Israel thinking alot about Iran?

[waltky]

Practice run against Syrian nuclear facility, gettin' ready for Iran...

Iran Threatens Missile Strike on Israel, US Targets if Syria Attacked
September 17, 2007 - Iran will unleash a barrage of hundreds of missiles against Israel and U.S. targets in Iraq if Iran or Syria are attacked, an Iranian Web site threatened on Monday, in comments linked to an alleged Israeli air strike on a secret Syrian nuclear facility.

The threat comes after weekend reports in American and British media gave details of the alleged Israeli air strike on Sept. 6, in which Israeli fighter planes reportedly bombed a depot holding nuclear materials inside Syria that reportedly had been supplied by North Korea. The Iranian threat also comes a day after French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said that the international community should "prepare for the worst ... which is war" against Iran.

In response to Kouchner's comments, Iran's official news agency IRNA said in an editorial on Monday that "the new occupants of the Elysee [presidential palace] want to copy the White House" and accused French President Nicolas Sarkozy of taking on "an American skin." In another apparent reaction to the Syrian incident, the Persian-language Web site AsrIran reported Iran has 600 Shihab-3 missiles that it will launch at Israel the first day that Iran or Syria are attacked, Israel's state-run radio -- the "Voice of Israel" -- said on Monday.

With a possible range of up to 1,260 miles, the Shihab-3 could reach all of Israel, including its nuclear reactor in southern Israel, the site said. The Web site also said that Iran would launch 10 to 15 missiles at U.S. targets inside Iraq if either Iran or Syria is attacked.

Dr. Ephraim Kam, deputy director of the Institute for National Security Studies, said the alleged Israeli air strike in Syria had sent a "clear message" to Iran that Israel or the U.S. would be willing to take military action against Iran's nuclear program. According to Orly Ram, head of Voice of Israel's Persian language service, which is broadcast into Iran, that message was received in Tehran.

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[waltky]

Carter? On Iran??

Jimmy Carter: Don't Invade Iran
October 9, 2007 | Says It'd Be "Completely Unnecessary And Counterproductive," And No One Would Join Us

Diplomacy, not military action, "definitely" remains the best approach to dealing with Iran, former President Jimmy Carter said in a wide-ranging interview on The Early Show Tuesday. "Even after the Shah (of Iran) was deposed," Carter told co-anchor Harry Smith, "I quickly restored diplomatic relations with Iran. As a matter of fact, that's been proven by the fact I had about 60 diplomats in Iran, and they had an equal number in Washington, so we were continuing to try to communicate with them and work with them. And I think that, now, with increasing evidence that Iran is a dangerous and unpredictable country, the best thing to do is to have a maximum diplomatic relationship.

"They're potentially dangerous and they're certainly unpredictable. But I think that if we could find some way to communicate directly with them, to reassure their fears that we might attack them, which is constantly a drumbeat out of Washington, maybe deliberately from the administration or inadvertent -- Sy Hirsh has written three or four articles in the New Yorker, though I haven't read the latest one, but he's always maintaining that the United States is preparing to attack Iran. They read those articles and they see all the other news, and if they feel that they're going to be attacked, then I think that's one incentive for them to be more militant. So, I think, to assuage their fears, and to tell them the truth about our intentions, would be more helpful."

Still, Smith noted, "It seems to me we've done a pretty clear job of letting our intentions be known, yet they remain recalcitrant, at best. Is a military strike an option?" "I don't think so," Carter said. "Not at this early stage, and I don't think that anybody in the administration has maintained openly that that is a present option. Every indication I've heard from Condoleezza Rice or President Bush has been, 'We want to resort to diplomatic means to -- as thoroughly as we possibly can before we would consider a military strike.'

"So, I think a military strike against Iran at this time would be completely unnecessary and counterproductive. Iran is a different proposition from what Iraq was when we attacked Iraq. It wouldn't be an easy thing to invade Iran. And where would we get the troops? We don't even have enough troops for Iraq. Where would we get them from? And I don't think we would have any other nation in the world that would join us in any sort of military adventure against Iran. So, diplomacy is the best approach."

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[waltky]

American thinking about Iran...

Iran greatest threat to world stability: poll
November 01, 2007 - People in the United States see Iran as by far the greatest threat to world stability, with China a distant second, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday.

With tensions rising between Washington and Tehran amid comments from US leaders that Iran risks being attacked over its alleged nuclear weapons program, more Americans also said they backed tighter sanctions on the Iran regime than were opposed. But a large majority said they don't know enough about the situation to give an opinion about sanctions.

The Gallup poll of 1000 adults, carried out over October 25-28, showed 35 percent of people see Iran as the biggest threat to world stability. Nineteen percent ranked China the main threat, while North Korea ran third at 10 percent and Iraq fourth at nine percent.

Eight percent of those polled saw the United States itself the greatest threat, while Russia was singled out by only four percent. Iran was ranked the top threat ahead of China by Republicans, Democrats and independents alike.

But while half of Republicans ranked Iran the biggest threat, and 18 percent cited China, only 26 percent of Democrats cited Iran first, and 22 percent cited China. On the new economic sanctions on Iranian institutions announced last week by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, 34 percent said they were in support while nine percent said they opposed them.

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[waltky]

Maybe this will allay some of Israel's fears...

Iran calls for nuclear tenders
Monday 24th December, 2007 - Senior Iranian politicians have decided the country will call international tenders for the construction of new nuclear power plants.

Iran's parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy has said an international tender will be announced for the creation of 19 nuclear power plants with a capacity of 1,000 MW each.

Iran's first nuclear power plant being built by Russia will flow electricity into the power grid by March 2009.

The US$1 billion Bushehr nuclear power project has been at the centre of an international dispute, with Western countries protesting against Russia's nuclear cooperation with the Islamic Republic.

Iran calls for nuclear tenders

[waltky]

Russia havin' second thoughts?...

Russia calls on Iran to halt enrichment
Feb. 6, `08 -- A Russian official, in a statement released Tuesday, urged Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program.

The interview with Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak was published on the Foreign Ministry Web site, the RIA Novosti news agency reported. He said Iran should stop enriching uranium pending the outcome of negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency over "complicated points" in its nuclear program.

"I believe that all this is entirely achievable if the appropriate political decisions are taken. International concerns can be easily allayed to create more favorable conditions for Iran's extensive cooperation with other countries," Kislyak said.

The draft agreement worked out by the five permanent members of the United Nations' Security Council includes "serious signals" for Iran, he added.

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Iran will have nuclear weapon in three years: Mossad
6 Feb 2008, Israel's Mossad spy agency estimates Iran will develop a nuclear weapon within three years and continue to provide rockets to regional armed groups, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Mossad director Meir Dagan, in an intelligence assessment presented to Israel's powerful foreign affairs and defence committee yesterday, said the Jewish state would face increased threats on all fronts, Maariv daily said.

Dagan's estimate of Iran's nuclear ambitions differs sharply from an assessment by the US intelligence community late last year that said Iran had mothballed its nuclear weapons programme in 2003. That report compiled by 16 US intelligence agencies said the Islamic republic would not be able to attain a nuclear weapon until 2015.

Israel has questioned those findings, claiming that although Iran may have temporarily halted its nuclear drive five years ago it has since relaunched it while pressing ahead with a public Uranium enrichment programme.

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[waltky]

Granny says, "Now see if dey don't turn right aroun' an' deny it...

Iran Admits It Has Begun Processing Uranium
February 14, 2008 - In a move that is expected to further alarm the West and Israel, Iran on Wednesday admits it has started processing small amounts of uranium gas in its new generation of advanced centrifuges as part of its nuclear development program.

The Iranian government stressed that the amount of uranium gas was very minimal and would not be sufficient to run an industrial scale energy plant.

This is the first time that Iran has admitted its domestically developed IR-2 centrifuges have been used to process uranium.

The secrecy over this information heightens suspicion over Tehran's intentions as it develops nuclear self-sufficiency.

Iran Admits It Has Begun Processing Uranium | February 14, 2008 | AHN

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat Meanyjad up t' somethin' sneaky"...

Iran Speeding Up Nuke Plans
Feb 20, `08 - An exiled Iranian opposition group claimed Wednesday that Tehran was speeding up a program to develop nuclear weapons.

"The Iran regime entered a new phase in its nuclear project," said Mohammad Mohaddessin of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran. The NCRI is the political wing of the People's Mujahedeen of Iran, which advocates the overthrow of government in Tehran. The Mujahedeen has been designated a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union as well as Iran.

Mohaddessin claimed that Tehran has established a command and research center near a Tehran university. And, he said, Iran is developing a nuclear warhead for use on medium-range missiles at a site on the southeast edge of Tehran. Mohaddessin also claimed that the regime obtained aid from North Korea.

It was not possible to independently verify the NCRI claims. Mohaddessin said his group got the information from "hundreds" of reports and sources from within the Iranian regime, whom he did not name. He said some of the sources are within the nuclear project itself.

An official of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said the agency was aware of the allegations. Mohaddessin said he had provided information to the IAEA on Tuesday.

More My Way News - Group Claims Iran Speeding Up Nuke Plans

[waltky]

Granny says they up to somethin' sneaky...

Initial Iran Nuke Report May Be Wrong
Monday, Feb. 25, 2008 — The U.N. nuclear monitoring agency presented documents Monday that diplomats said indicate Iran may have focused on a nuclear weapons program after 2003 — the year that a U.S. intelligence report says such work stopped.

Iran again denied ever trying to make such arms. Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, the chief Iranian delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency, dismissed the information showcased by the body as "forgeries." He and other diplomats, all linked to the IAEA, commented after a closed-door presentation to the agency's 35-nation board of intelligence findings from the U.S. and its allies and other information purporting to show Iranian attempts to make nuclear arms. A summarized U.S. National Intelligence Estimate, made public late last year, also came to the conclusion that Tehran was conducting atomic weapons work. But it said the Iranians froze such work in 2003.

Asked whether board members were shown information indicating Tehran continued weapons-related activities after that time, Simon Smith, the chief British delegate to the IAEA, said: "Certainly some of the dates ... went beyond 2003." He did not elaborate. But another diplomat at the presentation, who agreed to discuss the meeting only if not quoted by name, said some of the documentation focused on an Iranian report on nuclear activities that some experts have said could be related to weapons. She said it was unclear whether the project was being actively worked on in 2004 or the report was a review of past activities. Still, any Iranian focus on nuclear weapons work in 2004 would at least indicate continued interest past the timeframe outlined in the U.S. intelligence estimate.

A senior diplomat who attended the IAEA meeting said that among the material shown was an Iranian video depicting mock-ups of a missile re-entry vehicle. He said IAEA Director General Oli Heinonen suggested the component — which brings missiles back from the stratosphere — was configured in a way that strongly suggests it was meant to carry a nuclear warhead. Other documentation showed the Iranians experimenting with warheads and missile trajectories where "the height of the burst ... didn't make sense for conventional warheads," he said.

Smith and the senior diplomat both said the material shown to the board came from a variety of sources, including information gathered by the agency and intelligence provided by member nations. "The assumption is this was not something that was being thought about or talked about, but the assumption is it was being practically worked on," Smith told reporters. He said the IAEA presented a "fairly detailed set of illustrations and descriptions of how you would build a nuclear warhead, how you would fit it into a delivery vehicle, how you would expect it to perform."

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[waltky]

We don't need yer stinkin' centifuges, we'll make our own now that we can reverse-engineer the ones ya'll sold us...

Diplomats: Iran Making Centrifuges
Thursday, Apr. 03, 2008 — Iran has assembled hundreds of advanced machines reflecting a possible intention to speed up uranium enrichment, diplomats have told The Associated Press.

One diplomat said more than 300 of the centrifuges have been linked up in two separate units in Iran's underground enrichment plant and a third was being assembled. He said the machines apparently are more advanced than the thousands already running underground, suggesting they could be the sophisticated IR-2 centrifuge that Tehran recently acknowledged testing. But a senior diplomat said that while the new work appeared to include advanced centrifuges, they were not IR-2s. He added that it was unclear whether the machines were above or below ground.

The location is significant, since the aboveground site at Natanz is for experimental work and the underground facility is the working enrichment plant. A third diplomat — who like the other two closely follows Iran's nuclear program — confirmed that Iran had started linking up advanced centrifuges in a configuration used for enrichment. But he said all remained above ground and none of the machines were running.

Uranium enrichment can produce both fuel for power plants and the fissile core of nuclear warheads. Tehran insists its nuclear program is intended only to produce energy, but there is growing international concern that it could lead to the development of weapons. Two of the diplomats spoke to the AP earlier this week and the third Thursday. All are linked to the Vienna-based International Agency for Atomic Energy, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, but asked for anonymity because their information was confidential.

Their reports underlined Iran's determination to push ahead with its enrichment program despite U.N. Security Council sanctions. One of the diplomats said officials in Tehran would likely detail the new centrifuge work on April 8, which Iran has designated National Nuclear Technology Day.

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Iran joinin' up with Russia and China...

Iran Applies to Join Security Bloc Dominated by Russia and China
April 03, 2008 - Stepping up a campaign to join a Eurasian security and economic bloc dominated by Russia and China, Iran is looking for allies within the organization to back its bid, but political analysts doubt it will succeed.

Late last month, Iran secured the support of one of the members of the six-country Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Tajikistan, which later this year will host the bloc's annual summit. Established in its current form in 2001, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) comprises Russia, China, and four Central Asian states -- Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Together they control a large proportion of the non-Arab world's oil and natural gas reserves.

The SCO is mainly focused on fighting the "three evils" of terrorism, extremism and separatism, but in recent years, attempts to deny the U.S. military basing rights in Central Asia raised concerns that Moscow and Beijing view the SCO as a tool to counter U.S. security interests. Although Russia and China are both unhappy with the expansion of Washington's military influence in their neighborhoods, SCO officials and member governments routinely stress that the organization and its activities are not aimed at, or a threat to, "any third party."

Iran -- along with Pakistan, India and Mongolia -- has observer status at the SCO, and the possibility that it may join the group has arisen on a number of previous occasions. (In 2006, then U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld commented during a visit to Singapore that he found it "strange" that an organization claiming to be against terrorism would admit "the leading terrorist nation in the world -- Iran.") The difference this time is that Iran has now formally applied to become a full member.

The announcement came during Mar. 24-25 talks in the Tajikistan capital, Dushanbe, when the foreign ministers of Iran, Afghanistan and the host country met to draw up preparations for the establishment of an economic union of the three Persian-speaking countries. Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki said Iran had submitted an official request for full membership to the SCO secretariat, and that Tajikistan had voiced its backing for the application.

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[waltky]

Didn't Hitler say he wouldn't attack Poland if not struck first?

Iran warns it would 'wipe out' Israel if attacked
April 15,`08 A senior Iranian commander warned Tuesday that the country's military will wipe Israel off the world map if the Jewish country attacks the Islamic republic.

'We must defend our state borders, and should Israel take any hostile action, we are ready to eliminate Israel from the world scene,' Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said. He said that the Iranian army is on constant alert due to the presence of 'foreign forces' in the region. 'It is ready to decisively repel any attack,' he said.

Ashtiani's comments echo President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's infamous 2005 'World Without Zionism' speech, in which he railed against the Israelis' occupation of Jerusalem. Iran's defence minister said last Monday the world needs a missile shield to protect against threats from Israel and the United States.

Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said US claims that the European missile shield would defend against Iran's missiles were nothing but a sham. He said Tehran was open to cooperation with every country except Israel, which Iran does not recognize, to ensure stability and security in the Middle East.

Iran warns it would 'wipe out' Israel if attacked