NEWS : IRAN

[burns]

Apr 28, 12:18 PM (ET)

By GEORGE JAHN

(AP) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gestures to the crowd during a public gathering in the city...
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VIENNA, Austria (AP) - The International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday that Iran has defied a U.N. Security Council call for a freeze on enriching uranium and its lack of cooperation with nuclear inspectors was a "matter of concern."

President Bush said "the world is united and concerned" about what he called Iran's "desire to have not only a nuclear weapon but the capacity to make a nuclear weapon or the knowledge to make a nuclear weapon."

The eight-page report, obtained by The Associated Press, said that after more than three years of an IAEA investigation, "the existing gaps in knowledge continue to be a matter of concern."

"Any progress in that regard requires full transparency and active cooperation by Iran," said the report, written by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei.


(AP) Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaks to laborers on International Laborers Day in...
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The finding set the stage for a showdown in the U.N. Security Council, which is expected to meet next week and start a process that could result in punitive measures against the Islamic republic.

But Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said no Security Council resolution could make Iran give up its nuclear program.

"The Iranian nation won't give a damn about such useless resolutions," Ahmadinejad told thousands of people Friday in Khorramdareh in northwestern Iran before the IAEA report was issued.

"Today, they want to force us to give up our way through threats and sanctions but those who resort to language of coercion should know that nuclear energy is a national demand and by the grace of God, today Iran is a nuclear country," state-run television quoted him as saying.

Bush said he was not discouraged by Iran's vow to continue despite global pressure. "I think the diplomatic options are just beginning," he said in Washington.


(AP) Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaks to laborers on International Laborers Day in...
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John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said "the United States is ready to take action in the Security Council to move to a resolution. ... We hope that we can get council action just as soon as possible."

Bolton said the resolution should be under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter "making mandatory for Iran the existing requirements of the IAEA resolutions, and particularly the resolution the board passed in February." Chapter 7 resolutions can be enforced by sanctions, or militarily.

He said the IAEA report shows that Iran "has accelerated its efforts to acquire nuclear weapons although, of course, the report doesn't make any conclusions in that regard."

"I think the evidence of Iran's efforts to acquire nuclear weapons, its extensive program to achieve a ballistic missile program of longer and longer range and greater accuracy constitutes a classic threat to international peace and security, especially when combined with Iran's long status as the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism," Bolton said.

He added that Washington's priority was to resolve the issue "through peaceful and diplomatic means."


(AP) Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, waves to laborers on International Laborer's Day in...
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The report said Iran's claim to have enriched small amounts to a level of 3.6 percent - fuel-grade uranium as opposed to weapons-grade enriched to levels above 90 percent - appeared to be true, according to initial IAEA analysis of samples it took.

In one of the few new developments in the IAEA's more than three-year investigation, the report concluded that Iran used undeclared plutonium in conducting small-scale separation experiments.

"The agency cannot exclude the possibility ... that the plutonium analyzed by the agency was derived from source(s) other than declared by Iran," the report said. Plutonium separation is one of the suspect "dual use" activities that could be used for a weapons program.

But the agency was stonewalled by Iran's refusal to give more information on other key issues - details of its centrifuge programs that are used to enrich uranium, information on drawings that show how to form fissile uranium into warheads, and apparent links between Iran's military establishment and what it says is a civilian nuclear program.

The Security council is likely to consider punitive measures against the Islamic republic. While Russia and China have been reluctant to endorse sanctions, the council's three other veto-wielding members say a strong response is in order.


(AP) Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a speech at a conference in Tehran in this...
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The report formally served notice that Tehran had shrugged off a 30-day deadline to meet council demands. As such, it opened the way for further council steps, including the potential threat of sanctions and military action if Iran continues to defy the international community.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice won broad support from NATO allies for a tough diplomatic line on Iran.

However, NATO foreign ministers meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria, did not offer any specific threat of sanctions against Iran, in part to avoid a rift with Russia and China. While Russia and China have been reluctant to endorse sanctions, the council's three other veto-wielding members say a strong response is in order.

"On Iran, there was unanimity," Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos told reporters. "Although the clear message to the Iranian authorities is one of firmness, we have to continue with the diplomatic path."

Rice said it was time for the Security Council to act if the world body wished to remain credible.

"The Security Council is the primary and most important institution for the maintenance of peace and stability and security and it cannot have its word and its will simply ignored by a member state," Rice said.

Iran's U.N. ambassador, Javad Zarif, said Thursday that Tehran will refuse to comply even if the council request is turned into a demand through a resolution because its activities are legal and peaceful. Enrichment can be used to generate fuel or make the fissile core of nuclear weapons.

"If the Security Council decides to take decisions that are not within its competence, then Iran does not feel obliged to obey," he said in New York.

As late as Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned the primacy of the council, insisting the U.N. nuclear watchdog should continue to play a central role in the dispute. "It mustn't shrug this role from its shoulders and pass it on to the U.N. Security Council," Putin said.

But a top French diplomat laid out a starkly contrasting position that also reflects U.S. and British views: The Security Council should not only have the main say in dealing with Iran but also should start considering how to increase the pressure. But, the diplomat said, a U.N. resolution enforceable by military action would not automatically mean resorting to such action.

The Security Council statement a month ago gave Iran until Friday to suspend all activities linked to enrichment because it can be used to make the highly enriched uranium used in the core of nuclear warheads.

Instead of complying, Iran - which says it seeks the technology only to generate electric power - has upped the ante in recent weeks, announcing it had for the first time successfully enriched uranium and was doing research on advanced centrifuges that would let it produce more of the material in less time.

Western concern has grown in the more than three years since when Iran was found to be working on large-scale plans to enrich uranium.

While the IAEA has found no "smoking gun" proving Iran wants nuclear arms, a series of reports have revealed worrying clandestine activities - like plutonium processing - and documents, including drawings of how to mold weapons-grade uranium metal into the shape of a warhead.

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it may just be my opinion however i think we need to move forward on pres. Regans star wars program. thus allowing us to defend our country against nuculor strikes as we have no nucular coutermessures currently. THEN leave the world to fend for themselves as they have shown none or very little sapport to stoping problem as listed above....

[burns]

Iran Leader Calls Israel an 'Evil' Regime
May 11 1:24 AM US/Eastern
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By CHRIS BRUMMITT
Associated Press Writer


JAKARTA, Indonesia


Iran's president on Thursday called Israel's government a "regime based on evil," but also said he was ready to negotiate with the United States and other countries over his country's nuclear program.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has previously said Israel should be wiped off the map, also told a cheering crowd of students in Indonesia's capital that the Jewish state "cannot continue and one day will vanish."



Students in the crowd held up posters saying "Iran in our Hearts," and "Nuclear for Peace."

Ahmadinejad made his comments after key U.N. Security Council members agreed to present Tehran with a choice of incentives or sanctions in deciding whether to suspend uranium enrichment.

The Iranian leader told Indonesia's Metro TV station that he was unconcerned about the possibility of U.N. sanctions, saying the West had more to lose than Iran did if the country was isolated.

"We do not need to be dependent on others," he said, adding international isolation would serve only to "motivate" the country's nuclear scientists.

[DK]

Iran would still have to develop rockets to send long range attacks.... If a nuclear bomb is to be launched via missile, it would cloud down over Iraq or iran long before it is to become a threat to Israel ...

Some of the nuclear scientists or key figures in this enrichment program will most likely be assasinated long before they can develop weapons ....

There are some pale white boys in Tehran right now ... Acording to one of their fathers .... Whom happened to be in the shop yesterday ....

They got Saddams #2 and I will rest assure that they can plug a few scientists.... Let's just hope they are french are other ex-patriated europeans...

Otherwise , did you file with selective service?

Team America (F&ck Yeah!!!!!!!)

Anybody want to buy some nice beachfront property in Somalia ?

[burns]

More Uranium Reportedly Found in Iran
May 12 11:09 AM US/Eastern
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By GEORGE JAHN
Associated Press Writer


VIENNA, Austria


The U.N. atomic agency found traces of highly enriched uranium at an Iranian site linked to the country's defense ministry, diplomats said Friday, adding to concerns that Tehran was hiding activities aimed at making nuclear arms.

The diplomats, who demanded anonymity in exchange for revealing the confidential information, said the findings were preliminary and still had to be confirmed through other lab tests. But they said the density of enrichment appeared to be close to or above the level used to make nuclear warheads.



Still, they said, further analysis could show that the traces match others established to have come from abroad. The International Atomic Energy Agency determined earlier traces of weapons-grade uranium were imported on equipment from Pakistan that Iran bought on the black market during nearly two decades of clandestine activity discovered just over three years ago.

Uranium enriched to between 3.5 percent and 5 percent is used to make fuel for reactors to generate electricity. It becomes suitable for use in nuclear weapons when enriched to more than 90 percent.

Iran's refusal to give up enrichment ambitions has led to involvement by the U.N. Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions but remains split on how firmly to pressure Tehran.

Key U.N. Security Council members agreed Tuesday to postpone a resolution that would have delivered an ultimatum to Tehran, giving Iran another two weeks to re-evaluate its insistence on developing its uranium enrichment capabilities.

Iran's hard-line president said Friday that his country was not afraid of possible U.S. military action over its enrichment program, but added that he thought any such strikes were very unlikely. Washington has said it favors a diplomatic end to the dispute, but it hasn't ruled out military force.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also told a local TV station that Iran would cooperate with the Security Council if it makes a decision on the escalating standoff as long as the world body acts "in line with international rules."

The Islamic republic denies accusations it wants to make nuclear arms and says it is only interested in uranium to generate power.

To argue that it never enriched uranium domestically to weapons grade, it cites the IAEA's tentative conclusion last year that weapons-grade traces collected from other sites within the country with no suspected ties to that military came in on equipment from Pakistan.

The origin of the samples now under perusal created some concern in that regard.

One of the diplomats told The Associated Press that the samples came from equipment that can be used in uranium-enriching centrifuges at a former research center at Lavizan-Shian. The center is believed to have been the repository of equipment bought by the Iranian military that could be used in a nuclear weapons program.

The United States alleges Iran had conducted high-explosive tests that could have a bearing on developing nuclear weapons at the site.

The State Department said in 2004 that Lavizan's buildings had been dismantled and topsoil had been removed in attempts to hide nuclear weapons-related experiments. The agency subsequently confirmed that the site had been razed.

In an April 28 report to the U.N. Security Council and the IAEA's 35- nation board of governors, agency head Mohamed ElBaradei said the agency took samples from some of the equipment of the former Physics Research Center at Lavizan-Shian. The diplomat said the evaluation of those samples revealed the traces in question.

Ahmadinejad's remarks on possible U.S. military action were made in Jakarta during a discussion with Indonesian Islamic leaders.

Asked whether his country was prepared to face an attack by the United States, he said "that is very unlikely because they know the Islamic Republic of Iran is a strong country."

"They are trying to frighten our country by waging a propaganda campaign using strong words. The people of Iran and the country are not afraid of them," he said to applause from the audience.

The Chinese and Russians have balked at British, French and U.S. efforts to put the resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter. Such a move would declare Iran a threat to international peace and security and set the stage for further measures if Tehran refuses to suspend its uranium enrichment operations. Those measures could range from breaking diplomatic relations to economic sanctions and military action.

you know... i just got a great idea for the worlds longest track....

[burns]

Olmert: Iran Close to Atomic Bomb Know-How
May 21 11:30 AM US/Eastern
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By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI
Associated Press Writer


JERUSALEM


Iran is just a few months away from acquiring the technological know- how that will allow it to build an atomic bomb, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in an interview broadcast Sunday.

Olmert flew to Washington on Sunday for his first meeting as prime minister with President Bush. The two leaders are expected to discuss Iran's nuclear ambitions.



Olmert told CNN's "Late Edition" that the key issue regarding Iran was not when it builds a nuclear bomb, but rather when it acquires the knowledge they need to manufacture such arms.

"This technological threshold is nearer than we anticipated before. This is because they are already engaged very seriously in enrichment," Olmert said.

"The technological threshold is very close. It can be measured in months rather than years," Olmert added, repeating statements previously made by other senior Israeli officials.

Olmert said the world could not take Iran's nuclear ambitions lightly because Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for Israel's destruction. However, he said it was unlikely Israel would act on its own, diplomatically or militarily, to deal with the problem.

In 1981, Israel's air force attacked the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak, destroying the facility. But Olmert said the situations cannot be compared, and Israel will try to persuade the Western world to impose sanctions on Iran.

Iran has so far rejected European proposals to back off the idea of U.N.-imposed sanctions if Tehran agrees to freeze its uranium enrichment program. Another proposal the Europeans are preparing will apparently include a clause saying that if Iran refuses, it could face sanctions backed by the threat of force.

Iran, which insists its nuclear program is for peaceful, civilian purposes, says it has the right to enrich uranium.

Olmert expressed confidence that Bush would "lead other nations in taking the necessary measures to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power."

"We will certainly try to convince other countries that, at this time, before they cross the technological threshold, that the measures will be taken to stop them," Olmert said.

[burns]

July 19, 2006
Weapons
Arming of Hezbollah Reveals U.S. and Israeli Blind Spots
By MARK MAZZETTI and THOM SHANKER
WASHINGTON, July 18 — The power and sophistication of the missile and rocket arsenal that Hezbollah has used in recent days has caught the United States and Israel off guard, and officials in both countries are just now learning the extent to which the militant group has succeeded in getting weapons from Iran and Syria.

While the Bush administration has stated that cracking down on weapons proliferation is one of its top priorities, the arming of Hezbollah shows the blind spots of American and other Western intelligence services in assessing the threat, officials from across those governments said.

American and Israeli officials said the successful attack last Friday on an Israeli naval vessel was the strongest evidence to date of direct support by Iran to Hezbollah. The attack was carried out with a sophisticated antiship cruise missile, the C-802, an Iranian-made variant of the Chinese Silkworm, an American intelligence official said.

At the same time, American and Israeli officials cautioned that they had found no evidence that Iranian operatives working in Lebanon launched the antiship missile themselves.

But neither Jerusalem nor Washington had any idea that Hezbollah had such a missile in its arsenal, the officials said, adding that the Israeli ship had not even activated its missile defense system because intelligence assessments had not identified a threat from such a radar-guided cruise missile.

They said they had also been surprised by the advances that Hezbollah had made in improving what had been crude rockets — for example, attaching cluster bombs as warheads, or filling an explosive shell with ball bearings that have devastating effect.

The Bush administration has long sought to focus attention on Iranian missile proliferation, and regularly discusses with journalists intelligence evidence of those activities. But American officials in Washington made clear this week that they were reluctant to detail Iran’s arming of Hezbollah in the current conflict.

The reason, according to officials across the government, was a desire by the Bush administration to contain the conflict to Israeli and Hezbollah forces, and not to enlarge the diplomatic tasks by making Iranian missile supplies, or even those of Syria, a central question for now.

Still, some officials in Washington admitted to being blindsided by the abilities of Hezbollah’s arsenal.

“You have to acknowledge the obvious — we’ve seen a new capability in striking the naval vessel and in the number of casualties that have been sustained from the Hezbollah missile attacks,” a Bush administration official said.

“In the past, we’d see three, four, maybe eight launches at any given time if Hezbollah was feeling feisty,” the official added. “Now we see them arriving in large clusters, and with a range and even certain accuracy we have not seen in the past.”

The officials interviewed agreed to discuss classified intelligence assessments about Hezbollah’s capabilities only on condition of anonymity.

While Iranian missile supplies to Hezbollah, either by sea or overland via Syria, were well known, officials said the current conflict also indicated that some of the rockets in Hezbollah’s arsenal — including a 220-millimeter rocket used in a deadly attack on a railway site in Haifa on Sunday — were built in Syria.

“The Israelis did forensics, and found several were Syrian-made,” said David Schenker, who this spring became a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy after four years working on Middle East issues at the Pentagon. “Everybody recognizes that Syria has played an important role in facilitating transshipment — but not supplying their own missiles to Hezbollah.”

Officials have since confirmed that the warhead on the Syrian rocket was filled with ball bearings — a method of destruction used frequently in suicide bombings but not in warhead technology.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” said one Western intelligence official, speaking about the warhead.

But it was Friday’s successful launching of a C-802 cruise missile that most alarmed officials in Washington and Jerusalem.

Iran began buying dozens of those sophisticated antiship missiles from the Chinese during the 1990’s, until the United States pressured Beijing to cease the sales.

Until Friday, however, Western intelligence services did not know that Iran had managed to ship C-802 missiles to Hezbollah.

Officials said it was likely that Iran trained Hezbollah fighters on how to successfully fire and guide the missiles, and that members of Iran’s Al Quds force — the faction of the Revolutionary Guards that trains foreign forces — would not necessarily have to be on the scene to launch the C-802.

At the same time, some experts said Iran was not likely to deploy such a sophisticated weapon without also sending Revolutionary Guard crews with the expertise to fire the missile.

An administration official said intelligence reports have concluded that a small number of Iranians are currently operating in Lebanon, but the official declined to disclose their number or mission.

[burns]

Iran threatens response if Syria attacked



Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad-Reza Sheybani says 'Israel can't deal with our capabilities' Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad-Reza Sheybani says 'Israel can't deal with our capabilities; Lebanon war beginning of end of Israel'
Dudi Cohen



Iranian threats against Israel continue: Iranian media outlets published sections of interviews given by Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad-Reza Sheybani, who said that Hizbullah's military capability has greatly increased in the last decade, and threatened that if
Israel harmed Syria, the Iranians would respond with force.


Sheybani stressed that Iran would support Syria if it is attacked by Israel. "There should be no doubt on this issue: If Syria is harmed, even in the slightest way, we will respond with force. This, on the basis of the joint defense agreement in effect between the two countries and already signed by the two ministers of defense," he said.


Sheybani added that he thought "Israel did not have the ability to deal with Iran's capabilities."


The Iranian news agency Fars, closely associated with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, published parts of the interview, and reported that Sheybani denied that his country was transferring arms to Hizbullah, but said that the organization has been busy heavily arming itself since the IDF's withdrawal from Lebanon.


"There are those who ask whether Hizbullah's military ability compares with that of Israel. Our answer is that the Hizbullah model of 2006 is very different to the Hizbullah model of 1996," Sheybani said.


However, he denied that Iran armed the organization, and hinted that the organization could be using weapons left behind by Israel in Lebanon.


"After the withdrawal of Israel in 2000, a lot of weapons arrived in the hands of Hizbullah. And therefore there is the possibility that the sound of the missiles exploding in Haifa are known to Israelis: These missiles were left there from 2000," he claimed.


'Beginning of the end of Israel'



Addressing the possibility that the IDF may conquer parts of Lebanon, Sheybani said: "In this war there is the chance that Israel could enter Lebanese soil and hold parts of it – that's certainly a possibility. But the problem is that if someone enters it's not sure he will be allowed to leave," the ambassador said.



Sheybani repeated the claim of the Hizbullah Chief Hassan Nasrallah according to which no Hizbullah member was killed in IDF attacks, and added that there nothing to be happy about in reports of the IDF battle in Maroun al-Ras.


Sheybani's comments came a day after Hizbullah representative in Iran, Hussein Sif al-Din, threatened that his organization planned to increase its attacks in Israel, until "no place in Israel will be safe."


At a conference in Tehran, attended also by Hamas and Palestinian Authority representatives, al-Din threatened that "this war will be remembered as the beginning of the end of Israel."

[Nash]

Funny Iran says they will attack Israel if Israel attacks Syria but guess who's blocking the way? What I think, Iran underestimates the U.S capabilities.