Diplomats: China Has Provided IAEA With Intelligence on Iran's Nuke Program, page 1

Diplomats: China Has Provided IAEA With Intelligence on Iran's Nuke Program, page

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Topic started on 2-4-2008 @ 09:21 AM by mythatsabigprobe

Diplomats: China Has Provided IAEA With Intelligence on Iran's Nuke Program

www.foxnews.com

VIENNA, Austria — Diplomats say that China has given the U.N. nuclear watchdog intelligence linked to Tehran's alleged attempts to make nuclear arms.

The development is surprising because Beijing, along with Moscow, has opposed U.S.-led attempts to impose harsh penalties on Tehran over its nuclear defiance of the U.N. Security Council. The diplomats spoke to The Associated Press earlier this week and Wednesday. They asked for anonymity because their information is confidential.

(visit the link for the full news article)

reply posted on 2-4-2008 @ 09:21 AM by mythatsabigprobe

That's all there is on this story at the moment as it's still breaking.

I have to wonder about China's motives in turning over this information right now. Looking to save face and make themselves look good to west in advance of the Olympic games? Or rolling over on Iran for some other reason?

www.foxnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply posted on 2-4-2008 @ 12:23 PM by Ste2652

reply to post by mythatsabigprobe

It's not in China's interest to allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons - this would destabilise the Middle East as Israel contemplated air strikes and other nations (such as Saudi Arabia) thought about nuclear weapons development themselves. China needs Middle Eastern oil, and its dependency is increasing as the economy expands. For the same reason, it is not in China's interest to let the US attack Iran. Again, it would destabilise the region.

reply posted on 3-4-2008 @ 08:29 AM by mythatsabigprobe

Here's a small update to the original article.

But the agency has signaled it is not giving up on its efforts to investigate purported military aspects of Tehran's nuclear activities. Other diplomats told the AP that deputy director general Olli Heinonen planned to meet in the next few days with Ali-Ashgar Soltanieh, Iran's chief delegate to the agency, to press for answers.

Ahead of that tentative meeting, Gregory L. Schulte, the chief U.S. delegate to the IAEA, urged Tehran to end its stonewalling. He told the AP that with the next IAEA report due in about two months, time was running out for Iran to "explain these serious indications of troubling activities."

I'd say that the pressure will really be building on Iran in the run-up to the next IAEA meeting in two months and with China now apparently on our side, and possibly Russia remaining neutral (with the recent secret letter from Bush), the playing field might be set up for military intervention.

reply posted on 3-4-2008 @ 02:05 PM by mythatsabigprobe

China is now denying that it supplied any information to the IAEA..

Source
China has dismissed the reports that Beijing has provided the UN nuclear watchdog with confidential intelligence on Iran's nuclear program.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Thursday that the report was "totally groundless and out of ulterior motives.''