- Iran

Syrian Conflict Escalates

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 21:33:49 -0600

Source: Land Destroyer - April 23, 2011

It is no secret that Syria has been marked for regime change for at least two decades. In a 2007 speech given by General Wesley Clark regarding what he called a US "policy coup," he relayed a 1991 conversation between himself and then Under Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. Wolfowitz indicated that America had 5-10 years to clean up old Soviet "client regimes," namely Syria, Iran, and Iraq, before the next super power rose up to challenge western hegemony.

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Clark was again passed plans drawn to implement regime change throughout the Middle East, specifically to attack and destroy the governments of 7 countries; Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Iran, Lebanon and Libya. In 2002, then US Under Secretary of State John Bolton, would add Syria to the growing "Axis of Evil."

In a recent CNN article, acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner stated, "We're not working to undermine that [Syrian] government. What we are trying to do in Syria, through our civil society support, is to build the kind of democratic institutions, frankly, that we're trying to do in countries around the globe. What's different, I think, in this situation is that the Syrian government perceives this kind of assistance as a threat to its control over the Syrian people."

Toner's remarks come after the Washington Post released cables indicating the US has been funding Syrian opposition groups since at least 2005 under the Bush administration and was continued under Obama. To suggest America is promoting any conceivable form of democracy in Syria, when it itself is ruled by a monopolistic corporate oligarchy within which special interest driven agendas transcend presidential administrations is tenuous if not scandalous. It is quite clear that Wolfowitz' agenda back in 1991 had long ago leaped from the drawing board and into practice, undermining the Syrian government through sanctions and seditious, foreign funded "civil society" networks.

What has ensued in Syria during the also admittedly US-funded "Arab Spring" is a puppet show of sorts, where Obama feigns surprise and confusion over what to do about Syria's unrest. As the violence escalates, the propagandists predictably argue that Obama is doing "nothing" as Syrians yearn for "true democracy and freedom." Undeniably, however, the US has fueled the unrest from the very beginning and most certainly is far from doing "nothing."

In a recent AFP report, Michael Posner, the assistant US Secretary of State for Human Rights and Labor, stated that the "US government has budgeted $50 million in the last two years to develop new technologies to help activists protect themselves from arrest and prosecution by authoritarian governments." The report went on to explain that the US "organized training sessions for 5,000 activists in different parts of the world. A session held in the Middle East about six weeks ago gathered activists from Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon who returned to their countries with the aim of training their colleagues there." Posner would add, "They went back and there's a ripple effect."

Revolutions Mystery Gunmen

Imagine you are an embattled regime fighting against a rising tide of foreign-funded protesters. The entire world is watching, one nation is already under creeping foreign invasion for "waging war against his own people," your nation has been warned that it is next and has been on a 20 year waiting list for regime change, and your opposition is gathering to bury dead protesters from a recent clash with security forces. What do you do?

Stage concealed snipers in multiple buildings and randomly shoot at mourners ensuring a very public, internationally sensationalized bloodbath that will unequivocally escalate both the protests and international pressure? Bashar al-Assad's regime hasn't ruled Syria for so long because they were careless or foolish. And while regimes could stay in power decades ago through unyielding brutality, often sanctioned by tacitly complicit western partners, regimes today realize the value of finesse and accountability in a new age of humanitarian-justified imperialism.

Continue reading "Syrian Conflict Escalates "

Obama Up's The Rhetoric On Syria, Mentions Terrorist Groups

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:41:01 -0600

Source: AFP/Yahoo - April 22, 2011

US President Barack Obama condemned Syria's "outrageous" use of violence, accusing the regime of seeking Iran's aid in a brutal month-long crackdown that left over 70 people dead Friday.

Obama also dismissed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's move to scrap the emergency rule imposed by the ruling Baath Party when it seized power in 1963 and allow for peaceful demonstrations as "not serious" in light of the violence against protesters.

"The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms the use of force by the Syrian government against demonstrators. This outrageous use of violence to quell protests must come to an end now," Obama said in a statement.

"We call on President Assad to change course now, and heed the calls of his own people."

He denounced the Assad regime's use of force and "outrageous human rights abuses," saying it had chosen to reject the rights and aspirations of the Syrian people.
[ For complete coverage of politics and policy, go to Yahoo! Politics ]

"Instead of listening to their own people, President Assad is blaming outsiders while seeking Iranian assistance in repressing Syria's citizens through the same brutal tactics that have been used by his Iranian allies," Obama added.

"We strongly oppose the Syrian government's treatment of its citizens and we continue to oppose its continued destabilizing behavior more generally, including support for terrorism and terrorist groups."

Gas Pipelines Explode In Iran

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 12:46:24 -0600

Source: Reuters - April 8, 2011

Three gas pipelines have exploded in an Iranain province south of the capital Tehran, a news agency reported Friday, saying the cause was unknown and giving no details of damage or casualties.

"The National Iranian Gas Company's (NIGC) operation and rescue teams along with other governmental organizations are present at the scene and are investigating the reason for the explosion," the semi-official Mehr news agency said. The explosions happened in the province of Qom in northern-central Iran.

The report comes two months after a similar incident in the same area. on February 11, media reported simultaneous explosions on three gas pipelines near the city of Qom. An NIGC spokesman said at the time that "technical problems were not the cause" of the blasts but gave no further explanation.

Officials were not immediately available for comment.

The pipelines carry gas from refineries in southern Iran to the north and north-west, Mehr said.

Zbigniew Brzezinski Talks Libya/U.S. Foreign Policy On CNN

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:08:30 -0600

Iran To Unload Fuel From Nuclear Plant

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 21:53:26 -0700

Source: AP - February 26, 2011

In a major setback to Iran's nuclear program, technicians will have to unload fuel from the country's first atomic power plant because of an unspecified safety concern, a senior government official said.

The vague explanation raised questions about whether the mysterious computer worm known as Stuxnet might have caused more damage at the Bushehr plant than previously acknowledged. Other explanations are possible for unloading the fuel rods from the reactor core of the newly completed plant, including routine technical difficulties.

While the exact reason behind the fuel's removal is unclear, the admission is seen as a major embarrassment for Tehran because it has touted Bushehr — Iran's first atomic power plant — as its showcase nuclear facility and sees it as a source of national pride. When the Islamic Republic began loading the fuel just four months ago, Iranian officials celebrated the achievement.

Iran's envoy to the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency in Vienna said that Russia, which provided the fuel and helped construct the Bushehr plant, had demanded the fuel be taken out.

"Upon a demand from Russia, which is responsible for completing the Bushehr nuclear power plant, fuel assemblies from the core of the reactor will be unloaded for a period of time to carry out tests and take technical measurements," the semiofficial ISNA news agency quoted Ali Asghar Soltanieh as saying. "After the tests are conducted, (the fuel) will be placed in the core of the reactor once again."

...

Foreign intelligence reports have said the control systems at Bushehr were penetrated by the malware — malicious software designed to infiltrate computer systems — but Iran has all along maintained that Stuxnet was only found on several laptops belonging to plant employees and didn't affect the facility's control systems.

Some computer experts believe Stuxnet was the work of Israel or the United States, two nations convinced that Iran wants to turn nuclear fuel into weapons-grade uranium.

The Islamic Republic is reluctant to acknowledge setbacks to its nuclear activities, which it says are aimed at generating energy but are under U.N. sanctions because of concerns they could be channeled toward making weapons. Only after outside revelations that its enrichment program was temporarily disrupted late last year by Stuxnet did Iranian officials acknowledge the incident.

Police in Iran Streets as Fuel Prices Soar 400%

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 11:54:01 -0700

Source: World Bulletin - December 19, 2010

The price of gasoline in Iran rose four-fold on Sunday while a heavy police presence ensured there was no repeat of rioting seen the last time the government restricted access to heavily subsidised fuel.

Motorists had been expecting the rise for the last three months as part of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's policy to phase out subsidies on essentials like energy, food and water, so the midnight price hike was accepted with grim resignation.

"Are people happy? Sure, the Iranian people always welcome high prices," said one employee at a Tehran petrol station, raising an eyebrow to emphasise the sarcasm.

Reuters witnesses saw a heavy police presence at several gas stations on Saturday night as Ahmadinejad announced the start of the subsidy reform plan on a television programme.

But, unlike in 2007, when riots erupted when cheap fuel rationing was introduced, there were no reports of trouble and things were calm on Sunday, a busy business day in Iran.

Ahmadinejad told the nation that the subsidy cuts would reduce wasteful consumption, save the state money and reduce the unfairness whereby richer people, who spend more, benefit more from subsidised prices than the poor.

"Fears over inflation"

But some politicians warned that any leap in overall inflation due to the subsidy reform could be disastrous and some motorists said they would no longer be able to afford to drive.

"I won't be able to use my car from now on with these high prices," said a 56-year-old Tehrani, filling his Pride, a compact made by Iran's Saipa, based on the South Korean Kia model, which is the car of choice for middle-income Iranians.

"As we don't have a good public transportation system it won't be easy for people. It will be better for me to stay at home," he said.

Up until Sunday, subsidies had allowed Iranians -- who see cheap fuel in the oil-rich country as a birthright -- to pay just 1,000 rials (about 10 U.S. cents) per litre for the first 60 litres they buy per month. Beyond that they paid 4,000 rials per litre.

The price hike pushed the 60-litre ration price up to 4,000 rials and the higher price to 7,000 rials.

At a Tehran gas station, a hired driver was filling up his boss's BMW, which, as a high-powered imported luxury brand, did not qualify for the subsidised fuel even before the cuts.

"I am just a driver, the new prices will change nothing for the owner of this car, but what should a person like me do?" said the 48-year-old who, like many Iranians, preferred not to be identified by name in the foreign media.

The government has denied that the current inflation rate of around 10 percent will soar due to the subsidy cuts which will also increase prices of utility bills and food items including wheat flour, the key ingredient of Iranians' staple, bread.

The subsidy cut has been discussed by politicians for years and is finally being implemented.

Iran Confirms Stuxnet Worm Halted Centrifuges

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 11:24:36 -0700

Source: The Telegraph - November 30, 2010

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, confirmed on Monday night that a computer worm affected centrifuges in the country's uranium enrichment programme.
Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, confirm last night that a computer worm affected centrifuges in the country's uranium enrichment programme.

Iran has previously denied the Stuxnet worm, which experts say is calibrated to destroy centrifuges, had caused any damage, saying they uncovered it before it could have any effect.

But President Ahmadinejad said it "managed to create problems for a limited number of our centrifuges".

Earlier in November, U.N. inspectors found Iran's enrichment program temporarily shut down, according to a recent report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog. The extent and cause of the shutdown were not known, but speculation fell on Stuxnet.

NBC's Exclusive interview with Ahmadinejad in Tehran

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 21:06:07 -0600

John Bolton: Russia's Loading of Nuke Fuel Into Iran Plant Means Aug. 21 Deadline for Israeli Attack

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:44:03 -0600

Source: News Max

News that Russia will load nuclear fuel rods into an Iranian reactor has touched off a countdown to a point of no return, a deadline by which Israel would have to launch an attack on Iran's Bushehr reactor before it becomes effectively "immune" to any assault, says former Bush administration U.N. Ambassador John R. Bolton.

Once the fuel rods are loaded, Bolton told Fox News on Friday afternoon, "it makes it essentially immune from attack by Israel. Because once the rods are in the reactor an attack on the reactor risks spreading radiation in the air, and perhaps into the water of the Persian Gulf."

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin declared in March that Russia would start the Bushehr reactor this summer. But the announcement from a spokesman for Russia's state atomic agency to Reuters Friday sent international diplomats scrambling to head off a crisis.

The story immediately became front-page news in Israel, which has laid precise plans to carry out an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities while going along with President Obama's plans to use international sanctions and diplomatic persuasion to convince Iran's clerics not to go nuclear.

Bolton made it clear that it is widely assumed that any Israeli attack on the Bushehr reactor must take place before the reactor is loaded with fuel rods.

"If they're going to do it that's the window that they have," Bolton declared. "Otherwise as I said before, once the rods are in the reactor, if you attack the reactor you're going to open it up and radiation will escape at least into the atmosphere and possibly into the waters of the Persian Gulf.

"So most people think that neither Israel nor the United States, come to that, would attack the reactor after it's been fueled."

Bolton cited the 1981 Israeli attack on Saddam Hussein's Osirak reactor outside Baghdad and the September 2007 Israeli attack on a North Korean reactor being built in Syria. Both of those strikes came before fuel rods were loaded into those reactors.

"So if it's going to happen in Bushehr it has to happen before the fuel rods go in," Bolton said.

The conversation that touched off the de facto deadline for Israeli military action was a telephone conversation with wire services involving Sergei Novikov, a spokesman for Rosatom, the Russian Energy State Nuclear Corp.

Novikov said: "The fuel will be loaded on Aug 21. This is the start of the physical launch” of the reactor.

"From that moment the Bushehr plant will be officially considered a nuclear-energy installation," Novikov said, adding that the head of Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, will visit Bushehr Aug. 21 to conduct a ceremony for the event.
According to Bolton, once the reactor is operational, it is only a matter of time before it begins producing plutonium that could be used in a nuclear weapon.

"And in the normal operation of this reactor, in just a fairly short period of time, you could get substantial amounts of plutonium to use as nuclear weapons," Bolton told Fox.

Russia, which is operating under a $1 billion contract with Iran, has spent more than a decade building the reactor. If Russia moves forward with its plan to fuel the reactor, it could be seen as a major setback to the Obama administration's strategy of engaging Russian leaders in order to win their cooperation.

"The U.S. urged them not to send the Iranian's fuel rods," Bolton said. "They did that. The Obama administration has urged them not to insert the fuel rods in the reactors, but as they've just announced that will begin next week. What that does over time is help Iran get another route to nuclear weapons through the plutonium they could reprocess out of the spent fuel rods."

The developments mean Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu soon may face a stark choice: Attack the Bushehr reactor in the next 8 days, or allow it to become operational despite the certainty it would greatly enhance Iran's ability to create nuclear weapons.

Russian leaders have said the Bushehr reactor project is being closely monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN's nuclear watchdog group. According to Iran's ISNA news agency, IAEA inspectors will be on hand to observe the fuel-rod loading process that is now scheduled to begin Aug. 21.

According to Russian officials, Iran has promised in writing to send all spent fuel rods from Bushehr back to Russia for reprocessing, to ensure they cannot be used for nuclear weapons.

Bolton said the reactor has been "a hole" in American foreign policy for over a decade.

The failure to demand it be shut down began in the Bush years, he said, and continues with the Obama administration "under what I believe is the mistaken theory that Iran is entitled to the peaceful use of nuclear energy."

"I don't think Iran is entitled to that, or I don't think we ought to allow it to happen, because they're manifestly violating any number of obligations under the non-proliferation treaty not to seek nuclear weapons. But this has been a hole in American policy for some number of years, and Iran and Russia are obviously exploiting it," Bolton said.

Russia’s move would put Iran "in a much better position overall," he said, adding, "I think this is a very delicate point, as I say, it closes off to the Israelis one possible target for pre-emptive military action.

Russia to Start Iran's First Nuclear Plant Next Week

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 23:31:14 -0600

Russia Says EU's Iran Energy Sanctions 'Unacceptable'

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:07:34 -0600

Source: Google/AFP

Russia on Tuesday blasted unilateral European Union sanctions imposed against Iran's energy sector as "unacceptable", saying the move showed a disregard for the UN Security Council.

"We have already said many times that we consider unacceptable the practice of unilateral or collective sanctions measures against Iran, that go beyond the Security Council sanctions regime in operation in the country," the foreign ministry said.

The statement came after EU foreign ministers on Monday formally adopted new sanctions on Iran's key energy sector in a bid to force it to return to talks on its controversial nuclear programme.

Iran is under four sets of UN sanctions over its refusal to heed repeated Security Council ultimatums to suspend uranium enrichment, the most controversial part of its nuclear programme.

Iran says that it is enriching uranium purely for peaceful use, but Western powers are concerned that it intends to develop a nuclear weapon.

Russia said Tuesday that the EU sanctions showed "disregard for the carefully regulated and coordinated provisions of the UN Security Council."

Both the EU and US sanctions "do not promote finding a speedy political and diplomatic resolution of the problem. For us this is obvious," the ministry said.

Russia "categorically rejects" any attempts to use sanctions against companies and individuals from third countries who are "conscientiously carrying out the demands of UN Security Council resolutions," it said.

Hezbollah Advances 20,000 Troops to Israeli Border

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:09:42 -0600

Source: DEBKAfile

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu keeps on vowing that Iran will not be allowed to establish an outpost on Israel's borders, but he has not lifted a finger to stop this menace ensconcing itself in the north. He cannot realistically expect feeble UN reprimands and the puny French contingent of UNIFIL to blow away the 20,000 Hizballah troops dug in in 160 new positions in South Lebanon, backed by a vast rocket arsenal - even though this is a gross violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701.

Iran's proxy has therefore won the first round of its drive to recover the forward positions lost in the 2006 war and stands ready for the next. Israel has reinforced its border defenses against this massed Hizballah strength just a few hundreds meters away.
...

In one instance last week, French troops on patrol were pulled out of their armed vehicles, their weapons snatched and they were beaten with sticks, rocks and eggs.

This was no spontaneous outburst. debkafile's military sources report that the "villagers" were instructed by Iran's new Iranian commander in Lebanon, Hossein Mahadavi, to hit on the French contingent to punish Paris for supporting the UN Security Council's expanded sanctions for its nuclear violations, while at the same time blocking the peacekeeper's access to the "closed areas" where the new Hizballah bases have been set up.

Tehran nominated a high-ranking officer to Lebanon - Mahadavi's former job was commander of Iran's Overseas Division - indicating the importance it attaches to this volatile borderland. Indeed, if Hizballah gets away with its new deployment in the South and is allowed to make it permanent, the UN force will have lost even this scrappy foothold and Hizballah will be free to carry on its preparations for war without the slightest hindrance.

So much for Netanyahu's pledge, reiterated during his talks and interviews in the United States last week, that in negotiations with Arabs, especially the Palestinians, Israel will never accept any accommodation that permits Iran to set up military and rocket bases on its borders.

The fact is that since he entered the prime minister's office, he and defense minister Ehud Barak have done nothing to hold back the stream of armed Hizballah militiamen flooding South Lebanon, although they are now actively endangering the one-and-a-half million Israelis living just across the border.

If they imagined that UN peacekeepers would suddenly stand up and start repelling this southward tide of men and war materiel, they need only to take note of the tepid UN reprimand last Friday to understand that the Elysee Palace had no intention of letting French troops pick up the Hizballah ball and chase the Shiite terrorists back to their former positions.

Tehran and Hizballah therefore felt they could safely issue a new spate of threats: Israelis traveling anywhere in the world faced kidnap or death in response to a series of hits attributed to their clandestine agencies, such as the assassination of a key Hizballah commander Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus in 2008, the deaths of the Iranian nuclear physicist Prof. Massoud Ali Mohammmadi in the middle of Tehran in January of this year, and the Hamas operative responsible for Iranian money transfers to the Gaza Strip Mohammed al-Mabhouh in Dubai nine days later.

Israel responded to the verbal escalation on July 7, by doing something it has never done before: Col. Ronen Marli, chief of the northern border's Western Brigade - the unit which will have to hold off the enemy in the early hours of attack from Lebanon - exhibited to the public aerial photos and intelligence maps recording the new spread of Hizballah forces: He reported 20,000 armed men scattered through 160 village and towns - only in the South, where its presence is prohibited by the UN-mediated ceasefire of 2006. The images did not include the substantial strength Hizballah maintains in central Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley to the east, or its estimated 40,000 rockets and missiles.

The Israeli colonel was of the opinion that an "event (a military attack or terrorist operation) could erupt today or in a year." He admitted it could be a surprise. Adding: "But we are working in different ways to thwart any event and if happens, we'll know how to handle it."

The IDF backed him up with an announcement that Israel is beefing up its strength along the Lebanese border and, the next day, July 8, the Jerusalem center for terrorist threats, published a warning to Israelis abroad, including the United States, to beware of abductions and murderous attacks.

Saturday, a Hizballah spokesman responded: "All three (UN, France, Israel) are preparing something, but we are ready," it said. "Our forces in the South are on the highest level of war preparedness."

Hezbollah is the real military arm of the nation of Lebanon, and it has an ally in Iran, but in no way would this military organization be capable or willing to win a 'victory' in any sense of the word by attacking Israel. For Hezbollah to carry out such an act defies all common sense and provides no strategic value or longer term security. The outcome of such an act would far outweigh any potential benefits. The notion that Hezbollah would preemptively attack Israel at the behest of anyone, even Iran, is a fiction and this DEBKAfile author either knows it and doesn't care, or is caught in the web of violence self justified by the desire to see even parity of position with other nations as a threat.

Israel regularly allies itself with the U.S if it suits its interests, in fact militaries the world over ally themselves with various nations, even organizing bureaucratic structures like NATO to govern these alliances. It is not by mistake that the link between Iran and Hezbollah warrants an alternative definition in the Western media however, since Hezbollah is not recognized by the Western political apparatus as being a legitimate functioning organ of the Lebanese nation, but is instead branded a 'terrorist organization'.

In the realm of political theatre Lebanon has a military, one which proved largely inactive during Israels bombardment and invasion in 2006, and in proving ineffective gave command over to Hezbollah by way of default. The military in most respects fell out of favour with the Lebanese people. It was Hezbollah that defended the nations borders and secured 'territorial' integrity, even providing aid and assistance in rebuilding once the conflict closed.

If Israel is to see every strengthening of Iran's or Lebanon's military capability to defend itself, since both these countries have a considerable gap to mend to become offensively formidable, than war in the area is assured, caught as it is in a loop of poor logic.

The objective evidence proves without a doubt that Israel has been an aggressor nation since its inception, a nation whose mission of colonialism breeds distrust and defensiveness among it's neighbours. If Israel sees its neighbours acting to work in any tangible way to secure their own defense they thus declare it an act of aggression, or war, justifying their own further aggressiveness.

As long as Islamic nations are treated in the context of a double standard regarding their social/economic and political progress they will forever be branded as threats to the status quo, even if all they wish to do is develop internal nuclear based energy production upon which to grow their nations relative prosperity.

George Galloway - Iran Will Retaliate Ferociously If Attacked

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 22:22:49 -0600

Iranian Passenger Jets Being Refused Fuel

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 16:13:20 -0600

Source: BBC

Iran has accused the UK, Germany and the UAE of refusing to provide fuel to Iranian passenger planes.

The allegation came days after the US enacted unilateral sanctions over Iran's nuclear programme, to penalise foreign companies trading with Tehran.

Britain said it was not aware of any refusal to refuel Iranian planes, and Germany stressed there was no ban.

Oil firms contacted by the BBC said they could not comment on individual contracts.

Tehran says its nuclear industry is for peaceful purposes but Western powers fear it is trying to develop a bomb.

"Since last week, our planes have been refused fuel at airports in Britain, Germany and UAE because of the sanctions imposed by America," Mehdi Aliyari, secretary of the Iranian Airlines Union, told Iranian media.

He said the national carrier Iran Air and a private airline, Mahan Air, had both run into refuelling problems.

"Refusing to provide fuel to Iranian passenger planes by these countries is a violation of international conventions," he added.
'Retaliation'

Iranian lawmaker Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh said Iran would retaliate.

"Iran will do the same to ships and planes of those countries that cause problems for us," Iran's Isna news agency quoted him as saying.

A spokeswoman for the Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC), which manages the airports in the UAE cities of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, told Reuters news agency the company was continuing to refuel Iranian jets.

"We have contracts with Iranian passenger flights and continue to allow refuelling," she added.

But AFP news agency quoted "a source close to the aviation sector in the UAE" as saying there had been a problem with an unnamed international fuel supplier.

"A servicing company which provides fuelling at several airports around the world has refused to provide Iranian planes with fuel, including at UAE terminals," the source said on condition of anonymity.

A spokesman for the UK's Civil Aviation Authority told the BBC any move to withhold fuel would be down to individual fuel companies.

Germany's transport ministry said the refuelling of Iranian planes was not banned under EU or UN sanctions but it would not comment on whether any individual providers were refusing to fuel Iranian aircraft.

The US sanctions prohibit the sale or provision to Iran of refined petroleum products worth more than $5m (£3.3m) over a year.

Paul Reynolds, world affairs correspondent for the BBC News website, said it might be that fuel companies are worried that their sales over a year might add up to $5m, in which case they could face a possible ban on doing business in the US.

An Iranian aviation official said Iranian airliners were filling up with as much fuel as possible inside Iran.

But they were also having to refuel in countries along their route not imposing a ban, a move which the official said was doubling costs.

The new US sanctions were signed into law by President Barack Obama last week.