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Iranian official: Window for nuclear negotiations still open
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/08/iraniaea.jpg caption="Iran's Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh."]
By Tom Evans; Sr. Writer, AMANPOUR.
(CNN) - Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Monday that the window for nuclear negotiations is still open - even as tensions rise over Iran's decision to defy the world on uranium enrichment.
Referring to the possibility of new international sanctions against his country, Ali-Asghar Soltanieh told CNN's Christiane Amanpour, "If they (other countries) come to the conclusion that they had better have a cooperative environment or approach rather than the language of threat, and they are ready to come to the negotiating table, our proposal is still on the table."
But he said the new enrichment program, at the Natanz plant, would begin Tuesday.
"As (of) tomorrow, the steps will start in fact under the full scope,
safeguards, and the supervision of the (IAEA) inspectors." Soltanieh's interview with CNN came hours after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran will begin enriching uranium up to 20 percent, compared to 3.5 percent now - a step the U.S. National Research Council says is the threshold for uranium capable of setting off a nuclear reaction. The U.S. and other countries immediately condemned Iran's announcement, saying it means sanctions against Tehran are much more likely.
Many world powers say Iran is on a path towards making nuclear weapons. Iran, though, insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran has defied repeated United Nations resolutions and three rounds of previous sanctions designed to persuade it to freeze uranium enrichment.
And now your feedback
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/17/feedback.jpg caption="Christiane – all ears for the feedback."]
Amanpour viewers contemplated the devastating consequences of the drug war in México. The majority felt that the legalization of drugs could end all disputes among governmental entities and citizens of México, the United States and generate profit. Speculations about the U.S. admittance of transport of drugs in and out of the border with México were a subject of debate among many, along with conflicted thoughts by the audience on alleged U.S. cooperation with cartels in México. Additional topics that were discussed lightly included the new global threat, an online war that viewers considered true and the portrayal of China by the audience as a “country that has no respect for human rights.”
What are your thoughts? Please share your thoughts with us! In addition, if you missed the show go to http://www.amanpour.com for more information.
Below, you will see some opinions from viewers like yourself. We would love to hear what you think.
Email comments
This is an absurd farce! It's outrageous that we send both the money and the guns that slaughter the people of Mexico. OF COURSE Narco-trafficking would end when the U.S. ends the money funneling into the black market. Please use this show to tell the evident truth, Ms. Amanpour, that legalization is the only answer to this solution. We have blood on our hands.
Patrick McKernan
Hampton, NH
I watched with interest your interview with the two Mexican representatives of present and past Mexican administrations and both are in agreement that the drug war and resultant death toll is terrible for their country. They also feel that this is going to be a long and costly war, given the amount of money generated by drug traffic. I find it also interesting that a portion of the blame is leveled at the U.S. for being a large buyer of illegal drugs and for allowing a weapons flow across the border entry points to arm the cartels. This would seem a good point for you, in presenting at least some question of the latter point, to ask if Mexico already has some of the most restrictive gun control laws in the world. How much help have these gun control laws proven to be?
Lee Cokley
Astoria, Oregon
Obama's foreign policy in gridlock: former national security adviser
(CNN) - President Obama's foreign policy agenda may have "run out of steam" and he must now take risks and provide effective leadership, former U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski said Friday.
In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Brzezinski said Obama's foreign policy agenda is suffering from gridlock in Washington.
"I have the feeling that because of domestic problems, he has run out of steam, and I don't know really how determined he is to resume what he started doing so well, which is to engage the world constructively," Brzezinski said.
Brzezinski, who is now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the only way to break the stalemate is for Obama to take the lead.
The president can show leadership, he said, by "persuasively going to the country directly, mobilizing the support, taking on some difficult foreign challenge, and prevailing."
Tom's Take
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/16/christianetom.jpg caption caption="Sr. Writer for Amanpour, Tom Evans, works on scripts with Christiane"]
On AMANPOUR. today, as U.S. military forces stand down in Iraq, the relative calm has been disrupted by new bombings and a political dispute over the contentious issue of banning 500 Sunni parliamentary candidates from the upcoming elections. The Sons of Iraq, the mostly Sunni group largely credited for the recent lull in the violence, is saying it is not being given due recognition and wants all its members fully integrated into the Iraqi Security Forces. What does this political turmoil tell us about the future of Iraq? Christiane spoke to Iraq’s Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi on Friday and her interview will air today. Iraq is one of the stories in our news roundup this morning. Here are some perspectives.
Tom Evans
Sr. Writer, AMANPOUR.
IRAQ – Do attacks on Shia pilgrims indicate that sectarian violence is increasing and political divisions are increasing?
– Iraq reeling from series of attacks on Shia pilgrims in holy city of Karbala and elsewhere last week that killed dozens of people
– Fears attacks could prompt sectarian backlash by Shias against minority Sunnis that could undermine elections due to be held on March 7
– U.S. blames al Qaeda for attacks, with Centcom chief General David Petraeus calling the bombings the “barbaric actions” of a morally bankrupt al Qaeda
QUESTION: Can Iraq’s political leaders remain calm in face of attempts to provoke sectarian explosion ahead of elections?
And now your feedback
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/17/feedback.jpg caption="Christiane – all ears for the feedback."]
My Mother’s daughter’s short film posted on YouTube by Amanpour. touched most viewers who felt this was a compelling story with “an open dialogue” but overall “missed” key information such as the specifics on why and how the conversion from Christianity to Islamism happened. Additionally, the influence the U.S, versus China exert on the world caused uproar among the majority. The common thoughts were that China “did not appear” nationally or globally responsible, viewers commented that China’s intentions in dealing with the U.S. were “doubtful” and “power tussle” was thought to be the main motive by the majority of the audience.
What are your thoughts? Please share your thoughts with us! In addition, if you missed the show go to http://www.amanpour.com for more information.
Below, you will see some opinions from viewers like yourself. We would love to hear what you think.
Email comments
Dear Christiane, and dear colleagues:
I would like to share the following with you, after viewing the highly intolerant exchange between Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Tariq Ramadan. Both of them protest too much. Literally. Ayaan is right, but she paints Islam with a broad brush - reminiscent of socialists who hated Stalinism, and so joined forces with McCarthy. Please examine the following, by the most widely read "ancient" Islamic writer in the world today. Whatever Islam Ayaan was brought up in – it was surely oppressive and distorted, but she has a compulsion to defame everyone else who is not that way in Islam.
In peace - Yousef Daoud (Joe Martin), Author The Rose and the Lotus: Sufism and Buddhism
Mexico's Consul General takes your questions
We took your questions from Facebook and Twitter and put them to Mexico's Consul General for New York, Rubén Beltrán:
Former Chinese official sees 'dark clouds'
By Tom Evans; Sr. Writer, AMANPOUR.
(CNN) - Declaring "I see a lot of dark clouds on the horizon," a former top official in the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the U.S.-China relationship is at a critical moment and any further deterioration will not be good for world peace.
Victor Gao, a director of the China National Association of International Studies, told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that China views the recent U.S. arms sale to Taiwan "as a major kind of a step to upset China's national interest."
Gao said U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to sell $6 billion dollars worth of weapons to Taiwan and to meet with the Dalai Lama in Washington this month are "miscalculations" based on a misreading of Chinese positions on what he called "these fundamental issues."
His comments came as U.S.-China relations are under increasing strain on a number of fronts, not just the issues of Taiwan and Tibet. There are also frictions over charges that China has hacked into Google, over trade relations, and over U.S. allegations that Beijing is manipulating the value of its currency to benefit Chinese companies.
And now your feedback
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/17/feedback.jpg caption="Christiane – all ears for the feedback."]
The new regulations that some European countries felt the need to implement such as the ban of the Burka generated an overwhelming response among the Amanpour audience. An intense debate took place regarding the ban of the Burka and extreme opinions were expressed. The majority described Muslims’ disapproval of the banning as hypocritical because according to most, the Muslim religion freely exercised the ban of other religions in their countries of residence and when foreigners visited their countries, “women had to dress like Muslim women.” Additionally, it was mentioned that France had every right to determine the way people could dress in their country and some commented “It is strange that there isn't many women in Burka on Facebook talking about THEIR wants...but we hear their men talking, thinking, seeing, feeling, living for them!!” The minority disagreed and thought Muslims had the right to cover up “their women” in any country.
What are your thoughts? Please share your thoughts with us! In addition, if you missed the show go to http://www.amanpour.com for more information.
Below, you will see some opinions from viewers like yourself. We would love to hear what you think.
Email comments
How much sense does it make to rebuild Port-au-prince on a fault that is sure to suffer another earthquake sometime in the future? Same sense it makes, I guess, to rebuild New Orleans below sea (river) level. In my opinion, absolutely none.
Ivan
Florence, Alabama
Dear Christiane,
If Turkey has a problem with the headscarf, isn't it understandable that European nations have a problem with chadours, burquas, et al? I do not think this is either fearmongering or fanatacism. It is a reaction to extremism that goes against the established norm in the society in which we live, Having come to Greece in 1970 as a young woman raised in the USA, I found it a bit baffling to see why My wearing a mini skirt or a pants/tunic outfit was unacceptable, but I went along with the norm since it was MY choice to live in Greece. And I see no reason why the siyuation of muslim women is any different. Had I not been able to fit in, it would have been concumbent on me to leave.
Maureen
Islamic Headscarves
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