result of a meeting that takes place under the pressure of certain countries will be political," Asefi said, complaining that "we have asked the Europeans to resume negotiations but, lacking any logic, they have not."
Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz warned that his government would not tolerate a "nuclear option" for Iran -- taken to mean Israel would not accept seeing Iran master enrichment work.
On Thursday, French President Jacques Chirac said France might use nuclear weapons against state sponsors of terrorism -- although he did not single out any country.
Iran, however, has been quick to blast Chirac's remarks as "shameful" and "unacceptable."
"It is shameful for the people of France that their president brandishes atomic weapons on the pretext of fighting terrorism," said Gholam Ali Hadad-Adel, speaker of Iran's parliament.
Chirac, he claimed, was "trying to restore the prestige of France after the recent unrest, when young people took to the streets and torched hundreds of cars every night."
Meanwhile, Asefi yesterday said that Iran has transferred no money from its foreign accounts, denying reports from the central bank governor that such transfers had begun.
"So far we have not moved any hard currency, we have not transferred it," he told reporters at a news conference.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
RSS