A top official in the Obama Administration has at last admitted what intelligence agents and Israeli government officials have been warning about for years: Iran intends to build a nuclear arsenal.
In media interviews with American television news networks scheduled to air Sunday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said bluntly, "The Iranians have the intention of having nuclear weapons."
The statement was made just days after the discovery of a covert uranium enrichment site in Iran.
Even as the world expressed its outrage, however, Gates pointed out that there was little left to be done about it. "The reality is there is no military option that does anything more than buy time," he told CNN. "The estimates are three years or so."
In a separate interview with ABC News, he noted that Iran had engaged in "a pattern of deception and lies... from the very beginning," even as it claimed it was developing nuclear power for peaceful domestic energy purposes.
"If this were a peaceful nuclear program, why didn't they announce this site when they began to construct it?" Gates asked. "Why didn't they allow IAEA inspectors in from the very beginning?"
International leaders demanded the Islamic Republic immediately disclose all its nuclear efforts, including any programs involving weapons development, or face the consequences.
"The Iranian government must now demonstrate through deeds its peaceful intentions, or be held accountable to international standards and international law," said U.S. President Barack Obama following the discovery.
In a statement made at the G-20 meeting in Europe, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Obama ordered Iran to allow the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect the newly revealed site.
"We will not let this matter rest," Brown said. Sarkozy noted that the G-6 had given Iran until December to comply or face additional, intensified economic sanctions.
While Iran is to meet with the U.S. and others next week to discuss its nuclear program, however, it is planning to conduct war games on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.
The announcement of the drill, which will include firing missiles that can hit Israel, was made at the same time the covert uranium enrichment site was revealed.
"Allah willing, this plant will be put into operation soon and will blind the eyes of the enemies," boasted Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, the head of the office of the Supreme Leader.
The Revolutionary Guards website said over the weekend that military exercises, including the simultaneous firing of missiles at targets, will begin Sunday and last for several days.
Israeli officials do not necessarily agree that the military option would be ineffective.
IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi last week politely warned the Islamic Republic that the Jewish State is prepared to defend itself against any nuclear or other attack it might launch.
"We all understand that the best way of coping [with the Iranian nuclear threat] is through international sanctions," Ashkenazi told an interviewer on IDF Army Radio. However, he added, "Israel has the right to defend itself, and all options are open. The IDF's working premise is that we have to be prepared for that possibility, and that is exactly what we are doing."
Continued on Page 47
#1
Gates merely states the obvious. The fact is that there simply isn't a peaceful way of stopping Iran, North Korea, or any other nation that is intent on getting a few nuclear weapons. The best solution I see is to let the nation(s) with the most at state take things in their own hands. Israel will stand up to the task with any one of it's neighbors, but there doesn't seem to be anyone willing to take the risk. The question im my mind is who will stand up to Syria, Venezuala and others as they acquire their own nukes. The technology, long out of most nations hands, is becoming more and available. There is no long term plan here, at least that I'm aware of. Within 30 years, the number of nuclear nation could exceed 20. Detent will reach a magnitude never seen before. One nut job blows and the ripple effect could be bigger than ever imagined during the Cold War. Not just USSR and US targets, but a ripple effect could spread over every continent.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/28/2009 19:28 Comments ||
Top||
#2
There was never any way to prevent any country from getting nukes. The trick is to get them from using them. MAD worked with the Ruskies because they were no longer revolutionaries by the time they got the Nukes. I doubt the Norks are revolutionaries. But the Persians are. They will use them or give them to terrs to use or use them and appear to be terrs. In any case, we should let them know that if any nuke goes off and we don't know where it came from via radar/satellites, we'll assume it came from them and we will destroy every living thing in their country. Pour l'encouragement d'les autres.
#3
Too late if you haven't the stones to do what needs to be done. Whomp them and stand back and let them figure it out. Rinse and repeat as necessary.
#6
Where is the electricity coming from that runs these centrifuges? It has to be consuming something above 10% of their national ability to generate power.
It can't possibly take more than 100 sorties to turn off their ability to generate and transmit electricity. Plus another 100 sorties for air superiority while it is done.
Send a diplomatic note through the the Russians and Chinese. If they don't verifiably dismantle everything, then send their country back into the 19th century. It's not the 12th, but it will do for today.
#7
The question is what are they going to use their enriched U235 for? Making weapons out of uranium fissile material is not suitable for air or space delivery.
Here's my WAG. I think that they are making U235 for a third party, like the Norks, to make into Pu239. From there it can be made into cores and nuclear weapons to stack on missiles. The Bushehr reactor is too vulnerable for the job.
Or the Iranians are building some terror weapons, which would be a DS thing to do. But firing off Shahab-3s in tests is just another way to intimidate.
Whatever their aims are, they have made enough serious threats to many of us that they must be dealt with. It is too bad that the Big O is on the side of the MMs. The people need support, and the US, by word and deed (even covertly) has failed them.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/28/2009 21:21 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Wouldn't U235 make a simply wonderful dirty bomb? Released as dust in a crowded tunnel or perhaps Grand Central Station...
#9
for dirty bomb, U323 would work just fine. it doenst have to actually be dangerous, but the absolute public hysteria of 'oh m god, they dusted us with radioactive uranium' would be fit the terror motif just fine. and the cost of cleaning up... staggering
Posted by: abu do you love ||
09/28/2009 22:30 Comments ||
Top||
#10
er... U232. little dyslexic typing there
Posted by: abu do you love ||
09/28/2009 22:31 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Strange. The SecDef says Iran is building nuclear weapons. The CIA says they definitely are not, and that Iran stopped its program in 2003. The intelligence services of Israel, France, and Germany side with the SecDef.
#2
A nuclearized Iran upsets the Shiite-Sunni imbalance and puts neighbors on the defensive. Thus, one would think that a US President would at least tacitly approve of any Israeli operation to address a future ICBM threat to the US Homeland. However, Obama's people are doing exactly the opposite.
#3
FREEREPUBLIC > US: TOO LATE TO STOP IRAN. Its official.
FREEP POSTERS > BIG DIFFERENS BWTN "CAN'T" VERSUS "WON'T", i.e. despite US mil power, don't believe that the USA = POTUS BAMMER has the WILL to use force agz Iran???
IOW, Year 2010-2012 + IRANIAN NUCBOMB > afterwards will come NUCLEAR MILITANCY-TERRORISM???
[Iran Press TV Latest] Amid Western hue and cry over Iran's newly-disclosed nuclear enrichment facility, two of the country's neighbors have voiced support for Tehran's nuclear energy program.
Iran PressTV opines again ...
Iraq and Turkey have cautioned the West against imposing any new sanctions and urged guarantee of Tehran's right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Iraqi president Jalal Talabani said that Western sanctions against Iran would not work and that only a real negotiation would help resolve the issue. He also warned that his country will never allow Israel or any other country to use its airspace to carry out attacks against Tehran's nuclear facilities.
Iran's northwestern neighbor, Turkey has also urged caution over new sanctions, saying they will not be useful.
The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to visit Tehran next month to discuss Iran's nuclear program with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Erdogan ruled out any attempts to impose sanctions on Tehran's gas industry, saying sanctions would be especially problematic for its neighbor Turkey.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which Iran is a signatory, gives the country the right to the full nuclear fuel cycle if used for peaceful purposes. In line with its guarantee to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for clarity on its nuclear activities, Iran has informed the agency that it is constructing a second plant for uranium enrichment.
Tehran has denied seeking nuclear weapons and called for the removal of all weapons of mass destruction across the globe.
The UN nuclear watchdog in its previous reports had confirmed that Iran -- in its first enrichment facility in Natanz -- only managed to enrich uranium-235 to a level of "less than 5 percent."
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
09/28/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11132 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
ION TOPIX/NEWSMAX/WORLD NEWS > GADDAFI PROPOSES "NATO OF THE SOUTH"/MISSLE DEFENSE SHIELD FOR AFRICA AND SOUTH AMERICA.
HUGO CHAVEZ > in the 21st Century, South Amer + Africa are destined to become great powers.
#4
Given Obama's defense of the status quo ante of de-proliferation, Iran's neighbors have every reason to believe that Iran will join the N-Club in direct consequence of US' suicidal negligence in face of a future ICBM threat to the US Homeland.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency has accused the US, Britain, and France of deceiving the international community over their nuclear programs.
In an exclusive interview with Press TV, Ali Asghar Soltaniyeh rejected remarks by President Barack Obama of US, British Premier Gordon Brown, and Nicolas Sarkozy of France over Iran's nuclear program.
The three leaders earlier attacked the Islamic Republic over its second under-construction enrichment facility, located 100 kilometers south of Tehran, calling it a "deception."
"I categorically reject that there have been any concealment or any deception," Soltaniyeh said on Saturday.
IAEA Safeguards Agreements declared that Iran is only obliged to inform the UN nuclear watchdog of the existence of enrichment plants 180 days before the introduction of nuclear materials into the facility.
The Iranian envoy noted that he gave a letter to the agency on September 21 and informed the deputy general, elaborating that its new plant would be operational in about 540 days.
He added that there were no obligations to inform the IAEA sooner, according to the agency's document 153.
"It is a pity that none of these three leaders have legal advisers to inform them that according to comprehensive safeguards we are only obliged to inform six months before we put nuclear material."
"This site does not have any nuclear material at all now," according to Iran's representative to the IAEA.
"The problem is that we are the victim of negligence of those who claim that they know in fact the international law. They are talking in the UN but they are not aware of the very principles of the Statue of the IAEA."
Soltaniyeh also clarified that Washington, London, and Paris deceive the people around the world by violating the Non-Proliferation Treaty articles.
"Those three countries in fact have violated for the last 40 years NPT articles."
"The United Kingdom has under secret program of the nuclear submarines so-called trident with over 30 billion pounds and the people of the world and even the British people are not well aware of that. This is a real deception that Mr. Brown has to answer the international community because this is a shocking threat to the international peace and security.
"France is also working on the nuclear weapon programs continuously."
"Americans are working hard on the nuclear weapon posture review. These are all deceptions and concealment."
The western countries have a "long-term strategy" and a "hidden agenda" to "destroy and jeopardize the spirit of cooperation between Iran and the IAEA in order to find an excuse and pretext for sanctions and other measures," Soltaniyeh concluded.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/28/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11133 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Mmm... globesteaks.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/28/2009 13:30 Comments ||
Top||
#2
ION WAFF > STRATFOR > OBAMA'S MOVE: IRAN AND AFGHANISTAN.
* OBAMA's ADMIN's strategy or milpol approach to same.
* POINTS-OF-DECISION have been reached or are about to be, to includ the OBAMA ADMIN making no decision = taking no action.
* CHANGES from Obama's 2008 POTUS Elex promises.
SAME > MUSLIM UMMAH: THE MUSLIM HUMAN MILITARY MACHINE INVADING EUROPE. You name the dimension(s) = models of human behavior + society, Ummah Islam is there.
#3
WMF > WSJ: THE US IS LOSING THE PACIFIC OCEAN?; + US STRATEGIC EXPERT BRZEZINSKI: THE US HAS FAILED IN IRAQ, WILL FAIL IN AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN, ENGGAE IN STRATEGIC GEOPOL RETREAT UNDER OBAMA.
* SAME > US GLOBAL STRATEGY: MAJOR RETREAT BEHIND THE QUEST. OBAMA SAYS US WILL GIVE UP UNILATERAL HEGEMONY FOR MULTILATERAL CONSULTATION AND CONSENSUS; + ASEAN: US DESIRES TO COUNTERBALANCE CHINA IN SOUTHEAST ASIA VIA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT IN MYANMAR.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The total debt of 11 state-run banks to the Central Bank of Iran has exceeded $32 billion, showing a 10-fold increase over the past four years.
According to records published by the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) on September 26, the biggest debtor is Iran's largest bank, Bank Melli Iran, with nearly $9 billion, followed by Bank Sepah, Iran's oldest, with about $4.8 billion.
Bank Maskan, Bank Keshavarzi, Bank of Industries and Mines and the Export Development Bank of Iran were next with the respective debts of $4.7, $4.1, $3.5 and $1.1 billion.
Private-sector banks had far lower debts, with the biggest being Bank Parsian, which owes about $421 million to the Central Bank.
In addition, the collective debt of state-sector companies to the Central Bank has reached $25 billion.
#2
The top 12 ayatollahs control $6,000,000,000 in assets, all acquired since the "revolution" of 1979. Central banks are compelled to deliver ANY payroll or inventory loan demanded by the clerics. And there are no regulators to prevent price-fixing or monopolization. The pistaccio nut industry prices for ayatollah profit.
#5
Essentially. "Dinnerjacket" personally promised cash awards to various places either late last year or early this year, against the advice of the central bank.
Of course it's not just gasoline that's subsidized.
[Iran Press TV Latest] In a meeting with the Austrian ambassador to Tehran, head of Iran's Expediency Council expressed his hope for the removal of obstacles in front of Iran-Europe ties. "The Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognize any limits to the expansion of its cooperation (with Europe) and the adopting of independent policies by European countries can influence the development of relations," Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani told Dr. Michael Postl on Sunday. "The European Union should put aside nit-picking over Iran's use of peaceful nuclear technology," he added, according to a report by Iran's Labor News Agency (ILNA).
Two-term former president Rafsanjani, who now heads Iran's Assembly of Experts, told Vienna's ambassador in Tehran: "The use of new energy sources is a necessity in today's world, and, given Austria's experience in this field, there are many grounds for collaboration with Iran." In turn, Postl said that "the potential for cooperation between the two countries is vast."
He stressed the significance of building confidence between Iran and the West and said: "The development of cooperation in all areas can bring good rewards for both nations."
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
09/28/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11140 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
But Europe already belongs to Saudia, Ali Akbar.
TEHRAN -- Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard said it successfully test-fired short-range missiles Sunday in drills meant to show Tehran is prepared to crush any military threat from another country.
Gen. Hossein Salami, head of the Revolutionary Guard Air Force, said Iran had perfected its short range missiles to make them more accurate in tactical battlefield situations and defend the country from any attacks. "We are going to respond to any military action in a crushing manner and it doesn't make any difference which country or regime has launched the aggression," state media quoted Salami as saying. He said the missiles successfully hit their targets.
The missiles tested weren't the kind that can carry a nuclear warhead. Iran is developing such ballistic missiles, but the U.S. believes that effort has been slowed.
Tehran carried out the missile tests now "to show some muscle, show some strength, and say the game is not over for Iran yet," said Alex Vatanka, a senior middle east analyst at IHS Jane's. He noted that Iran will be meeting with the Western powers in Geneva next week. "They felt going into these meetings next week that they needed to have something else to bolster their position, and I think that Iran's Revolutionary Guard showing a bit of military muscle here is part of that," he said.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/28/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11136 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Some expert on the radio this morning pointed out that these regimes like to sabre-rattle for the home folks just before making a concession.
Right. Like North Korea.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/28/2009 6:40 Comments ||
Top||
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Amid Western hue and cry over Iran's newly-disclosed nuclear enrichment facility, two of the country's neighbors have voiced support for Tehran's nuclear energy program. 
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency has accused the US, Britain, and France of deceiving the international community over their nuclear programs. 
[Iran Press TV Latest] The total debt of 11 state-run banks to the Central Bank of Iran has exceeded $32 billion, showing a 10-fold increase over the past four years. 
[Iran Press TV Latest] In a meeting with the Austrian ambassador to Tehran, head of Iran's Expediency Council expressed his hope for the removal of obstacles in front of Iran-Europe ties. "The Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognize any limits to the expansion of its cooperation (with Europe) and the adopting of independent policies by European countries can influence the development of relations," Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani told Dr. Michael Postl on Sunday. "The European Union should put aside nit-picking over Iran's use of peaceful nuclear technology," he added, according to a report by Iran's Labor News Agency (ILNA). 
TEHRAN -- Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard said it successfully test-fired short-range missiles Sunday in drills meant to show Tehran is prepared to crush any military threat from another country.
