[A-List] US imperialism: On threats to Iran, Russia

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

Following yesterday's Asia Times article about potential problems afflicting
Russia-Iran relations, Rick Rozoff sent me this illuminating batch of
articles...



US To Strike Iran From Azerbaijan, Georgia: Azeri
Reports


1) Azerbaijani News Agencies: US To Attack Iran From
Azerbaijan, Georgia; US Ambassador Denies....
2) British Military Air Incursion Into Iran
3) US Aircraft Carrier Leaves For Persian Gulf
4) Turkey To Build Georgian Military Airport, Upgrade
Military Base
5) US Increases Aid To Azerbaijan
6) Washington Threatens Russia Over Iranian Power
Plant, Russia Warns Of Threat Of 'Unilateral Military
Action' By US
7) Russia 'Bewildered' By US Super-Hawk Bolton's
Statement On Iran
8) Iran Begins Major Naval War Games In Persian Gulf,
Gulf Of Oman, Indian Ocean



1)
http://www.bakutoday.net/view.php?d=9171


Baku Today (Azerbaijan)
May 21, 2004

US Ambassador refutes reports on possible US attack on
Iran


-Some Azerbaijani news agencies released reports on
Tuesday and Wednesday concerning a possible use of
force by the US on Iran using the territories of
Azerbaijan and Georgia.



Reno Harnish, the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan, has
dismissed reports by some Azerbaijani media on a
possible US attack on Iran.

In an interview with a TV channel, Harnish stated that
the US has no intention to launch a bomb strike on
Iran using Azerbaijan's territory.

Some Azerbaijani news agencies released reports on
Tuesday and Wednesday concerning a possible use of
force by the US on Iran using the territories of
Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Refuting the reports Harnish added that they were
based on a certain US publication.
------------------------------------------------------
2)
http://interestalert.com/brand/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/05240002aaa0188f.upi&Sys\
=siteia&Fid=LATEBRKN&Type=News&Filter=Late%20Breaking

United Press International
May 24, 2004

British air incursion into Iran reported


TEHRAN - Two British helicopters crossed the eastern
border with Iran from southern Iraq in the first such
incident, official information sources said Monday.

The sources told UPI the British planes which took off
from Basra, flew over the southernmost Iraqi port on
the Fao peninsula, then entered Iranian airspace
Sunday night over the region of Minawi as Iranian
President Mohammed Khatami toured the area.

The planes carried out three incursions into Iranian
airspace without conducting any military operation,
the sources added.

Khatami was in the city of Khoramshahr in Minawi to
mark the anniversary of its liberation from Iraqi
occupation in 1982.
-----------------------------------------------------
3)
http://interestalert.com/brand/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/05230000aaa011f3.upi&Sys\
=siteia&Fid=NATIONAL&Type=News&Filter=National%20News


United Press International
May 23, 2004



U.S. carrier set for Persian Gulf mission


SAN DIEGO - More than 6,000 sailors and Marines poised
to sail for the Persian Gulf were saying final
goodbyes in San Diego Sunday.

The aircraft carrier John C. Stennis and its escort
ships will get under way Monday on what the Navy calls
a routine six-month deployment to the western Pacific
and Persian Gulf regions.

The nuclear-powered Stennis took part in the U.S.
invasion of Afghanistan two years ago and has been
undergoing an overhaul ever since.

The San Diego Union-Tribune said the Stennis battle
group also includes the San Diego-based cruiser Lake
Champlain, destroyer Howard, and attack sub Salt Lake
City. The frigate Ford and supply ship Ranier will
join the flotilla from the Seattle area.
------------------------------------------------------
4)
http://www.bakutoday.net/view.php?d=9179

Baku Today (Azerbaijan)
March 22, 2004

Turkey To Build Military Airport In Marneuli


-Turkey will also help found a military school in
Georgia. According to the Media-Press, Turkey has
spent $6 million for upgrading Georgia's Vaziani
military base.


Turkey is planning to build a military airport in
Georgia's eastern district of Marneuli under an
agreement signed between Turkey and Georgia during
President Mikhail Saakashvili's recent visit to Ankra,
Baku's Media-Press agency reported on Saturday.

Marneuli is the mainly ethnic-Azeri populated district
of Georgia. According to the report, the airport's
construction will be completed in two years.

Georgia's privat Imedi TV company reported that
President Saakashvili also signed an agreement on
military cooperation with Turkey during the visit. The
agreement considers the Turkish military's training
Georgia's Kodor regiment and the 11th brigade.

By the agreement, Turkey will also help found a
military school in Georgia. According to the
Media-Press, Turkey has spent $6 million for upgrading
Georgia's Vaziani military base.
------------------------------------------------------
5)
http://www.azernews.net/eng/gizli/view.php?d=6198

AzerNews (Azerbaijan)
May 21, 2004

US to increase aid to Azerbaijan by $2m

-[T]he United States is giving priority to financing
Azerbaijan, while reducing its aid to Europe and
Eurasia.


Baku - The United States will give Azerbaijan aid
totaling $70 million in 2004, or $2 million more than
in 2003, Carlos Pascual, US State Department's
Assistant Coordinator on Europe and Asia has told
journalists.

Pascual said that of the amount, $20 million would be
spent for humanitarian aids, $9 million - for
democratic development assistance programs, $11
million - for strengthening security and
law-enforcement agencies, $13.7 million - for economic
cooperation programs and $4.8 million - for exchange
programs, including for visits of the Azerbaijani
students and teachers to the United States.
Pascual also underlined that the United States is
giving priority to financing Azerbaijan, while
reducing its aid to Europe and Eurasia.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040520105629.0cl9q3ep.html

Agence France-Presse
May 21, 2004


US presses Russia over nuclear cooperation with Iran


-Russia has argued that the PSI agreement would open
the way for unilateral military action from Washington
and wants such deals to be negotiated through the
United Nations, where it has veto power.
The hawkish Bolton regularly visits Russia, though he
is not always well-received here, and has become one
of Washington's top pointmen on issues dealing with
Moscow's potential military trade and the spread of
weapons of mass destruction [sic].
-Under US and Israeli pressure, Moscow is demanding
that all of the fuel provided for the reactor is sent
back to Russia, and has called for a guarantee that
the fuel is delivered safely across Iran.



MOSCOW - The United States pursued its efforts
Thursday to persuade Russia to interrupt its
controversial nuclear cooperation with Iran as the top
US arms control official held high-level discussions
in Moscow.

But it apparently failed to have Moscow agree to a
Washington-sponsored agreement that would allow for
the interdiction of missiles and other potential
components of weapons of mass destruction [sic] while
they are being transferred at sea or in the air.

US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control John
Bolton met Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei
Kislyak for talks focusing on the spread of weapons of
mass destruction and the potential threats posed by
North Korea and Iraq.

"The United States plans to focus on issues of the
non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and
all issues linked to this," the ITAR-TASS news agency
quoted Bolton as saying before the meeting.

He was due to brief reporters on his visit later
Thursday.

However Kislyak told the Interfax news agency after
the meeting that no agreement had been reached on
Russia signing up to Proliferation Security Initiative
- also known as PSI - proposed by US President George
W. Bush last year.

"As to the PSI agreement, we are continuing to discuss
this question," Kislyak said.

Russia has argued that the PSI agreement would open
the way for unilateral military action from Washington
and wants such deals to be negotiated through the
United Nations, where it has veto power.

The hawkish Bolton regularly visits Russia, though he
is not always well-received here, and has become one
of Washington's top pointmen on issues dealing with
Moscow's potential military trade and the spread of
weapons of mass destruction.

Bolton was one of the key figures who helped negotiate
a May 2002 arms reduction treaty signed by Presidents
Bush and Vladimir Putin in Moscow that was meant to
reduce the two sides' nuclear arsenals by two-thirds
over 10 years.

But that treaty - to Russia's immense displeasure -
now appears to have been dropped as Washington used a
legal loophole to ignore the deal.

The United States has since aired plans to develop
miniature nuclear weapons, a military potential that
Russia does not yet have and which Washington argues
are needed for regional conflicts in the post Cold War
era.

Iran has remained a sore point in Russia-US relations
despite a new wave of cooperation following the
September 11 attacks.

Russia's Bushehr nuclear reactor project is frowned on
by Washington amid fears that the Islamic state is
using it as a guise to develop a weapons program.

Moscow has since appeared to have put the breaks on
the project and delivered strong pressure on Iran to
submit to open United Nations inspections of its
potential military sites.

Iran's first nuclear reactor is now not due to become
operational until 2005 - years after schedule - in a
deal worth nearly one billion dollars (1.2 billion
euros) to Moscow that Russian authorities appear to
have used several strategies to push back to appease
US concerns.

Under US and Israeli pressure, Moscow is demanding
that all of the fuel provided for the reactor is sent
back to Russia, and has called for a guarantee that
the fuel is delivered safely across Iran.

It is now negotiating a new treaty on the fuel's safe
return.
------------------------------------------------------
7)
http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=4348208&startrow=1&date=2004-\
05-21&do_alert=0


Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
May 21, 2004


BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S PRONOUNCEMENTS ABOUT IAEA REPORT
ON IRAN LEAVE RUSSIA BEWILDERED


MOSCOW - The Russian government is bewildered by U.S.
Undersecretary of State John Bolton's pronouncements
about presenting the International Atomic Energy
Agency's report on Iran to other members of the United
Nations Security Council, the Foreign Ministry's PR
department says in a press release.

News agencies quote Bolton as saying that the United
States and Russia both deem it expedient for the IAEA
to present its report on Iran's alleged nuclear
weapons program to the UN Security Council.

Iran was indeed prominent on the May 20 U.S.-Russian
consultations, but Iran-related issues were discussed
in the context of preparations for the IAEA governing
board's June session, the Foreign Ministry points out
in the press release.

"We are looking forward to the appearance of IAEA
Director-General Mohammed El Baradei's next report
about progress in the implementation of the Board of
Governors' resolutions aimed at ensuring transparency
of Iran's nuclear program," the ministry says. "We
expect the report to contain an objective analysis of
how cooperation between Iran and the IAEA is going. We
also hope for a competent and unbiased review of
matters in the implementation of resolutions on the
part of the IAEA Board of Governors." "No
understandings were reached by us and the U.S.
delegation as to the IAEA turning to the UN Security
Council since this issue was not even brought up at
the consultations," the Russian Foreign Ministry
explained.

"As to the settlement of outstanding issues on the
transparency of the Iranian program, we have believed
and continue to believe that this can and must be done
through the closest possible cooperation between Iran
and the IAEA."
------------------------------------------------------
8)
http://interestalert.com/brand/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/05220002aaa04ced.upi&Sys\
=siteia&Fid=LATEBRKN&Type=News&Filter=Late%20Breaking

United Press International
May 22, 2004


Iran begins naval war games


TEHRAN - Iran announced it has begun a major regional
naval exercise in the Persian Gulf and other nearby
waters, Middle East Newsline reported Saturday.

Iranian officials described the exercise as its
largest in more than a year, and included underwater
and surface vessels supported by fighter jets and
bombers.

The exercise named Unity-83 included 76 marine units,
as well as a range of air force combat jets.

In the exercise, submarines would conduct maneuvers in
the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and Indian Ocean.
Officials said the exercise would demonstrate the
navy's force readiness and test new naval basing
facilities.