Iran: A Secret Deal for Purified Uranium from Kazakhstan?

The Associated Press reports that Iran is close to clinching a deal to clandestinely import 1,350 tons of purified uranium ore from Kazakhstan.

The report was prepared by a member nation of the International Atomic Energy Agency and given to AP on the condition that the country not be identified because of the confidential nature of the information.

The reports claims Teheran is willing to pay $450 million for the shipment and added that "the price is high because of the secret nature of the deal and due to Iran's commitment to keep secret the elements supplying the material".

The Latest from Iran (30 December): Towards….What?

Clandestine imports are banned by the UN Security Council, and Iran is currently under sanctions that ban the importat of all items, materials, equipment, goods, and technology that could contribute to its enrichment activities.

A Western diplomat from a member of the IAEA's 35-nation board said the report was causing "concern" among countries that have seen it and generating "intelligence chatter".

A senior US official told the AP that Washington was aware of the intelligence report but declined to discuss specifics:

We are not going to discuss our private consultations with other governments on such matters but, suffice to say, we have been engaged with Kazakhstan and many of our other international nonproliferation partners on this subject in particular over the past several years. We will continue to have those discussions.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said: "The transfer of any uranium yellowcake ... to Iran would constitute a clear violation of UNSC sanctions. We have been engaged with many of our international nonproliferation partners on Iran's illicit efforts to acquire new supplies of uranium over the past several years."

Purified ore, or uranium oxide — known as "yellowcake" — is processed into a uranium gas, which is then spun and re-spun to varying degrees of enrichment. Low enriched uranium is used for nuclear fuel, and upper-end high enriched uranium for nuclear weapons.

Kazakhstan is among the world's three top producers of uranium, accounting for more than 8,500 tons last year. In comparison, Iran produces only an estimated 20 tons a year.

Copenhagen Climate Summit: Scott Lucas on Al Jazeera's "Inside Story"

On Sunday, I was on Al Jazeera English's "Inside Story" to discuss whether the agreements at the Copenhagen summit on climate change offered any grounds for optimism. The other panellists were Daniela Vincenti-Mitchener, the managing editor of EurActiv, the European Union's information website, and Vandana Shiva, an ecologist and environmental activist.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUgARv_yKs4[/youtube]

Climate Change: The State Department Video Contest

This Weekend on EA (19/20 December)

Iran: Sunday's news has been dominated by the sudden death of 87 year-old Grand Ayatollah Montazeri and how the Regime is trying to deal with the challenges posed by his death, first by belittling his memory;  then by criticising the cleric. All the latest news is, as always, in our live weblog.  Demonstrations have been taking place honouring Montazeri's memory --- we've posted video from Tehran and Najafabad. We also flashback with a video to Montazeri's denunciation of the Supreme Leader in a speech in October.

Mehdi Karoubi has  responded in an open letter to the threat of arrest made by the head of Iran's judiciary, Sadegh Larijani .

Austin Heap, one of the most respected and prominent activists on the Internet and Iran, has written for EA explaining the attack on Twitter by the Iranian Cyber Army.

We analyse the Regime's attempts to amass thousands of their own supporters to in Friday's rally in Tehran, and we have video of nightime rooftop protests in Tehran.

Palestine: Following the dramatic article in Thursday's Guardian newspaper, EA analyses the story behind CIA support of Palestinian "torture".

Lebanon: Is Lebanese PM Hariri seeking to improve Lebanese-Syrian relations to better defend Lebanon against Israel?

Israel & Turkey: Can Israel and Turkey repair relations and leave behind the Gaza War behind? EA's Ali Yenidunya analyses.

Middle East: on Friday both the EU and the UN both criticised Israel over its settlement policy.

USA: One year into the Obama Presidency, EA's John Matlin writes in defence of the President.

Middle East Inside Line: Israel Criticised by EU and UN over Settlements Policy

On Friday, both the European Union and the United Nations criticized Israel for its settlement policy. The EU condemned the government's decision to include West Bank settlements in the the National Priority Map as a contradiction of its pledge for a 10-month moratorium. The Israeli Cabinet had voted on Sunday to include 120,000 settlers, living in 86 out of the 121 settlements, in the Map; many of the settlements are outside the security barrier being constructed by Israel in the occupied West Bank territory.

The Swedish Presidency of the EU declared, "This decision runs counter to the spirit of the settlement freeze. It also prevents the creation of an atmosphere conducive to resuming negotiations on a two-state solution." In response, Israel's Foreign Ministry said the EU's position was exacerbating the disagreement between the two sides, instead of promoting peace and working towards the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Palestine Inside Line: Hamas Moves to “Liberation” of West Bank from Abbas and Israel

This was not the end of a bad day for the officials in Israel. Robert Serry, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, criticised the 10-month moratorium, claiming the temporary freeze in the settlements undermined Israel's commitments in the 2003 Road Map. He added:

We are in a race against time to overcome the contradictions on the ground, and the crisis of confidence between the parties, and move decisively toward a political endgame.

The situation is serious. We need, we urgently need, to see some progress in the new year. We continue to appeal to the government of Israel to allow the United Nations actually to start doing some real reconstruction, genuine reconstruction, in Gaza. UN agencies are doing what they can to help the population in the coming winter.

Serry was also critical of Israel's linkage of the release of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier detained by Hamas, and its Gaza policy:

I am hopeful, if he is released, we will be able to immediately resume these projects. Israel is publicly on record that as long as Schalit is not released, they are not willing to allow significant amounts of construction materials in. Let me add here that this linkage is not accepted by the UN.

This Weekend on EA (12/13 December)

Iran: Tension and rumours grew throughout Saturday and continued Sunday. See here for  details including reports on the Supreme Leader's speech Sunday morning and here for EA's special analysis from Scott Lucas and Mr Smith where we quesion whether this was a final warning for "the greens". There's more on the  furore over the alleged burning of Imam Khomeini's picture, stirred by pro-Government media - including our analysis of the situation.

There's a new collection of videos of Sunday protests at Iran universities. Saturday's footage.

Our worst "analysis" of the weekend (so far!) award went to Abbas Barzegar for his "conclusion  pulled down from the sky" in Saturday's UK Guardian newspaper.

Arrests and sentences : Jail terms were handed down for nine students from Shiraz University for their part in 13 Aban (4 November) protests.  A website has posted the names of 34 protestors arrested on 16 Azar (7 December).

A special report linking to an article in the Wall Street Journal, commended to us by several readers, on Iranians leaving the country amid the post-election conflict and possible Government measures against them.

On the nuclear front, Foreign Minister Mottaki - speaking at a regional security conference in Bahrain - took time out to speak about Iran's plans on uranium enrichment. A tweeter quoted him - "Iran would be happy to attend another meeting with the 5+1 powers".

More than $2 billion of Iranian assets was frozen last year  in Citigroup accounts by secret order of a federal court in NY City in what may be the biggest seizure of Iranian assets abroad since the Islamic Revolution.

The arrest of Majid Tavakoli, and the We are Tavakoli campaign - started on Facebook -  has been picked up by international print and broadcast media;   Josh Shahryrar has posted an "Ode to Majid Tavokoli".

Middle East: There's growing concern over the Lebanese-American arms deal.  A special report from Ali Yeniduya asks whether the Israeli settlers' conflict with the Palestinians is escalating? Looks like Israel's focusing on maintainin an open channel to Ankara, despite recent tensions.

UK/Israel: We ask - did the UK Government aid a boycott of Israeli products?

USA: President Obama has put out his Hanukkah message.

As always, all the latest news can be found in our liveblog.