Thread: US Warns Iran to Back Down

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070124/D8MRAKV01.html -


U.S. Warns Iran to Back Down


Jan 23, 7:37 PM (ET)

By JIM KRANE

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - A second U.S. aircraft carrier strike group now steaming toward the Middle East is Washington's way of warning Iran to back down in its attempts to dominate the region, a top U.S. diplomat said here Tuesday.

Nicholas Burns, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, ruled out direct negotiations with Iran and said a rapprochement between Washington and Tehran was "not possible" until Iran halts uranium enrichment.

"The Middle East isn't a region to be dominated by Iran. The Gulf isn't a body of water to be controlled by Iran. That's why we've seen the United States station two carrier battle groups in the region," Burns said in an address to the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center, an influential think-tank.

"Iran is going to have to understand that the United States will protect its interests if Iran seeks to confront us," Burns continued.

Iran is in a standoff with the West over its defiance of U.N. demands to halt uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for both nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. Iran says its atomic program is aimed solely at generating energy, but the United States and some of its allies suspect it is geared toward making weapons. The U.N. imposed limited sanctions on Iran last month.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the United States Tuesday of stirring up conflict between rival Muslim sects to maintain U.S. influence in the Middle East.

"The U.S. intends to cause insecurity and dispute and weaken independent governments in the region to continue with its dominance over the Middle East and achieve its arrogant goals," Ahmadinejad said during a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem.

"The U.S. and Zionist regime have a conspiracy to stir up conflict between Shiite and Sunni Muslims in order to plunder the wealth of the regional nations," the president said, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, or IRNA.

Ahmadinejad said last week that Iran is "ready for anything" in its confrontation with the United States.

Iran conducted missile tests on Monday, the first of five days of military maneuvers southeast of Tehran. The Islamic republic also barred 38 inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog - the International Atomic Energy Agency, prompting fears that it was seeking to restrict access to its facilities.

"This is obviously not a sign of goodwill, nor a sign of willingness to cooperate with the international community," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei told reporters Tuesday.

Ali Larijani, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, said Tuesday that the decision had been misintepreted and that there had been no change in Iran's cooperation with the IAEA.

"The issue is not the way the media has reflected it," Larijani was reported as saying by IRNA.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said the U.S. buildup in the Gulf was intended to impress on Iran that the four-year war in Iraq has not made America vulnerable.

The American aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis and several accompanying ships are heading toward the Gulf to join an aircraft carrier group already in the region, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Stennis is expected to arrive in late February.

The Stennis's arrival in the Middle East will mark the first time since the U.S.-led Iraq invasion in 2003 that the United States has had two carrier battle groups in the region.

The U.S. Navy said Tuesday that the minesweeper USS Gladiator arrived in the Persian Gulf, one of six such ships - four American, two British - now plying the Gulf for anti-ship mines. U.S. officials have long said Iran was likely to block busy Gulf shipping lanes in a conflict.

Some among the audience of Dubai-based diplomats and analysts complained that American wars in the Middle East were already threatening the region's stability and asked Burns to sort out Iraq and the Israel-Palestinian conflict before turning attention to Iran.

"What we are not interested in is another war in the region," Mohammed al-Naqbi, who heads the Gulf Negotiations Center, told Burns. "Iraq is your problem, not the problem of the Arabs. You destroyed a country that had institutions. You handed that country to Iran. Now you are crying to Europe and the Arabs to help you out of this mess."

As an European (Dutch citizen) with a US greencard I can tell you that Europeans will not help the US invading Iran. Why? They have their own problems, prefer spend their money on domestic issues and don't want to ruin their relationship with a country that delivers them oil through Russia. I advise the US to take it easy, because we don't have the money for another war (Iraq war is being fought with borrowed money) and take care first of the problems at home, a.s.a.p.

Nicholas, to some degree I can see where you are coming from.

However, Iran's president is the one making anti-American pacts, and statements about defeating the U.S., and the likes.

So what proposed idea would you have to deal with this man and his ideals of hatred towards the U.S. and the west in general? He does need to be dealt with, and so far as most Americans are concerned, the UN is a fat sham (just because the we host the darn thing does not mean we think it is worthwhile).

Iran just today said that the US will die. That is a declared war on America. In plus Iran is gaining other nations to there cause, just like hitler. This sicko is could turn into another hitler,

Well, many before us have seen this coming (prophecy, Iran is called Persia). However it is pretty clear what will happen to Iran if they even attempt to touch Israel.

With the US gone, it would be on to Europe and then Austrailia for Iran..but they don't have a hope or a prayer on this one. The only ones we have to worry about when attacking Iran is Russia and China. They would have to realize that its not the oil we would be after, it would be their leftest leaders..the religious fanatics.

For me it's comon sense to fix the problem first at home and then outside.
Ahmadinejad is making anti-American pacts, agree but he faces political and economical problems at his home country and we should take advantage of that by sending clear messages to pro western Iranians to create changes what they can do, so not, the US will teach them a lesson by time. I also think that it's a win situation for us if president Bush send more troops to Iraq to win and a send a clear message that the goverment of Iran shouldn't think that we are not serious about invading them. Meanwhile we stay calm, fix the problems and keep on pushing the Europeans to be more serious with Iran. We have more problems and one of them is Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, our biggest supplier of oil. Should we invade Venezuela too? Noo, because the South Americans countries, Europe and China who we own allot of money will not accept that and we cannot alienate them now and ever. Also again we don't have the money for another big operation and more trouble news, Venezuela is a lost case, Mr. Chavez is chosen on a democratic way and that's the Bush administration own stupid fault, by not paying attention to our own hemisphere.

The UN will never help us and I think we should step out of it. We are wasting our money there.
Even the Europeans are dreaming about it but are smart by just using it for it's secret and dirty business deals and by using it so they don't have to send their boys to a lousy foreing nation what they don't care about. They only send their boys like now in Afganistan if the US helps them to pay for their operations. their motto is, first home than outside and do not mess with my investments. The US thinks the opposite and we are alone. We have big problems here at home and for me that comes first.

Nicholas, I am always a little curious about why people come to America. What was your reason? I usually know what to expect when someone leaves a third world nation, it is a no brainer, but when someone immigrates from Europe to here, I always wonder why they would want to leave.

Not that we do not welcome you.

Originally Posted by AmericanElizabeth

Nicholas, I am always a little curious about why people come to America. What was your reason? I usually know what to expect when someone leaves a third world nation, it is a no brainer, but when someone immigrates from Europe to here, I always wonder why they would want to leave.

Not that we do not welcome you.

I came here because my wife who is a US citizen. Before we got married in Miami, we met each other on vacation in Spain. Because of her job (Elementary teacher) and tough immigration rules in Holland, she couldn't stay in the Netherldands. Number 1 rule is, before you want to stay there and qualify for a Dutch/EU passport, you must take test so you speak and understand Dutch, and understand the Dutch legal and social system. My wife was not in the mood for that all and thanks to some friends in Miami who helped me for a job at their office and a lawyer who I found and hired for my immigration papers, I gave up everything in Holland to stay with my wife. It was frustrated but by time, I got my work permit and I wen to work. Did I worked before I got my work permit? No, because I had no Florida driver license and I was not in the mood for trouble at all. It's not my mentality, but used my savings to eat and pay the bills. Anyway, So thanks to friends of my wife and her job, it was OK, not easy but also not difficult for us to stay in the US. This year, in october, I can apply for US citizenship, but honest, I am not sure about it anymore because it gives me the feeling that it has no value for me anymore, so I just keep for now my greencard and Dutch passport and see how things go.

Originally Posted by Nicholas_USA

As an European (Dutch citizen) with a US greencard I can tell you that Europeans will not help the US invading Iran. Why? They have their own problems, prefer spend their money on domestic issues and don't want to ruin their relationship with a country that delivers them oil through Russia. I advise the US to take it easy, because we don't have the money for another war (Iraq war is being fought with borrowed money) and take care first of the problems at home, a.s.a.p.

So you guys would deal with Iran the same way you dealt with the Nazis?