Iran Nuclear News: August 3, 2006

“Iran’s president voices new optimism,” Associated Press, August 3, 2006

On the sidelines of a Muslim leaders' summit in Malaysia, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad voiced optimism that the dispute over his country’s nuclear ambitions could still be settled through “dialogue and negotiations,” which he claimed Iran has desired from the beginning. “In the shadow of negotiations, it is possible to settle any dispute,” Ahmadinejad said, “It is possible to settle all the issues.”

“Iran tells Japan UN resolution weakens trust,” Agence France Presse, August 3, 2006

At a meeting in Tokyo with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso, Iranian Vice President Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie said Iran was “seriously considering” the comprehensive package of incentives. But Mashaie also said that “the Security Council resolution heightens mistrust and strengthens the belief that Western countries are attempting to take away Iran's rights through pressure rather than dialogue.” Aso told Mashaie and reporters that Iran “needs to make a swift response” to the package of incentives.

“Russia urges Iran to comply with UN resolution – ministry,” RIA Novosti, August 3, 2006

Russia expects Iran to honor a UN Security Council demand to halt its uranium enrichment program, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday. “We expect that the Iranian side will heed the call and no additional measures will be required on the part of the UN Security Council,” the ministry said in a statement.

“Iran working with N. Korea on missiles: Institute,” Reuters, August 3, 2006

North Korea has been working closely with Iran to develop its long-range ballistic missiles, possibly using Chinese technology, a South Korean state-run think tank said. The Taepodong-2 is the product of a joint effort between North Korea and Tehran, coinciding with Iran's development of the Shehab-5 and 6 missiles. “It is highly possible that design and technology from China, which has an arms trade with Iran, were used,” the report said. Iran’s scud-based arsenal, which it received from North Korea during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, also continues to be a threat because, through modification, the weapons “have achieved leaping progress in terms of precision, high mobility and quick firing rates.”