Iran Nuclear Standoff

[Cryomaniac]

The smarter move is to publicly ignore them and let Israel deal with them.

That isn't going to happen.

I wonder if there will be any more tests tonight.

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

Iran is looking for a response. They're trying to prop up oil prices. By responding, we are only playing their game and letting them pull the strings. The smarter move is to publicly ignore them and let Israel deal with them.

I agree, but if they fire off nukes is what I'm saying. What if they fire a nuke right into the green zone?

[Cryomaniac]

I don't think any state is going to use nukes. Other groups, who knows.

[cycloneye]

U.S. will defend Israel

And more savor ratteling.

[Ed Mahmoud]

Report: Bush gives 'amber light' to Israel

Per the article, the Bush Administration will not use force to stop the Iranian nuclear bomb, the likely sucessor in the White House has made it clear he isn't inclined to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons, but Israel alone can do no more than set Iran's nuclear ambitions back a few years.


I predict the world will be nostalgic for $4 gasoline in three or four years. Iran will have nukes, and Saudi Arabia will probably buy nukes from Pakistan in self defense from its non Arab and Shia adversary. (The father of the last Shah changed Iran's name from 'Persia' because Iran is the Farsi word for 'Aryan', and the Shah, an admirer of Hitler, was proud that his people were Aryans) And the odds are good the US will have voluntarily retreated from being the world's sole super power. The UN will be exactly like the toothless League of Nations, and it will be the 1930s all over again except many of the potential antagonists, including people whose religion teaches love of death* will have nuclear weapons.

I am rather pessimistic at this point.


*Khalid Ibn Al-Walid, commander of "The Prophet's" army:

"Submit to Islam and be safe. Or agree to the payment of the Jizya, and you and your people will be under our protection, else you will have only yourself to blame for the consequences, for I bring the men who desire death as ardently as you desire life."

Re: 'The Jizya' - Islam teaches all conquered infidels be put to death if they won't convert, except for Jews or Christians, who would be permitted to live as dhimmi, by paying the tax of submission (jizya), wearing clothes that mark them as non-Muslims, not riding horses or otherwise acting as the equal of the Muslims, and not openly practicing their own religion. The Coptic Christians of Egypt have lived as dhimmi for centuries. A Muslim may not be sentenced to death for killing a dhimmi, but any dhimmi who raises his hand to a Muslim must be put to death. A Muslim man may take a dhimmi woman as a wife, but the dhimmi can not marry a Muslimah woman. A dhimmi can't offer testimony against a Muslim, which, in practice, means Muslims can victimize non-Muslims in any way without penalty.

[Ed Mahmoud]

I don't think any state is going to use nukes. Other groups, who knows.

The terror army, Hezb'Allah, which now effectively controls Lebanon, is generally believed to be commanded by officers of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Hezb'Allah commits terrorist acts regularly, but gives Iran just enough deniability to protect them for sanctions or retaliation.


Until September 11th, no terrorist group had killed more US citizens.

[HURAKAN]

U.S. to establish presence in Tehran: report

1 hour, 35 minutes ago

The United States will announce in the next month that it plans to establish a diplomatic presence in Tehran for the first time in 30 years, a British newspaper said on Thursday.

In a front-page report, the Guardian said Washington would open a U.S. interests section in the Iranian capital, halfway towards opening an embassy.

The unsourced report by the newspaper's Washington correspondent said: "The Guardian has learned that an announcement will be made in the next month to establish a U.S. interests section in Tehran, a halfway house to setting up a full embassy.

"The move will see US diplomats stationed in the country."

Senior U.S. diplomat William Burns said in testimony to Congress last week the United States was looking to opening up an interest section in Tehran but had not made a decision yet.

The Guardian said the development was "a remarkable turnaround in policy by President George Bush who has pursued a hawkish approach to Iran throughout his time in office."

Washington said on Wednesday it was sending Burns to join atomic talks with Iran this weekend to signal to Tehran and others that Washington wanted a diplomatic solution to their nuclear impasse.

Iran says its nuclear work is for peaceful power generation, and not for the development of nuclear weapons as the West suspects, and has rejected conditions it give up uranium enrichment.

On Sunday, President Amhmoud Ahmadinejad suggested Iran would consider any proposal by the United States for a U.S. interests section in the Islamic Republic, should one be forthcoming.

U.S. media have reported that the State Department is considering opening an interests section that could mean U.S. diplomats returning to Tehran but operating under another country's flag.

The United States cut off diplomatic ties with Tehran during the 1979-1981 hostage crisis, in which a group of militant Iranian students held 52 U.S. diplomats hostage at the American embassy for 444 days.

Iran maintains an interests section at the embassy of Pakistan in Washington. Mottaki said it serves the large Iranian community in the United States.

(Reporting by Andrew Dobbie; additional reporting by Sue Pleming in Washington; editing by Ralph Boulton)

[Cryomaniac]

Interesting idea. If it can work then good, I just can't see it.

[HURAKAN]

IAEA urges Iran to come clean on nuke studies
Afp, Vienna

The UN atomic watchdog called on Iran yesterday to clear up allegations that it had been involved in nuclear warhead studies, while Tehran protested it has not seen any evidence backing up the charges.

Instead of simply dismissing the allegations as "forged" and "fabricated", Iran "should clarify the extent to which the documentation is factually correct and where, as it asserts, such information may have been fabricated or relates to non-nuclear purposes," IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said.

Iran should provide "substantive information to support its statements and access to relevant documentations and individuals," ElBaradei told the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-member board.

In a report last week, ElBaradei had accused Iran of stalling an UN investigation into its disputed nuclear programme.

After six years of intensive investigation, the IAEA still has not been able to determine whether the activities are entirely peaceful, as Iran claims.

The current main sticking point is the "alleged studies", referring to documentation found on a laptop in Iran which suggests Tehran may have been trying to develop a nuclear warhead, convert uranium and test high explosives and a missile re-entry vehicle.

Iran has consistently dismissed the allegations as "baseless" and the documentation used to back them up as "fabricated".

But the IAEA insists the onus is on Tehran to disprove the allegations.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, complained that Iran had not been allowed to see any of the documentation supposedly backing up the allegations.

"How come we can question a country without giving authentic documents? A member state is accused by another member state, but that member state has not been given any documents or evidence," he said.

It was Washington, not Tehran, that had created the current impasse, Soltanieh said.

ElBaradei also urged "member states which provided the agency with documentation related to the alleged studies to authorise the agency to share it with Iran."
____________

The topic has cooled recently but lets warm it up a little bit!

[HURAKAN]

Iran building naval bases along Sea of Oman coast

·Iran has started constructing new naval bases along the coast of the Sea of Oman.
·The new bases will extend from Bandar Abbas to Pasa Bandar near the Pakistan border.
·On Monday, Iran's Armed Forces also inaugurated a new naval base in the strategic port of Jask.

TEHRAN, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Iran has started constructing new naval bases along the coast of the Sea of Oman for an "impenetrable line of defense," the English-language daily Tehran Times reported on Thursday.

The new bases will extend from Bandar Abbas, a major Iranian seaport on the Strait of Hormuz, to Pasa Bandar near the Pakistan border, Iran's Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayari was quoted as saying.

"The new mission of the Navy is to establish an impenetrable line of defense at the entrance to the Sea of Oman," Sayari said, adding the new bases will be constructed rapidly.

"If the enemy goes insane, we will drown them at the bottom of the Indian Ocean and the Sea of Oman before they reach the Strait of Hormuz and the entrance to the Persian Gulf," he vowed.

On Monday, Iran's Armed Forces also inaugurated a new naval base in the strategic port of Jask, east of the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran.

Iran's Deputy Army Commander Brigadier General Seied Abdolrahim Moussavi said Tuesday that the aircraft carriers of the enemy, "like the elements of the computer games," are under the gaze of Iran's Armed Forces.

The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Moussavi as saying that the new naval base in Jask would function as a "protective barrier in the eastern parts of the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman."

The United States and Israel have consistently refused to rule out the possibility of military strikes against Iran over its refusal to halt its nuclear program.

The United States and its allies have accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program. Iran has denied the U.S. charges and insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

[mf_dolphin]

All I can say is .... "more targets"

[cycloneye]

Iran tested missile that can reach Israel.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said it test-fired a new generation of surface-to-surface missile on Wednesday and that the Islamic Republic was ready to defend itself against any attacker.

Iran's latest missile test followed persistent speculation in recent months of possible U.S. or Israeli strikes against its nuclear facilities, which the West suspects form part of a covert weapons program, a charge Tehran denies.

Iranian Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said the Iranian-made surface-to-surface Sejil missile had "extremely high capabilities" and was only intended for defensive purposes.

He said it had a range of close to 2,000 km (1,200 miles), almost as much as another Iranian missile called Shahab 3. That would enable it to reach Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf.





http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/ ... me=topNews

[Cryomaniac]

=/

It's only going to be so long before Israel says "f- this" and attacks Iran.

[fwbbreeze]

=/

It's only going to be so long before Israel says "f- this" and attacks Iran.

your right! It would not surprise me in the least if it occurred before President Bush leaves office. This isint a political discussion but Israel has some confidence in the level of support it will receive from the Bush administration if an attack on Iran was to occur. I personally believe the unknowns that Israel faces with President-elect Obama's administration might be a deciding factor to attack sooner rather than later.

Again just stating my opinion

fwbbreeze

[gtalum]

Not to get overly political, but I suspect Obama's pick of Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff has laid to rest any doubts that Israel may have had about whether President Obama will be loyal to them or not.

[cycloneye]

Iran Opens another Naval Base in Persian Gulf

Israels Air Force is ready to strike Nuke Plants

Hmmm,after a cold period,things may heat up again soon.

[cycloneye]

Iran has enough fuel for one Nuclear Bomb


However,they still lack the system to purify the fuel.But,anyway,its not good to see this happening.

[x-y-no]

Iran has enough fuel for one Nuclear Bomb

However,they still lack the system to purify the fuel.But,anyway,its not good to see this happening.

Actually, the process for making bomb grade high-enriched uranium is basically more of the same as they have done to make the low-enriched uranium that they have. If at some time in the future the kick the international inspectors out, they can make the HEU in fairly short order.

It's unclear if they know how to build a working bomb, although it seems likely that they would understand at least the crude "gun" style uranium bomb design - it's really quite simple albeit substantially lower yield than other designs. Unfortunately, building a working uranium bomb is substantially simpler than building a plutonium bomb.

[cycloneye]

Iran to do Naval excercises at Persian Gulf in December

If they try to close the Strait of Hormuz to shipping,then all bets are off.

[cycloneye]

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran has more than 5,000 centrifuges to process uranium at its enrichment plant, its nuclear chief said Wednesday, in the country's latest defiance of U.N. demands that it halt the controversial program.

The Iranian official, Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, said Iran will continue to install centrifuges and enrich uranium to produce nuclear fuel for the country's future nuclear power plants. The number of centrifuges is up from 4,000 Iran said were running in August at the plant in the central Iranian city of Natanz.

Uranium enriched to low level is used to produce nuclear fuel. Further enrichment makes it suitable for use in nuclear weapons.

The United States and some of its allies accuse Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons. Tehran denies the claim and insists it has the right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium and produce reactor fuel.

"At this point, more than 5,000 centrifuges are operating in Natanz," said Aghazadeh, who is head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. He spoke to reporters during an exhibition of Iranian nuclear achievements at Tehran University.

The United Nations Security Council has already imposed three rounds of sanctions on Iran for its refusal to freeze the uranium enrichment program.

In the process, uranium gas is spun in a series of centrifuges known as "cascades" to purify it. Lower levels of enrichment produce reactor fuel but higher grades can build a weapon.

At the exhibition, Iran for the first time put on public display one of its P-1 centrifuges and officials at the exhibition explained various parts of machine to visitors.

The P-1 centrifuge is the workhorse of Iran's enrichment program. It's run in cascades of 164 machines.

In February, Iranian officials confirmed that they have started using the IR-2 centrifuge, which can churn out enriched uranium at more than double the rate of P-1.

Iran has said it plans to move toward large-scale uranium enrichment that will ultimately involve 54,000 centrifuges.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081126/D94MKSJ81.html