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Iran Warns of Pre-Emptive Action in Nuclear Dispute

IN THIS ISSUE: Iran warns of pre-emptive action in nuclear dispute, N. Korean envoy arrives for US nuclear talks, fumbling the nuclear football, Turkish bank in spotlight for Iran deals, Putin pledges 400 ICBMs for Russia in ten years, India, Pakistan to extend nuclear pact.

Published on February 21, 2012
 

Iran Warns of Pre-Emptive Action in Nuclear Dispute

Alan Cowell | New York Times

Salehi

As tension grew in its nuclear dispute with the West, Iran was reported on Tuesday to have struck an increasingly bellicose tone, warning that it would take pre-emptive action against perceived foes if it felt its national interests were threatened.

The warning by the deputy head of its armed forces, quoted by a semi-official news agency, came as Tehran also appeared to place limits on a visit by a team of United Nations nuclear officials, saying the investigators would not go to nuclear facilities, despite earlier reports that its members had sought permission to inspect a military complex outside Tehran.

Growing tensions over Iran's disputed nuclear program have provoked speculation that Israel may be contemplating a military strike against nuclear facilities, which Tehran says are for peaceful purposes but which the West suspects are inching toward the capability to produce nuclear weapons. Full Article



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Turkey and the Bomb (Carnegie paper)
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