Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday warned Europe against backing proposed UN measures against its nuclear program, saying Iran would respond by downgrading relations with the EU.
Iran is concerned about moves at the UN Security Council to penalize it for refusing to cease uranium enrichment, a process that produces the material for nuclear reactors or bombs. The EU has been supporting the US in pushing for tougher UN penalties than Russia and China would like to see.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said on Monday that the leading powers at the UN were nearing an agreement on a Security Council resolution. The council's Big Five plus Germany are expected to meet in Paris later yesterday to discuss a draft resolution.
Speaking to a crowd in Sari, a northern provincial capital, the president addressed the member states of the EU, saying: "I'm telling you in plain language that as of now, if you try, whether through propaganda or international organizations, to take steps against the rights of the Iranian nation, the Iranian nation will consider it an act of hostility."
"And if you insist on pursuing this path, it [Iran] will reconsider its relations with you," he added.
It was the first time Ahmadinejad had threatened to downgrade relations with Europe which, collectively, is Iran's biggest trading partner.
It was not clear what steps Ahmadinejad had in mind, but Iran could withdraw its ambassadors from EU capitals, make it more difficult for European companies to win oil industry contracts or impose sanctions on EU goods.
However, Ahmadinejad does not have the final word in Iran -- that lies with the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is known to have countermanded orders made by the Iranian president in the past.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not