Some Progress Reported in us-North Korea Nuclear Talks

American and North Korean diplomats were entering their second day of direct talks Tuesday, with the top U.S. envoy reporting some progress in narrowing differences over Pyongyang's nuclear program. In a closely watched round of talks in Geneva, the second direct encounter between the two parties in less than three months, diplomats from both sides are trying to determine whether the so-called six-party nuclear talks, which include China, Japan, Russia and South Korea in addition to North Korea and the United States, can resume.

But the top U.S. envoy, Stephen Bosworth, acknowledged late Monday night that the discussions are also touching on all other long-standing issues, such as food aidfor the North, families long separated on the Korean peninsula and the remains of troopsmissing in action. The U.S. and North Korea are still technically at war.

The U.N.'s top relief official, Valerie Amos, said Monday after visiting North Korea that it was «not appropriate» for the nuclear talks in Switzerland to extend to humanitarian assistance to the chronically hungry Asian country because that aid «must be kept separate from a political agenda». The U.N. is calling on countries to provide $218 million in emergency aid to North Korea. The U.S. ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency said, «I think we're moving in a positive direction. We have narrowed some differences, but we still have differences that we have to resolve».

«As you know, our goal is to try to find a solid foundation on which to launch a resumption of discussions both bilateral and multilateral, and we will continue to work hard to bring that about», he said. «We have made some progress, we have issues still to resolve and we will work hard to do that».

U.S. diplomats want North Korea to adhere to a 2005 agreement it reneged on requiring verifiable denuclearization in exchange for better relations with its Asian neighbors. China, North Korea's closest ally, has urged Pyongyang to improve its strained ties with the United States and South Korea.

Beijing wants to revive the stalled six-nation disarmament negotiations. North Korea walked out of the talks in 2009 – and exploded a second nuclear-test device – but now wants to re-engage. Last year, Pyongyang also was blamed for two military attacks on South Korea that heightened tensions on the peninsula.

25/10/2011, The Guardian

Iran Moves to Downgrade Its Relations with Britain

Iranenacted legislation on Monday to downgrade relations withBritain, in retaliation forintensified sanctions imposed by Western nationslast week to punish the Iranians for their suspect nuclear development program.

The Guardian Council, an Iranian clerical body unanimously endorsed a bill approved on Sunday to expel Britain’s ambassador and reduce diplomatic contacts.

The United States and the European Union imposed harsher sanctions on Iran on Nov. 21 after the United Nations’ nuclear monitoring agency released a report on Nov. 8 that said Iran might be working on a nuclear weaponand missile delivery system.

Iran has denied those accusations and insists that its nuclear program is peaceful. It has called the United Nations report a false and shameful propaganda display done at the behest of the United Statesand its allies.

The sanctions imposed by Britain were considered the most severe because they required that all contacts with the Iranian Central Bank be severed, a step that other countries, including the United States, did not take.

Iranian lawmakers had signaled last week that they would move quickly to downgrade diplomatic ties with Britain. The Foreign Office in London responded to the passage of the bill on Sunday by calling the action «regrettable».

Under the terms, Britain’s ambassador must leave Tehran within two weeks, according to a report on the legislation by Press TV, a state-run English-language news site in Iran.

Concern that Iran may be close to producing a nuclear weapon has grown since the release of the United Nations report, particularly in Israel, which considers Iran its most dangerous enemy. Iranian warnings to Israel against attempting a pre-emptive military strike on Iran’s nuclear installations have also escalated in recent weeks.

The heightened sensitivities to the possibility of such a strike were apparent on Monday when a few Iranian news agencies reported on a suspected explosion near the central city of Isfahan, where the Iranians process uranium.

28/11/2011, the BBC