Israel Plans Nuclear Strike on Iran !

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Iran still fudgin' on nuke info...

Iran 'withholds nuclear details'
Monday, 26 May 2008 - The UN nuclear watchdog says it believes Iran is still withholding information on its nuclear programme.

In a report, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says Tehran's alleged weapons development studies remain a matter of serious concern. It adds that Iran is operating 3,500 centrifuges, the machines used to enrich uranium, at its plant at Natanz.

Enriched uranium can be used in nuclear weapons, but Tehran insists its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful. Last month, the IAEA said it had reached an agreement with Iranian officials to clarify the main outstanding question about Iran's past nuclear work by the end of May.

But in its latest report, the IAEA says Tehran needs to provide much more explanation and information on its nuclear activities. Responding to the report, Iran's envoy to the IAEA told the AFP news agency his country had "left no question unanswered" and would continue to enrich uranium.

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Iran mulls strengthening missile programme: Report
26 May 2008, The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Sunday said an independent command could be created within his force to strengthen the country's missile programme, the Fars news agency reported.

"An independent command might be created in Sepah (Revolutionary Guards Corps) in order to fortify the structure and activities of the missile section," General Mohammad Ali Jafari was quoted as saying. Such a measure would, he said, be subject to the approval of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The Revolutionary Guards work in parallel with Iran's regular army but the force has its own land, sea, air and missile units. Its missile capabilities have aroused the greatest international concern as the Shahab-3 longer range missile has put Israel and US bases in the Middle East within reach.

Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear programmes are under UN Security Council sanctions imposed over Tehran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment work. The West fears Iran could use the process, which makes nuclear fuel as well as the fissile core of an atom bomb, for weapons development. Iran vehemently denies the allegation, insisting the nuclear programme is aimed at peaceful ends and energy production.

The United States has never ruled out a military option to thwart its nuclear drive, even though Washington says it favours resolving the standoff through diplomacy. Tehran has said it will never initiate any attack but has also warned it will strike back with crushing force if the United States launches an assault.

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Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire...

'Attack on Iran will make region region ball of fire'
21 Jun 2008, United Nations atomic watchdog chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, has warned that any attack on Iran would transform the region into a "ball of fire".

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief was in an interview with Al-Arabiya television broadcast on Saturday. Baradei told the channel that should a strike be carried out, he would find it impossible to continue as IAEA head. Baradei’s comments follow US media reports that Israeli jet pilots were being trained for a possible strike on Iranian nuclear sites. "A military strike (against Iran) would, in my opinion, be worse than anything else... It would transform the Middle East region into a ball of fire," he said.

An attack, he said, would do nothing but harden Iran's position in its row with the West over its nuclear programme. "A military strike would spark the launch of an emergency programme to make atomic weapons, with the support of all Iranians, including those living abroad," ElBaradei said.

He said he did not believe that there was any "imminent risk" of proliferation given the current status of Iran's nuclear programme. On Friday, the New York Times cited US officials as saying that a major military exercise carried out by Israel earlier this month seemed to be a test-run for any potential strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.

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Fearless W gonna sneak in an' put the whammy on `em...

Report: U.S. 'preparing the battlefield' in Iran
29 June `08 WASHINGTON -- New Yorker article says Congress authorized up to $400 million for covert ops in Iran; Journalist Seymour Hersh says program is being staged from Afghanistan; U.S. officials decline comment, deny the U.S. is launching raids from Iraq; Iranian general says troops are building graves for invaders in the event of war

The Bush administration has launched a "significant escalation" of covert operations in Iran, sending U.S. commandos to spy on the country's nuclear facilities and undermine the Islamic republic's government, journalist Seymour Hersh said Sunday. White House, CIA and State Department officials declined comment on Hersh's report, which appears in this week's issue of The New Yorker. Hersh told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" that Congress has authorized up to $400 million to fund the secret campaign, which involves U.S. special operations troops and Iranian dissidents.

President Bush and Vice President **** Cheney have rejected findings from U.S. intelligence agencies that Iran has halted a clandestine effort to build a nuclear bomb and "do not want to leave Iran in place with a nuclear program," Hersh said. "They believe that their mission is to make sure that before they get out of office next year, either Iran is attacked or it stops its weapons program," Hersh said.

The new article, "Preparing the Battlefield," is the latest in a series of articles accusing the Bush administration of preparing for war with Iran. He based the report on accounts from current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources. "As usual with his quarterly pieces, we'll decline to comment," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe told CNN.

More Report: U.S. 'preparing the battlefield' in Iran - CNN.com

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Iranian saber rattling...

Official says Iran would destroy Israel if attacked
Sat Jul 12, 2008 - Iran would destroy Israel and 32 U.S. military bases in the Middle East if the Islamic Republic was attacked over its disputed nuclear program, a senior Iranian official was quoted as saying on Saturday.

The Islamic Republic and Israel have been embroiled in an escalating war of words in recent weeks, increasing speculation of military confrontation and helping to send global oil prices to record highs. Iranian missile tests this week further stoked tension and rattled financial markets.

"The U.S. knows full well that with the smallest move against Iran, Israel and 32 U.S. military bases in the region would not be out of the reach of our missiles and would be destroyed," the semi-official Fars News Agency quoted Mojtaba Zolnour as saying in a speech. Zolnour is the deputy of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative in Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.

Israel staged an air force exercise last month that sparked speculation about a possible assault on Iranian nuclear sites. Israel, long assumed to have its own atomic arsenal, has sworn to prevent Iran from emerging as a nuclear-armed power.

More Official says Iran would destroy Israel if attacked | Reuters

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Iran confirms missile tests
Sat July 12, 2008 -- Iranian officials say missiles test-fired Wednesday, one launched Thursday; One missile did not go off on Wednesday, the officials said; Senior U.S. military source disputes Iran's claim to have fired long-range missile; Rice: U.S. determined to prevent Iran from threatening its interests or those of allies

Iranian officials confirmed Saturday the nation test-fired missiles earlier in the week, although some experts have said their technological capability is not as great as Tehran claimed. Two Iranian officials told CNN missiles were test-fired near the Persian Gulf on Wednesday. Another missile was launched Thursday, but that one did not go off on Wednesday, the officials said. Some experts, however, have said the prowess of the missiles was not as great as Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed in Iranian media, which provided the first confirmation of the tests.

It is clear, however, that the missile testing was a signal -- a flexing of Iran's muscle as it negotiates regarding its nuclear program. It was also a message in response to any threat Iran perceives from Israel -- and, to a lesser extent, the United States. Mojtaba Zolnoor, the Iranian Supreme Leader's representatives in the Revolutionary Guards Corps, was quoted Saturday by Iran's semi-official Fars news agency as saying that in response to an Israeli or a U.S. strike against Iran, "As its first response, Iran will attack the heart of Israel as well as 32 American bases."

"Right now, the armed forces are in the state of full readiness to confront any enemy threat," said Zolnoor, speaking in the Iranian city of Mashhad. "If, under an illusion, the enemies launch a military attack against our country, Iran's armed forces will give them a crushing answer." After the missile tests, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States is determined to prevent Iran from threatening its interests and allies, including Israel. "We take very strongly our obligation to help our allies defend themselves, and no one should be confused about that," she said.

More Iran confirms missile tests - CNN.com

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Tellin' el-Baradei to stick it where the sun don't shine...

Iran ends cooperation with UN nuclear arms probe
Jul 24, `08 - Iran signaled Thursday that it will no longer cooperate with U.N. experts probing for signs of clandestine nuclear weapons work, confirming the investigation is at a dead end a year after it began.

The announcement from Iranian Vice President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh compounded skepticism about denting Tehran's nuclear defiance, just five days after Tehran stonewalled demands from six world powers that it halt activities capable of producing the fissile core of warheads. Besides demanding a suspension of uranium enrichment - a process that can create both fuel for nuclear reactors and payloads for atomic bombs - the six powers have been pressing Tehran to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency's probe.

Iran, which is obligated as a signer of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty not to develop nuclear arms, raised suspicions about its intentions when it admitted in 2002 that it had run a secret nuclear program for nearly two decades in violation of its commitment. The Tehran regime insists it halted such work and is now only trying to produce fuel for nuclear reactors to generate electricity. It agreed on a "work plan" with the Vienna-based IAEA a year ago for U.N. inspectors to look into allegations Iran is still doing weapons work.

At the time, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei hailed it as "a significant step forward" that would fill in the missing pieces of Tehran's nuclear jigsaw puzzle - if honored by Iran. He brushed aside suggestions Iran was using the deal as a smoke screen to deflect attention from its continued defiance of a U.N. Security Council demand for a halt to uranium enrichment. The investigation ran into trouble just months after being launched. Deadline after deadline was extended because of Iranian foot-dragging. The probe, originally meant to be completed late last year, spilled into the first months of 2008, and beyond.

More My Way News - Iran ends cooperation with UN nuclear arms probe

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Iran runnin' outta time...

US sets weekend deadline for Iran in nuclear showdown
02 Aug 2008 WASHINGTON : The United States on Friday set a weekend deadline for Iran to answer an international offer to freeze its nuclear drive and warned of new sanctions if it rejects the package.

However, its European Union partners in the drive to stop Iran's uranium enrichment program stopped short of insisting on a strict deadline and said a reply within a few days would suffice. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Thursday that there was no deadline and that his country had already replied. The US State Department had been vague about the deadline but narrowed it down on Friday. "We want and we expect a response this weekend," the State Department's acting spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos told reporters. "They were given two weeks. The two weeks is up this weekend."

Oil prices surged higher on Friday as New York's main contract, light sweet crude for September delivery, leapt as high as 128.60 dollars per barrel, before pulling back to stand at 126.76, up 2.68 dollars from Thursday's close. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had given Iran two weeks to come up with a "serious" reply after an international meeting in Geneva on July 19 which saw Tehran broadly accused of stonewalling.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino warned: "Negative consequences await if they don't have a positive response to our very generous incentives package, and that would possibly come in the form of sanctions." Perino also said it was difficult to discern Iranian intentions, calling them "a little bit unpredictable" as she spoke to reporters in Kennebunkport, Maine. "The Iranians sent mixed messages this week and it's very hard to tell what the bottom line is," Perino said.

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Russian-Georgian crisis kinda throwin' a kink in plans...

U.S. Discourages Possible Israeli Strike on Iran
Wednesday, August 13, 2008 – Washington has warned Israel against attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities and has rejected Israel’s request for military equipment that would aid in such a strike, an Israeli newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The U.S. saw the Israeli request as a sign that Israel is in the “advanced stages” of preparing for a strike against Iran, the liberal daily Ha’aretz said. “They therefore warned Israel against attacking, saying such a strike would undermine American interests. They also demanded that Israel give them prior notice if it nevertheless decided to strike Iran,” the paper said.

Washington did offer to enhance Israel’s defenses against surface-to-surface missiles, the report said. In response Israel said it reserved the right to take the action it believes necessary if diplomatic efforts to stop Iran’s nuclear pursuit do not succeed. According to the report, the U.S.-Israeli dispute over a military strike on Iran came to a head during President Bush’s visit to Jerusalem in May. That’s reportedly when Israel made its request for military equipment and diplomatic and security backing.

U.S. National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, who both visited here in June, told Israel that Iran is far from obtaining nuclear weapons, and therefore Israeli planes would not be allowed to fly over Iraqi air space en route to Iran. Prof. Efraim Inbar from the conservative BESA Center for Strategic Studies near Tel Aviv said that Israel always considers what its closest ally America thinks when Israel is mulling the use of force. He said the Ha’aretz report could be “psychological warfare.”

More CNSNews.com - U.S. Discourages Possible Israeli Strike on Iran

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Israel Wants to Avoid Taking Sides in Georgia-Russia Conflict
Monday, August 11, 2008 – Israel recently scaled back its weapons sales to Georgia out of concern that Russia would retaliate by selling more advanced weapons to Syria and Iran, reports said on Monday.

Although the U.S. and France are said to be Georgia’s largest arms suppliers, the Israeli Ministry of Defense reportedly has sold some $300-$500 million in weapons and military training to Georgia over the past ten years. According to the Jerusalem Post, Israel rejected frequent requests from Georgia to buy weapons in the months leading up to the conflict that erupted last week. The newspaper also said Georgia wanted to buy missiles from Israel but it didn’t happen.

A defense official quoted by the Jerusalem Post said Israel, recognizing the Georgia and Russia were “on a collision course,” decided to scale back weapons sales to Georgia so it wouldn’t appear that Israel was backing either country in the conflict. On Monday, state-run radio reported that Israel would not halt arms sales to Georgia but would limit and closely supervise them.

Russia’s supply of weapons to Syria and Iran has been a source of tension between Israel and Russia for years. Several years ago, Russia supplied Syria with advanced missiles and is considering selling an advanced anti-aircraft missile system to Iran, which could be used to guard nuclear sites against any Israeli strikes.

More CNSNews.com - Israel Wants to Avoid Taking Sides in Georgia-Russia Conflict