MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

By Natasha Mozgovaya – “The United States said Tuesday it was alarmed by a recently published International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran’s nuclear program, adding that it would pursue further economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic, as well as mulling ‘a range of possibilities.’

The IAEA report, which was handed over to the 35-member states of the IAEA Board of Governors, details a series of tests, acquisition of materials, and technology that suggests Iran has continuously worked to produce a nuclear weapon since 2003.

Speaking to the press on Wednesday, State Department Spokesman Mark Toner said the conclusions drawn by the report were ‘alarming,’ adding that Washington was looking into ‘additional ways to apply pressure on Iran.’

‘These are very serious allegations, serious charges’, Toner said. ‘And it’s incumbent on Iran to at last engage with the IAEA in a credible and transparent manner to address these concerns. I think going forward we’re consulting with our partners and allies within the IAEA. There is going to be a Board of Governors meeting, I think, at the end of next week where this will be addressed.'” Read more.

Iran won’t retreat ‘one iota’ from nuclear path, says Ahmadinejad – “Iran won’t retreat ‘one iota’ from its nuclear program and the world is being misled by claims it seeks atomic weapons, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday. His comments — broadcast live on state TV and his first since a UN watchdog report said Tehran is on the brink of developing a nuclear warhead — contrasted sharply with Western warnings that Iran appears to be engaged in a dangerous defiance of international demands to control its nuclear ambitions. In Paris, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said his country would support boosting sanctions against Tehran to an ‘unprecedented scale’ if Iran stonewalls investigations, even as Israel and others say that military options are still possible.” Read more.