See article comparison below and VOTE at Adult Christian Forum Thread 91624.
Both the Associated Press and Al Jazeera appear to be spinning in the same counter-clockwise direction, using the same playbook.
(N.B. Counter-clockwise is the direction of twisting that usually causes things to fall apart.)
Compare how each supposedly fair and independent news source reports today's unexpected triumph of Bush/Blair/European diplomacy. (Al Jazeera report is toward the bottom.)
From a Yahoo! AP article, Iran: Referral Means End of Diplomacy :
Iran: Referral Means End of Diplomacy By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer
Iran struck back Tuesday at the Big Five's decision to refer the country's nuclear file to the Security Council, saying the move has no legal justification and would be the end of diplomacy. [/] At a London meeting that lasted into the early hours of Tuesday, envoys of the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia agreed to recommend that the International Atomic Energy Agency report Iran to the U.N. Security Council.
[…] "Reporting Iran's dossier to the U.N. Security Council will be unconstructive and the end of diplomacy," said Iran's leading nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani. State television quoted him as sayiny Iran still believes the issue can be resolved peacefully. [/] Vice President Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who also runs Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, said it was difficult to predict how the IAEA meeting on Thursday would develop, the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency reported. [/] "The biggest problem for the West is that they can't find any (legal) justification to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council," ISNA quoted him as saying.
Larijani also reproached Europe for the London decision, which was taken at the home of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and attended by the foreign minister of Germany and the foreign policy chief of the European Union. [/] "Europeans should pay more attention. Iran has called for dialogue and is moving in the direction of reaching an agreement through peaceful means," Larijani said.
Hours earlier, British, French and German representatives had met Larijani's deputy, Javad Vaedi, in Brussels for last-ditch talks on the dispute, but failed to make any progress. [/] Last week, Larijani flew to Moscow and Beijing to seek Russian and Chinese support against the Western drive to refer Iran to the Security Council.
The decision by Russia and China to vote for referral surprised observers as the two nations have consistently counselled caution on Iran's nuclear file. Both have major economic ties with Iran.
A French government official, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity, said the Russian and Chinese ministers had been persuaded of the need to show a united front. [/] The United States accuses Iran of trying to build atomic weapons. Iran denies this, saying its nuclear program is only for generating electricity.
Iran broke IAEA seals at a uranium enrichment plant Jan. 10 and resumed small-scale enrichment. The decision provoked an outcry as enrichment is a process that can produce material for nuclear reactors or bombs. Britain, France and Germany, who had been negotiating with Iran, said they would press the IAEA to refer the matter to the Security Council.
If the IAEA votes to refer Iran to the Security Council on Thursday, Iran is likely to retaliate immediately. [/] Iran's parliament has approved a law requiring the government to stop all voluntary cooperation with IAEA in the event of referral. This would mean that Iran stops allowing IAEA inspectors to carry out intrusive searches of its facilities and the country resumes large-scale enrichment of uranium.
Iran insists it has the right as a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to build nuclear power stations and produce their fuel by enriching its own uranium. [/] But the United States and Europe do not trust that Iran would enrich uranium only for peaceful purposes because the country has concealed significant aspects of its nuclear program in the past. [/] While the IAEA has said it has found no evidence of Iran's building nuclear weapons, it has refused to give Iran a clean bill of health because of numerous unanswered questions over its atomic program. [My ellipses and emphasis]
From an Al Jazeera article, Iran threatens end to diplomacy :
Iran threatens end to diplomacy [/] Tuesday 31 January 2006 2:32 PM GMT
Larijani reproached Europe for the London decision [/] Iran has struck back at the Big Five powers' decision to refer Iran's nuclear file to the Security Council, saying referral would mean the end of diplomacy over its nuclear programme. [/] Still, in what appeared to be an attempt to show cooperation with the West, Iran handed over documents last week on casting uranium into the shape of a warhead to the UN nuclear agency, diplomats in Vienna revealed.
At a London meeting that lasted into the early hours of Tuesday, envoys of Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States decided they would recommend that at its Thursday meeting the International Atomic Energy Agency should report Iran to the UN Security Council. [/] They also decided the Security Council should wait until the agency issues a formal report on Iran in March before tackling the issue.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, on Tuesday reproached Europe for the London decision. [/] "Reporting Iran's dossier to the UN Security Council will be unconstructive and the end of diplomacy," he said, according to state-run television. [/] "Europeans should pay more attention. Iran has called for dialogue and is moving in the direction of reaching an agreement through peaceful means," Larijani said. "The Islamic Republic of Iran doesn't welcome this. We still think that this issue can be resolved peacefully. We recommend them not to do it."
"If the Security Council is informed or seized over Iran's nuclear case, we will be obliged - in accordance with the law passed by parliament - to end all voluntary measures and cease the application of the additional protocol," Ali Larijani said. [/] Aghazadeh said there was no legal justification against Iran [/] Iran has previously threatened to stop allowing surprise IAEA inspections of its nuclear facilities if it is put before the Security Council. Iran's parliament has passed a law requiring the government to stop such cooperation and resume large-scale uranium enrichment in case of referral to the Council.
Iran insists it has the right as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to build nuclear power stations and produce fuel by enriching its own uranium. But the US and Europe suspect Iran aims to use enrichment to produce nuclear weapons, an accusation Iran denies. [/] Vice President Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who also runs Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, said there was no "legal justification to refer Iran to the UN Security Council", according to the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency.
In Vienna, Iran's oil minister said the gathering storm over the nuclear issue would not affect Iran's oil policy. [/] "We have no reason to stop our exports" because of the nuclear issue, Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh said before Tuesday's meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. "From our point of view there's no link between the two."
[…] British, French and German representatives met Larijani's deputy, #### [(first name deemed unfit by Delphi for technical not taste reasons it looks like)] Vaedi, in Brussels on Tuesday for last-ditch talks on the dispute, but failed to make any progress.
The decision by Russia and China to vote for referral surprised observers as they have consistently counselled caution on Iran's nuclear file. Both have major economic ties with Iran.
[…] Russian and Chinese diplomats will head to Tehran shortly to explain the meaning of the agreement reached in London and urge Iran to meet IAEA demands, he said, according to the RIA-Novosti news agency. [/] Moscow is trying to prevent the referral from scuttling negotiations that it hopes will persuade Iran to accept a compromise proposal - that Iranian uranium enrichment take place on Russian territory. [My ellipses and emphasis]
Poll Question: AP: A Branch of Al Jazeera?
Poll Choices: 1. Absolutely. Both actually owned by Saudis. | 2. Yes. Both bury Bush triumph. | 3. Yes. | 4. Often looks like it. | 5. Sometimes looks like it. | 6. No. AP actually owned by George Soros. | 7. No. AP actually owned by Teresa Kerry. | 8. No. Iran bluster more exciting. | 9. No. Columbia Journalism grads run both. | 10. No. Good news judgment by both. | 11. No. | 12. Other. | 13. No comment. | 14. No opinion. | 15. This poll is worthless. | 16. This poll is of negative value.
VOTE at Adult Christian Forum Thread 91624.
