codedvirus
02-24-2009, 09:17 PM
http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6537:iran-trying-to-claim-bahrain&catid=51:world&Itemid=67
Iran trying to claim Bahrain
BEIRUT—A huge spat has broken out between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain over comments made by an Iranian cleric earlier in February claiming dominion over the island nation.
Ali Akbar Natiq Nuri, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, claimed Bahrain was an integral part of Iran that was conceded by Iran’s Shah Mohammad-Reza Pahlavi.
Bahrain received its independence from the British in 1971, but had been ruled by Iran on and off over the last millenniums.
Bahrain made it clear that it did not tolerate any statements undermining its sovereignty. In the last few days, Bahrain suspended talks over the importation of natural gas from the Islamic Republic and barred Iranian ships from reaching its shores, according to media reports.
Meanwhile, Iranians backtracked by reaffirming their full recognition of Bahraini sovereignty.
But the recent row between the two capital cities of Manama and Tehran is deeply rooted. Bahrain is a predominantly Muslim Shiite nation ruled by a minority of Sunni Muslims. This small Arab state, which relies on tourism from more conservative neighboring countries, regularly accuses Iranians of stirring up opposition in the ranks of Bahraini Shiites.
Government opposition figures in Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, regularly assert that authorities have been clamping down on the political rights of Shiites in the country. Sectarian violence is repeatedly reported in Bahrain.
The German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported on Friday that Iranian shipping vessels had been asked to leave Bahraini territorial waters. A Bahraini official who spoke on condition of anonymity told DPA that “no Iranian vessel will be allowed in until further notice.”
This comes after Bahrain decided to halt negotiations to import 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day from Iran through a new pipeline.
Bahraini newspaper Al Ayam wrote recently that “the decision ... shows Bahrain’s vexation with the [Iranian] claims regarding Bahrain that are affecting bilateral relations and cooperation in various areas, mainly energy and economy.”
Iranian officials tried to underplay earlier comments in apparent attempts to save the lucrative gas deal with Bahrain. Iran’s envoy to Bahrain, Hussein Amir Abdullahyan, asserted on Friday that Iran was looking to strengthen relations with its neighbors, according to the Iranian Press TV web site.
Abdullahyan stressed that Bahrain is an independent country and that is the official stand of the Islamic Republic, according to the web site.
Meanwhile, Iranian state radio reported on Sunday that Iran’s first nuclear power plant will undergo a critical series of tests starting Wednesday before full-scale operation begins later this year.
The plant is a highly symbolic facet of Iran’s controversial nuclear program. Iranian leaders insist the country’s nuclear ambitions are peaceful, but the US, Israel and some European nations have charged that Iran is trying to produce nuclear weapons.
The long-delayed 1,000-megawatt reactor is being built by the Russian state company Atomstroiexport, which also supplies enriched uranium for the plant’s operation. Iranian and Russian officials will inspect the Bushehr plant before the testing begins.
During what is known as the “virtual fuel-injection test,” all operations at the plant will be checked, state radio reported.
“God willing, this will be an important step towards the full launch of the Bushehr nuclear power plant,” Mohsen Delaviz, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said on Sunday, according to state radio. A batch of low-enriched uranium, supplied by Russia and needed to activate the reactor, will not be used during the testing.
Iran had stockpiled 2,227 pounds of low-enriched, or reactor-grade, nuclear fuel by late January, according to a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that was issued on Thursday. That could be enough, physicists say, to make a single bomb if the fuel were enriched to a higher level. The quantity represented an increase from earlier estimates.
The IAEA published a statement on Sunday that seemed intended to counter the impression that the accounting shortfall might have been a result of deliberate evasion.
“Iran is cooperating well with UN nuclear inspectors to help ensure it does not again understate the amount of uranium it has enriched,” the agency said.
Iran trying to claim Bahrain
BEIRUT—A huge spat has broken out between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain over comments made by an Iranian cleric earlier in February claiming dominion over the island nation.
Ali Akbar Natiq Nuri, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, claimed Bahrain was an integral part of Iran that was conceded by Iran’s Shah Mohammad-Reza Pahlavi.
Bahrain received its independence from the British in 1971, but had been ruled by Iran on and off over the last millenniums.
Bahrain made it clear that it did not tolerate any statements undermining its sovereignty. In the last few days, Bahrain suspended talks over the importation of natural gas from the Islamic Republic and barred Iranian ships from reaching its shores, according to media reports.
Meanwhile, Iranians backtracked by reaffirming their full recognition of Bahraini sovereignty.
But the recent row between the two capital cities of Manama and Tehran is deeply rooted. Bahrain is a predominantly Muslim Shiite nation ruled by a minority of Sunni Muslims. This small Arab state, which relies on tourism from more conservative neighboring countries, regularly accuses Iranians of stirring up opposition in the ranks of Bahraini Shiites.
Government opposition figures in Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, regularly assert that authorities have been clamping down on the political rights of Shiites in the country. Sectarian violence is repeatedly reported in Bahrain.
The German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported on Friday that Iranian shipping vessels had been asked to leave Bahraini territorial waters. A Bahraini official who spoke on condition of anonymity told DPA that “no Iranian vessel will be allowed in until further notice.”
This comes after Bahrain decided to halt negotiations to import 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day from Iran through a new pipeline.
Bahraini newspaper Al Ayam wrote recently that “the decision ... shows Bahrain’s vexation with the [Iranian] claims regarding Bahrain that are affecting bilateral relations and cooperation in various areas, mainly energy and economy.”
Iranian officials tried to underplay earlier comments in apparent attempts to save the lucrative gas deal with Bahrain. Iran’s envoy to Bahrain, Hussein Amir Abdullahyan, asserted on Friday that Iran was looking to strengthen relations with its neighbors, according to the Iranian Press TV web site.
Abdullahyan stressed that Bahrain is an independent country and that is the official stand of the Islamic Republic, according to the web site.
Meanwhile, Iranian state radio reported on Sunday that Iran’s first nuclear power plant will undergo a critical series of tests starting Wednesday before full-scale operation begins later this year.
The plant is a highly symbolic facet of Iran’s controversial nuclear program. Iranian leaders insist the country’s nuclear ambitions are peaceful, but the US, Israel and some European nations have charged that Iran is trying to produce nuclear weapons.
The long-delayed 1,000-megawatt reactor is being built by the Russian state company Atomstroiexport, which also supplies enriched uranium for the plant’s operation. Iranian and Russian officials will inspect the Bushehr plant before the testing begins.
During what is known as the “virtual fuel-injection test,” all operations at the plant will be checked, state radio reported.
“God willing, this will be an important step towards the full launch of the Bushehr nuclear power plant,” Mohsen Delaviz, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said on Sunday, according to state radio. A batch of low-enriched uranium, supplied by Russia and needed to activate the reactor, will not be used during the testing.
Iran had stockpiled 2,227 pounds of low-enriched, or reactor-grade, nuclear fuel by late January, according to a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that was issued on Thursday. That could be enough, physicists say, to make a single bomb if the fuel were enriched to a higher level. The quantity represented an increase from earlier estimates.
The IAEA published a statement on Sunday that seemed intended to counter the impression that the accounting shortfall might have been a result of deliberate evasion.
“Iran is cooperating well with UN nuclear inspectors to help ensure it does not again understate the amount of uranium it has enriched,” the agency said.