1. Iran building first 'indigenous' nuclear plant - Agence France=Presse
Iran has begun building a nuclear power plant using indigenous technology and know-how, the deputy head of Iran's atomic energy organisation was quoted as saying yesterday. "Building of the first indigenous nuclear plant with a capacity of 360 megawatts has started," state-run television quoted Mohammad Saeedi as saying. He did not say where the plant would be located, but added: "Iran will join the club of countries that build nuclear plants in the next 10 years."
2. Military strike on Iran would be catastrophic: PM Aziz- Agence France=Presse
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Friday that a military strike on Iran over its nuclear activities would be "catastrophic" and hoped US-Iranian talks this month would reduce tensions. "The use of force to solve this issue will have catastrophic implications for the whole umma (Muslim nations) and for the whole world," PM Aziz told a press conference in Amman. "We are pleased to see that Iran will be engaging in a dialogue with the United States and we hope that leads to a reduction of tensions in the region," said Aziz, who was in Jordan last week to attend a G11 summit of developing countries.
3. Ahmadinejad to visit Belarus on May 21-22 - MINSK. May 18 (Interfax)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to arrive in Minsk for an official visit on Monday, a spokesman for the Belarusian Foreign Ministry told Interfax. "The official visit of the president of Iran will take place on May 21-22," the spokesman said.
4. Iran says anti-U.S. policy "bigger than Hiroshima"- Yahoo News
Iran's policies of standing up to the United States have set off a "powerful bomb in the world of politics" bigger than the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday.
"The political field of today's world is a complicated field with a great war of wills and policies ... It can be said that Iran has exploded a powerful bomb in the world of politics that is hundred times more powerful than the bomb the Americans exploded in Hiroshima," Khamenei was quoted as saying. "Even Europeans are speechless before this oppressive America, but the Iranian nation by its actions and stances has placed a question mark over all the rules and principles of this oppressive power."
U.S. and Iranian officials are due to hold a rare face-to- face meeting on May 28 in Baghdad. But both sides say the talks will focus on Iraqi security, not other issues.
5. Bush Authorizes New Covert Action Against Iran - ABC News
The CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert "black" operation to destabilize the Iranian government, current and former officials in the intelligence community tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.
