The U.S. and five other world powers go to the table with Iran on Thursday to demand a freeze of its nuclear activities, and a senior U.S. official said Washington may seek rare face-to-face talks with Iranian diplomats.

Even as they prepared for Thursday’s talks, the U.S. and its allies were contemplating new and tighter sanctions on Tehran, in a clear signal of expectations that the negotiations may again end in failure.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton suggested all six — the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany — were of one mind on the need for Iran to meet international concerns on its refusal to stop uranium enrichment and heed other U.N. Security Council demands.

“We support what the international community has said with a unified voice,” she told reporters at the United Nations.

Iran’s choice, she said, is to agree to measures that “would guarantee that what they’re doing is solely for peaceful purposes — and the alternative track, which is greater isolation and international pressure.”

With the stakes raised by Tehran’s revelation last week of a secret uranium enrichment site, a move by the U.S. to break precedent and meet directly with Iran would reflect the Obama administration’s determination to get results at Thursday’s gathering.

Briefing reporters in Geneva, a senior U.S. official raised the possibility of a meeting between the Americans, represented by William Burns, the under secretary of state for political affairs, and Iran’s chief negotiator Saeed Jalili. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the talks.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_iran_nuclear_talks;_ylt=Aov9Eub8XgPuMdNpHyftXzis0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTM3bTFuaGgxBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwOTMwL2V1X2lyYW5fbnVjbGVhcl90YWxrcwRjcG9zAzYEcG9zAzMEcHQDaG9tZV9jb2tlBHNlYwN5bl9oZWFkbGluZV9saXN0BHNsawN3ZXN0Z29lc3RvaXI-

The Monday report by IRNA quotes Ahmadinejad as saying that angering the world’s “professional man slayers” _ an apparent reference to Israel and some in the West — is a source of “pride for us.”

He did not elaborate further.

During a speech on Friday, Ahmadinejad had again voiced his doubts about the Holocaust, questioning whether it was a “real event” and saying it was a pretext for Israel’s creation. The remarks drew swift condemnation in the West.

Iran is locked in a dispute with the West over a nuclear program it says is purely peaceful while other fear is geared at developing weapons.

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/ml_iran/2009/09/21/262454.html?s=al&promo_code=8968-1

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Wednesday that Iran has successfully test-fired a new advanced missile with a range of about 1,200 miles, far enough to strike Israel and southeastern Europe as well as U.S. bases in the Gulf.

U.S. sources later confirmed the test, adding that the administration was looking into its range as well as other data.

The solid-fuel Sajil-2 surface-to-surface missile is a new version of the Sajjil missile, which Iran said it had successfully tested late last year with a similar range.

“The Sajil 2 missile, which has an advanced technology, was launched today … and it landed exactly on the target,” Ahmadinejad said during a visit to the northern Semnan province, where Iran’s official news agency IRNA said the launch took place.

The announcement comes just two days after U.S. President Barack Obama declared a readiness to seek deeper international sanctions against Iran if it shunned U.S. attempts to open negotiations on its nuclear program. He said he expected a positive response to his diplomatic outreach by the end of the year.

Iran’s announcement is likely to arouse further concern in the West about Iran’s military ambitions. The U.S. and its allies suspect the Islamic Republic is seeking to build nuclear bombs. Tehran denies the charge.

Iran said in November it test fired a Sajil missile, describing it as a new generation of surface-to-surface missile. Tehran said it was ready to defend itself against any attacker.

Washington said at the time that the test highlighted the need for a missile defense system it plans to base in Poland and the Czech Republic to counter threats from what it calls “rogue states”.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1086879.html

TEHRAN (FNA)- A group of Iranian hackers said they have managed to bring down the Israeli secret service’s web site to voice solidarity with Gazans.

Ashiyaneh, a group of Iranian hackers announced they had carried out the cyber attack against Mossad’s web site to protest the ongoing Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

“The Zionist Regime considers the merciless killing of the defenseless people in Gaza as its right and assumes that the world people will keep silent about it,” the hacker group announced in a statement on Wednesday.

The head of the group has said the fact that Mossad’s web site has been hacked despite high security measures makes the spy agency a laughing stock.

The web site was down for more than two hours and the Israeli intelligence service had failed to resume the function of it, the report added.

http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=186457

Israel Police and the Shin Bet on Thursday indicted an Israeli citizen living in Argentina for allegedly attempting to spy on Israel on behalf of Iran.

Mauricio Segel, who is a resident of Argentina, was arrested three weeks ago. He has been indicted on charges of holding contact with a foreign agent.

According to the indictment, Segel went to Tehran’s embassy in Argentina in 2006 and offered to help Iranian nationals gain access to Israeli documents.

The defendant allegedly supplied the Iranians with his own passport and identification card and offered to provide more information in return for money.

Segel was arrested by officials from the Shin Bet and the police’s international crimes unit upon landing in Israel three weeks ago.

Last May, an Israeli man born in Iran was arrested for allegedly supplying intelligence information to Tehran intelligence in 2006.

According to the Israeli investigation, the defendant supplied Iran with names of he knew apparently working for the defense establishment.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1055854.html

The security aid package the United States has refused to give Israel for the past few months out of concern that Israel would use it to attack nuclear facilities in Iran included a large number of “bunker-buster” bombs, permission to use an air corridor to Iran, an advanced technological system and refueling planes.

Officials from both countries have been discussing the Israeli requests over the past few months. Their rejection would make it very difficult for Israel to attack Iran, if such a decision is made.

About a month ago, Haaretz reported that the Bush administration had turned down an Israeli request for certain security items that could upgrade Israel’s capability to attack Iran. The U.S. administration reportedly saw the request as a sign preparations were moving ahead for an Israeli attack on Iran.

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Diplomatic and security sources indicated to Haaretz that the list of components Israel included:

Bunker-buster GBU-28 bombs: In 2005, the U.S. said it was supplying these bombs to Israel. In August 2006, The New York Times reported that the U.S. had expedited the dispatch of additional bombs at the height of the Second Lebanon War. The bombs, which weigh 2.2 tons each, can penetrate six meters of reinforced concrete. Israel appears to have asked for a relatively large number of additional bunker-busters, and was turned down.

Air-space authorization: An attack on Iran would apparently require passage through Iraqi air space. For this to occur, an air corridor would be needed that Israeli fighter jets could cross without being targeted by American planes or anti-aircraft missiles. The Americans also turned down this request. According to one account, to avoid the issue, the Americans told the Israelis to ask Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for permission, along the lines of “If you want, coordinate with him.”

Refueling planes. An air attack on Iran would require refueling of fighter jets on the way back. According to a report on Channel 10 a few weeks ago, the U.S. rejected an Israeli request for more advanced refueling tankers, of the Boeing 767 model.

The refueling craft the Israel Air Force now uses are very outmoded, something that make it difficult to operate at long distances from Israel. Even if the Americans were to respond favorably to such a request, the process could take a few years.

The IDF recently reported that it is overhauling a Boeing 707 that previously served as the prime minister’s plane to serve as a refueling aircraft.

Advanced technological systems. The Israeli sources declined to give any details on this point.

The Israeli requests were discussed during President George W. Bush’s visit to Israel in May, as well as during Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s visit to Washington in July. In a series of meetings at a very senior level, following Bush’s visit, the Americans made clear to the Israelis that for now they are sticking to the diplomatic option to halt the Iranian nuclear project and that Jerusalem does not have a green light from Washington for an attack on Iran.

However, it appears that in compensation for turning down Israel’s “offensive” requests, the U.S. has agreed to strengthen its defensive systems.

During the Barak visit, it was agreed that an advanced U.S. radar system would be stationed in the Negev, and the order to send it was made at that time. The system would double to 2,000 kilometers the range of identification of missiles launched from the direction of Iran, and would be connected to an American early warning system.

The system is to be operated by American civilians as well as two American soldiers. This would be the first permanent U.S. force on Israeli soil.

A senior security official said the Americans were preparing “with the greatest speed” to make good on their promise, and the systems could be installed within a month.

The Israeli security source said he believed Washington was moving ahead quickly on the request because it considered it very important to restrain Israel at this time.

At the beginning of the year, the Israeli leadership still considered it a reasonable possibility that Bush would decide to attack Iran before the end of his term.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in private discussions, even raised the possibility that the U.S. was considering an attack in the transition period between the election in November and the inauguration of the new president in January 2009.

However, Jerusalem now assumes that likelihood of this possibility is close to nil, and that Bush will use the rest of his time in office to strengthen what he defines as the Iraqi achievement, following the relative success of American efforts there over the past year and a half.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1019989.html

TEHRAN — Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani has warned Arab states that Israel is targeting all regional countries.

Israel is hatching plots against Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia in the UN Security Council, Larijani said here on Wednesday.

And Israel has become a regional nuisance, he added.

The remarks by Larijani came as the Zionist army was relentlessly pounding the Gaza Strip for the fifth consecutive day which has so far killed at least 390 Palestinians and wounded about 2000 others.

Commenting on the military assault on Gaza, he said, “This is not a minor event. If the Zionist regime is allowed to attain its objectives, the Middle East will not experience peace any more. The issue is not only related to Gaza and will not be confined to it.”

He also urged Islamic countries to be vigilant about traps, adding that they should not let ethnic and national biases convolute the issue, he added.

“The Gaza issue is not an Iranian-Arab issue. It is an Islamic-humanitarian issue, and the silence of (certain) countries in the face of the crimes in Gaza is a disgrace for them.”

Addressing Arab leaders, the Majlis speaker stated, “Our Arab friends should be aware that they are dealing with a regime that is plotting against them.”

Larijani insisted that the current state of affairs in the Gaza Strip is totally related to Iran’s national interests.

“If the Israelis succeed, our sovereignty will be jeopardized. Even if we do not look at the issue from a religious viewpoint but look at it from a national viewpoint, we should still defend the Gazans.”

———Ahmadinejad urges UN, Arab League to halt Israeli crimes

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on the international community and world bodies to meet their duties and end the current humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip.

“The United Nations and the Security Council should pinpoint what their duties are. Isn’t it their duty to defend the oppressed and innocent people of the world against bullying and crimes?” he asked as he was addressing thousands of people in southeastern Iran.

Ahmadinejad criticized the UN for its silence in face of Israel’s brutal crimes in Gaza.

“If the Security Council is bound to defend and support all nations of the world… it is better to break its silence and not allow the occupying regime to continue its crimes.”

Addressing the UN secretary general, Ahmadinejad stated, “Mr. secretary general should know that he is responsible for such massacre of the people of Gaza.”

The president also slammed the Arab nations for their inaction over the overt slaughter of Gazans.

“Isn’t it the duty of the Arab League to defend the Arab countries? Aren’t the people of Palestine Arab? Why then has the Arab League is silent in the face of massacre of the oppressed and innocent people?”

Full Story:  http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=186050

A branch of Italian clothing retailer Benetton was set on fire in Iran amid angry protests against the Israeli onslaught on Hamas-ruled Gaza, media reports said on Wednesday.

The store, located on Dowlat Street in upmarket north Teheran, “was set on fire by unknown people,” the conservative Jomhuri Eslami newspaper and several other media sources reported.

The Teheran fire department said the cause of the incident, which occurred very early Tuesday, was under investigation, ISNA news agency reported.

“Benetton is said to be linked with the Zionist network,” the government newspaper in Iran charged, adding that its opening in the Islamic republic “has sparked several disputes over the past two years and people and student bodies objected to its activities.”

Full Story:  http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230733119504&pagename=JPArticle/ShowFull