Russia refuses to back sanctions on Iran's nuclear weapons programme

The UN's atomic watchdog is planning to reveal evidence that Iran has been working secretly to develop a nuclear weapons capability, diplomats say.

The evidence is said to include intelligence that Iran made computer models of a nuclear warhead.

Iranian officials say the International Atomic Energy Agency report, due next week, is a fabrication.

Israeli officials have said a military option to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons is drawing nearer.

Russia has ruled out supporting fresh sanctions against Iran, despite a UN report that says Tehran may be trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Britain, France and the US all said they would pursue new sanctions against Iran in the wake of the IAEA report.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told Interfax news agency that extra sanctions "will be seen in the international community as an instrument for regime change in Iran".

"That approach is unacceptable to us, and the Russian side does not intend to consider such proposals."

On Wednesday, a defiant Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country would not budge "one iota" from its nuclear programme...Addressing the US he added: "We will not build two bombs in the face of your 20,000. We will develop something that you cannot respond to, which is ethics, humanity, solidarity and justice

"We will not build two bombs in the face of your 20,000. We will develop something that you cannot respond to, which is ethics, humanity, solidarity and justice."

motorfirebox said:

Wow. I mean, he's still got a perpetually-shitting ass in place of a soul, but his speechwriters deserve a raise.

The UN's nuclear watchdog has passed a resolution expressing "deep and increasing concern" about Iran's nuclear programme.

The IAEA resolution called on Iran to clear up outstanding questions about its nuclear capabilities, but did not refer it to the UN Security Council.

A recent IAEA report said Iran had carried out tests "relevant to the development of a nuclear device".

Iran's IAEA envoy said the resolution would only strengthen Iran's resolve.

"It will be business as usual... We will continue our work as before," Ali Ashgar Soltanieh told reporters.

BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says the resolution - drawn up by the US, Britain, China, France, Russia, and also Germany - is essentially a trade-off.

Russia and China have come on board to share in the concern about Iran, but the resolution itself is thus less tough than the US and its allies would have wanted, he says.

The UK has imposed new sanctions against Iran which will cut off all financial ties with Iranian banks.

It follows the International Atomic Energy Agency's report on Iran and concerns about its nuclear programme.

From 1500 GMT on Monday, UK credit and financial institutions were required to cease all transactions with banks including the Central Bank of Iran.

Chancellor George Osborne said there was evidence that Iran's banks were funding its nuclear weapons programme.

Canada has announced it is banning the export to Iran of all goods used in the petrochemical, oil and gas industries as part of a sanctions package.

The United States is also expected to announce further economic restrictions shortly.

Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has written to the leaders of the UK, US, Canada, Germany, Japan and the European Union calling on them to halt all oil purchases from Iran and freeze its central bank assets.

Iran's parliament has voted by a large majority to downgrade diplomatic relations with the UK.

The move comes after the UK Treasury imposed sanctions on Iranian banks on Tuesday, accusing them of facilitating the country's nuclear programme.

Iranian radio reported some MPs chanted "Death to Britain" during the vote, which was approved by 87% of MPs

The vote could lead to the expulsion of the British ambassador in Tehran, Dominick Chilcott, who was only appointed to the post last month.

Protesters in the Iranian capital, Tehran, have broken into the UK embassy compound during a demonstration against sanctions imposed by Britain.

Militant students are reported to have ransacked offices, burned the British flag and smashed embassy windows.

The move comes after Iran resolved to reduce ties following the UK's decision to impose further sanctions on it.

Iran expressed "regret" over the attack on the embassy. The Foreign Office has summoned an Iranian diplomat in London

MDW said:
China and Russia are always against interfering with the sovereignty of other countries.

MDW said:
Just because a country has human rights violations and borders on genocide that doesn't mean you should take military action.

MDW said:
I know the joke wasn't totally on point but I just see some humor in how Russia for example operates in the U.N. It's like a cop who won't arrest someone for stealing because he steals all the time. It would set a bad precedence.

The ruling regime in Iran are likely to have supported an attack on the UK's embassy in Tehran, the British ambassador to the country has said.

Iran said it regretted the incident, which it described as "unacceptable behaviour by a small number of protesters".

But Mr Chilcott...said: "Iran is not the sort of country where spontaneously a demonstration congregates and then attacks a foreign embassy. That sort of activity is only done with the acquiescence and the support of the state.

"And there are a number of reasons why, with the benefit of hindsight, it's very clear that this was a state-supported activity."

Two assailants on a motorcycle attached magnetic bombs on Wednesday to the car of an Iranian university professor working at a key nuclear facility, killing him and wounding two others, a semiofficial news agency reported.

The attack in Tehran strongly resembles earlier killings of scientists working on the country's controversial nuclear program.

The bomb explosion killed Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, a chemistry expert and a director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported.

The killing of Roshan was similar to previous assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists that Tehran has blamed on Israel and the United States. Both countries have denied the accusations.

Iran has said an oil embargo adopted by European Union foreign ministers over the country's nuclear programme is "unfair" and "doomed to fail".

The measures would not prevent Iran's "progress for achieving its basic rights", foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.

The sanctions ban all new oil contracts with Iran and freeze the assets of Iran's central bank in the EU.

The EU currently buys about 20% of Iran's oil exports.

"European officials and other countries which are under America's political pressure... should consider their national interests and not deprive themselves of Iran's oil to help US officials achieve their secret aims," Mr Mehmanparast added

But the Russian foreign ministry said it was a "deeply mistaken" move that would not encourage Iran to return to the negotiating table

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned of a 20-30% oil price spike if Iranian exports are disrupted.

The IMF warned that if the West imposed financial sanctions on Iran, it would be tantamount to an oil blockade, and the shock to the market could be as bad as from Libya's revolution last year.

Iran produces 5% of global oil output.

Moreover, if Iran goes ahead with a threat to blockade oil exports via the Straits of Hormuz in the Gulf, the IMF said the shock could be even greater.

UN nuclear inspectors back from a trip to Iran to discuss its contested nuclear programme have said the country is "committed" to "resolving all outstanding issues".

The International Atomic Energy Agency said another visit to Tehran was planned for later this month.

In a statement, the organisation said a follow-up visit to Tehran was planned for 21 and 22 February 2012.

It said its priority remained "the clarification of possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear programme".

Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, says "great" nuclear achievements will be announced in the next few days.

He did not give any details, but insisted that Iran would never halt its programme to enrich uranium, which can be used to make a nuclear warhead.

Mr Ahmadinejad was speaking at a rally in Tehran as Iranians marked the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic revolution.

Iran has staged an elaborate ceremony to unveil new developments in its nuclear programme.

Tehran says it has used domestically-made nuclear fuel in a reactor for the first time, and also unveiled more efficient enrichment centrifuges.

State TV showed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inspecting the rods as they were loaded into a reactor

The government unveiled the "new generation" of faster, more efficient uranium enrichment centrifuges at its Natanz facility in the centre of the country.

In January, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran had started the production of uranium enriched up to 20% at its Qom plant.

Iran has halted oil sales to British and French companies, the nation's oil ministry has said.

A spokesman was reported as saying on the ministry's website that Iran would "sell our oil to new customers".

The French news agency AFP says the decision is not expected to have a big impact. Last year France bought only 3% of its oil - 58,000 barrels per day (b/d) - from Iran and the UK imported even less Iranian oil. A UK government official told the BBC there would be "no impact on UK energy security".

European Union member states had earlier agreed to stop importing Iranian crude from 1 July...The move is intended to pressure Tehran to stop enriching uranium.

Swift, the body that handles global banking transactions, says it will cut Iran's banks out of the system on Saturday to enforce sanctions.

The move will isolate Iran financially by making it almost impossible for money to flow in and out of the country via official banking channels.

It will hit its oil industry, but may also have a heavy impact on Iranians who live abroad and send money home.