Iran the Next Battlefield - Thread Renamed

[American Patriot]

Iran: expect "good nuclear news" on Tuesday night
Tue Apr 11, 2006 11:25 AM BST6

By Christian Oliver

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranians will hear "good news" on Tehran's nuclear programme on Tuesday night, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said, and Iranian media said this would mean Iran had enriched uranium for use in fuelling atomic reactors.

Such an announcement would mark a serious setback to U.N. Security Council efforts to have Iran suspend enrichment work. It could escalate a confrontation with Western powers leading to consideration of sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The Council has demanded Iran shelve enrichment activity, which the West suspects is a preliminary step towards making nuclear bombs, and on March 29 asked the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to report on its compliance in 30 days.

Iran was referred by the IAEA to the Council in February for failing to convince much of the international community that its nuclear work aims to generate only electricity, not weaponry, and will not pose a threat to international peace and security.

"After hearing all the good news tomorrow (Tuesday) night, Iranians should prostrate themselves before almighty God," Ahmadinejad was quoted by official news agency IRNA as saying in the northeastern city of Mashhad on Monday night.

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei is expected to visit Iran later this week to seek full Iranian cooperation with the Council and IAEA inquiries. Any announcement of advances in enrichment work by Iran could cast an embarrassing cloud over ElBaradei's trip.

Teymour Ali Asgari, a Mashhad parliamentarian, told Mehr news agency Ahmadinejad had informed a meeting of clerics that the whole enrichment process had been mastered, "so that Iran is among the countries that are members of the atomic energy club".

Iranian nuclear officials have previously said purifying uranium to 3.5 percent would require the operation of 164 centrifuges, which spin it at supersonic speeds to heighten the concentration of its most radioactive isotope, U-235.

"LOGICAL EXTENT OF PROGRESS"

Two weeks ago IAEA diplomats said Iran had set up a "cascade" of 164 centrifuges at its Natanz plant but no uranium hexafluoride gas (UF6), the feedstock for enriched fuel, had yet been fed into them. It had tested 20 centrifuges, they added.

"It may be that they have begun feeding the 164. That might be the logical extent of progress since late March. It wouldn't be surprising," a European Union diplomat accredited to the IAEA said when asked about Ahmadinejad's teaser.

A special team of IAEA inspectors went to Iran on Friday to gather fresh information at nuclear sites for ElBaradei's pending report to the Security Council. IAEA officials have declined to divulge any findings so far.

The level of enrichment needed to trigger the nuclear chain reaction that detonates bombs is far higher, around 90 percent. but even word that low-level enrichment is under way will be unacceptable to Western powers, diplomats say.

"164 centrifuges is still well short of producing enriched uranium in significant quantity over a sustained period. But the more they do it, the more they learn the technology. So any form of enrichment is a red line for us," the EU diplomat said.

It would take Iran years to yield enough highly enriched uranium for one bomb with such a small cascade. But Iran has told the IAEA it will start installing 3,000 centrifuges later this year, enough to produce material for a warhead in a year.

"After the good nuclear news, the psychological war against us will start," lawmaker Gholamreza Mesbahi-Moghaddam told an Iranian parliament session on Tuesday. "I can say there will be international media campaign against us in the next days because of the news the president will announce."

Washington has said repeatedly it wants to resolve the nuclear standoff by diplomatic means. But analysts says advances in uranium enrichment technology by Iran may be the tripwire for the United States or Israel to take military action.

President George W. Bush on Monday dismissed reports of plans for military strikes on Iran as "wild speculation".

"Our enemies cannot do a damn thing given the Iranian nation's persistence, and they know that," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by state television.

(Additional reporting by Edmund Blair in Tehran)


© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

[American Patriot]

Oil prices breach $69 on possible US-Iran conflict
Singapore

11 April 2006 01:40

Oil prices breached $69 a barrel in Asian trading on Tuesday on concerns of a possible United States military strike against Iran, dealers said.

At 12.43pm (4.43am GMT), New York's main contract, light sweet crude for May delivery was at $69,01 a barrel, up 27 cents from its close of $68,74 in the United States on Monday.

Dealers said the market ignored efforts by President George Bush to dismiss as "wild speculation" weekend reports that Washington was studying options for military strikes against Iran's uranium facilities.

"Obviously some market participants are reacting to it and so this morning the market continues to be bullish about it," said Victor Shum, an analyst in Singapore with global energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz.

The Washington Post and the New Yorker magazine reported over the weekend that the White House was exploring military options against Tehran which had vowed not to back down over its controversial nuclear programme.

Washington and its allies believe Iran is secretly trying to build a nuclear bomb, but the US administration went out of its way on Monday to play down the reports.

"The doctrine of prevention is to work together to prevent the Iranians from having a nuclear weapon," Bush said.

Iran, the world's fourth-biggest oil producer with an output of four million barrels per day, insists its nuclear programme is for civilian energy purposes.

Traders fear that action against the Islamic republic could severely disrupt the oil-rich nation's crude exports.

Shum is not ruling out the possibility of prices climbing to $70 a barrel as there were other factors in play, including the approaching US summer driving season in late May when Americans take to the roads for their vacation.

The season typically sees demand for gasoline rising significantly and with recent US data showing a bigger-than-expected drawdown in petroleum stocks, prices may well hit the $70 mark, Shum said.

"The market already has an upside bias and this is on top of the fact that we have not entered the peak summer driving season in the US ... $70 seems now so close," he said.

US petrol stocks fell 4,4-million barrels to 211,8-million barrels in the week to March 31, far more than the consensus expected by analysts of 1,4-million barrels, according to the US government's latest weekly report. - AFP

[American Patriot]

Bush blasts `wild speculation' over Iran plans

By Deb Riechmann
Associated Press
Published April 11, 2006

WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Monday dismissed as "wild speculation" reports that the administration was planning for a military strike against Iran.

Bush did not rule out the use of force, but he said he would continue to use diplomatic pressure to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon or the know-how and technology to make one.

"I know here in Washington prevention means force," Bush said at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. "It doesn't mean force, necessarily. In this case, it means diplomacy."

Several weekend news reports said the administration was studying options for military strikes. The New Yorker magazine raised the possibility of the United States using nuclear bombs against Iran's underground nuclear sites.

"I read the articles in the newspapers this weekend," Bush said. "It was just wild speculation."

Taking questions from the audience, Bush also said he declassified part of a prewar intelligence report on Iraq in 2003 to show Americans the basis for his statements about the threat posed by toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.

"I wanted people to see the truth," he told a questioner who said there was evidence of a concerted effort by the White House to punish war critic Joseph Wilson. Bush said he could not comment on the CIA leak case because it is under investigation.

In Tehran, officials said the media reports about a possible U.S. strike against Iran amounted to psychological warfare from the West.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Iranians not to be intimidated by other nations' attempts to stifle the country's nuclear ambitions.

"Unfortunately, today some bullying powers are unable to give up their bullying nature," he said. "The future will prove that our path was a right way."

A top European Union official rejected any use of force against Iran in the dispute over its nuclear program.

But Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, recommended the 25-nation bloc consider sanctions against Tehran, raising the possibility of international punishment even if the U.S. and Europe cannot persuade the United Nations to impose such measures.

The UN Security Council has demanded that Iran suspend all enrichment of uranium--a key process that can produce either fuel for a reactor or the material for a nuclear warhead.

Iran has rejected the demand, saying the small-scale enrichment it began in February is strictly for research and was within its rights under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.





Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune

[American Patriot]

Iran nuclear planning 'similar to Iraq'
11/04/2006 - 09:53:09

US administration officials say they remain committed to a diplomatic solution to ensure Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons, but they will not rule out military action as an option, even as they try to calm down talk about military planning.

“I know here in Washington prevention means force,” President George Bush said yesterday.

“It doesn’t mean force necessarily, in this case, it means diplomacy,” the president added, calling recent newspaper and magazine reports about US military planning on Iran “just wild speculation”.

Current and former government officials involved in war-planning discussions over the past five years say the US has drafted a menu of options. One official said the attention on Iran has increased markedly in recent months.

All of the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

The planning is similar to the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, which has been captured in books including Bob Woodward’s Plan Of Attack. Similar blueprints also have been done, but never used, on any number of adversaries, including North Korea.

The plans are aimed particularly at facilities scattered across Iran known to be or suspected of being tied to the nuclear programme. Within those sites, there could be hundreds of individual targets. The options include:

:: Special operations aimed at sabotaging various sites or clearing a safe pathway into the country for an air attack.

One of the officials said such missions, often to populated areas, would be dangerous in such a closed country as Iran and probably could not be accomplished without leaving fingerprints.

:: Air and sea-based strikes that would use a variety of munitions including earth-penetrating bombs that would target underground bunkers.

In some cases, several bombs would need to be fired at the same target to reach the most fortified facilities, a security strategy the Iranians adopted based on lessons learned during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.

:: Some combination of the above.

The Iranian regime insists it wants only to produce uranium for peaceful civilian purposes, such as electricity generation. Yet Iran operated a covert nuclear programme for two decades, and the US and a number of its allies believe the regime’s aim is a nuclear weapon.

National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told US Congress in February that Iran is as much as a decade away from producing a nuclear weapon. But some estimates put that as low as three years.

Even the best-laid plans to go after the nuclear programme may be flawed in execution.

Two officials with extensive military experience said airstrikes would be a key option. But they said the US Air Force often overstates the accuracy of precision strikes, which would be needed in Iran.

War planners have to figure out how to handle Iran’s expected retaliation. The country could order terrorist attacks through Hezbollah.

Iran could also try to cripple the world economy by putting a stranglehold on the oil that moves through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow, strategically important waterway running to Iran’s south.

Perhaps the best-known site linked to the nuclear programme is the Natanz uranium-enrichment facility, located about 160 miles south of Tehran.

David Albright, president of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, describes the site as a complex in a 75-foot-deep hole, covered by layers of materials. It is unclear whether that includes concrete.

The site is designed to hold a cascade of 50,000 centrifuges that could be used to enrich uranium, but Albright said the Iranians have shown signs that they are having problems with the technology.

One outstanding question for the International Atomic Energy Agency is whether there is a hidden, undeclared nuclear programme.

Albright said inspectors have found a number of inconsistencies in Iranian documents and a laptop associated with the programme. He believes there has to be a parallel programme.

As tensions increase, the talk of war planning could make the diplomatic dialogue with Iran even more difficult. “It makes negotiations much harder because Iran is left with the view that, no matter what we negotiate, the US is going to attack,” Albright said.

Meanwhile, Iran could easily create back-up nuclear sites. A gas centrifuge facility, for instance, could be moved to a warehouse in an industrial area, making it very difficult to find.

There are disputes now about the quality of the intelligence on Iran.

Some officials say it has improved, thanks to soil samples, overhead reconnaissance, old-fashioned spying, information from the IAEA and other intelligence. But not everyone is sold.

Embarrassed by the flawed oversight in the run-up to Iraq, members of US Congress are pressing the Bush administration for details on Iran. A spokesman for Negroponte declined to comment on specific issues regarding Tehran.

© Thomas Crosbie Media, 2006.

[American Patriot]

Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Apr. 11 – Hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that his government would not allow the West to “deprive” the Islamic Republic of its nuclear “rights”.

“The government is determined to bring about completely all the rights of the Iranian nation on the issue of nuclear energy”, Ahmadinejad said at a rally in the eastern town of Sarakhs.

“In the international arena we are determined to pursue the will of the nation in the path of honour, independence, and technological advancements and realise the rights of the Iranian nation with strength and firmness”, he said.

“Today, certain bullying countries imagine that through pressure and empty threats they can make our nation abandon the path of realising its rights. They want to monopolise science and technology for themselves and deprive our nation, but we will not allow this”, he added.

[American Patriot]

TEHRAN, Apr. 10 (MNA) -- President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said on Monday he would soon give the Iranian nation some good, glorious, and honorable news in regard to the nuclear issue.

In a speech to a huge crowd of people in Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi Province, Ahmadinejad said that Iran’s enemies know that they cannot deprive the nation of its rights by exerting pressure on the country.



Both the enemies and the Iranian nation must realize that the government will act with vigilance and strength to realize the will of the nation and will not back down even an iota on the country’s nuclear rights, he asserted.



“The following days and months will prove that the path we have chosen is a path toward the nation’s dignity and progress.”



Ahmadinejad warned that the enemies seek to create discord in the nation, saying, “Some weak people in the country want to frighten our nation, but I advise them not to fear the apparent powers and to join the ocean of the nation.



“Today the world’s bullying powers have lost their strength, but they don’t want to accept this.



“All free nations in the world hate them, but they think they can deprive our nation of its rights through raising a commotion and intimidation. We do not bully anyone, yet neither do we yield to oppression.



“We want justice, peace, and calm for humanity.”



HL/HG

End



MNA

[American Patriot]

Meeting with Iran on hold -US ambassador
09 Apr 2006 19:16:30 GMT
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON, April 9 (Reuters) - A meeting with Iran to discuss its role in Iraq will not be held until the formation of a government in Baghdad, said the U.S. ambassador to Iraq on Sunday.

Shi'ite, Kurdish and Sunni leaders are struggling to form a unity government they hope can avert civil war but there are no signs of immediate resolution.

"What we have decided is not to hold the meeting until the Iraqi government is formed," said U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad on "Fox News Sunday." "We do not want to give the impression that the United States is sitting with Iran to decide about the Iraqi government. The Iraqis will decide that."

Khalilzad will represent the United States at the meeting.

Washington accuses Tehran of fomenting Shi'ite violence in Iraq. Tehran denies the charge and blames bloodshed on the invasion and occupation by U.S.-led forces. The United States also accuses Iran of wanting to build a nuclear bomb, which Iran also denies.

Iranian officials have said the talks would cover only Iraq, not Iran's nuclear program or other areas of dispute with Washington.

[American Patriot]

I know there is a larger war coming, but it's nexus to slightly to the west and will, at least in its initial phase, involve Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Any US strike will come ONLY if President Bush decides to risk total war as a direct consequence. I do not believe he will so opt. The purely secular and logical reasons for this viewpoint are included below.

The signs I am watching are pretty clear. Even to the point of the President yesterday making the comment that "an Iranian invasion is pure speculation" on the part of... well, us.

I DO agree that an invasion of Iran however is exactly what Sean says, and I while I am seeing the signs and beginning to believe that is exactly what we're going to do -- I can also see all the negatives for doing it. Further, I have questioned why we might do such a thing as invade Iran.

Without making any direct statements, I will say that I know we are preparing something "just in case" though.

I think we're very, very concerned that a nuclear weappon falls into the hands of the state of Iran. If so, we certainly, absolutely will see it used on Israel, or American interests in the region. No doubt. I just don't think the US has the wherewithall to force a world war.

The old idea of "mutually assured destruction" isn't even in the lexicon for those people. Their thinking is a whole lot different than western thinking and the deaths of a few million folks would be nothing more than a scratch on their existence anyway.

The news article Sean posted is dead on, where the oil market is concerned. As a side note, it cost me $45 US to fill my tank this morning. That ain't good. I have a 16 gallon tank. So, I am still trying to figure out why it cost me 2.59/gallon.... anyway. The fact is prices are going up quickly.

A few days back, on the 28th of March there was a threat by Iran to use oil to its advantage anyway, over the nuclear problem. I simply can't see where we have much choice either way. If we "attack" them, they use oil as a weapon. If we DO NOT attack them, they get a nuclear surprise ready for us, and they still use oil to threat the enconomies of not just us, but many oil dependent nations.

[American Patriot]

Iran's economy could withstand U.S. military strike - expert

15:19 | 11/ 04/ 2006

TEHRAN, April 11 (RIA Novosti) - Any military strike by the United States against facilities that are part of Iran's controversial nuclear program would damage but not paralyze the Iranian economy, a Russian expert said Tuesday.

Radzhab Safarov, the director of the Center of Modern Iranian Studies in Moscow, said that if the U.S. launched strikes against more than 60 nuclear facilities in Iran, than about 12,000-15,000 workers would be killed and the economy would suffer large-scale damage.

"However, the Iranian economy would not be paralyzed and it would not result in a political crisis in the country," Safarov said. "On the contrary, Iranians would maximally consolidate around their political leaders, Iran would withdraw from all possible legal structures and start full-scale development of its nuclear program."

He said Iran would take counter measures in response, including suspension of oil exports.

"Iran's economy has a six months minimum stock [of oil] and western economies could face great difficulties if not a single barrel of Iranian oil sold within this period," Safarov said.

He said there were only two ways for Iran to take revenge on the United States - to initiate a global economic crisis or to inflict damage on Israel, America's main ally in the region.

Safarov said a serious global confrontation around Iran's nuclear program was highly possible and "there were no indications that the crisis would be settled easily."

"The only way to settle the crisis situation is to conclude an agreement with Iran, but this would be difficult as the gap in political controversies is too wide," he said.

Concerns about Iran's nuclear program have been growing since the country announced its intention to resume nuclear research in January and its hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, made a number of controversial remarks, including a call to wipe Israel "off the face of the map."

A number of countries have expressed alarm over Iran's controversial nuclear programs and have pushed for the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on the country, which they suspect of using civilian-energy programs to disguise military projects.

[American Patriot]

MASHHAD,

Khorasan Razavi, April 10--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday the nation will soon hear good news about Iran’s nuclear dossier.

Delivering a speech near the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS), the president said, “The enemies know that they cannot deprive the nation of its legitimate rights by exerting external pressures. Ill-wishers and the enemies of the nation are aware that they cannot withstand the people’s determination through unnecessary tumults, meetings, talksÉand arrogant posturing. Today the enemies are only slightly optimistic about spreading seeds of discord among the nation and believe that if they support some weak, self-defeated and vulnerable individuals and groups, they can hinder the Iranian nation’s movement.“
Ahmadinejad regretted that there are weak individuals inside the country who wish to intimidate the nation.
“The nation that relies on God does not fear anything,“ he said. The chief executive observed that the government is determined to remove obstacles facing the nation.
“Some of these obstacles are wheeling and dealing, nepotism and corruption that can be observed in some corners of the country. Some of these obstacles have been removed so far, but we still have a long way to go before they can be eradicated,“ he said.
Ahmaidnejad stressed that ministers, governors general and all managers have been told that the government is serious about fighting corruption and profiteering.
The president arrived in Mashhad on Monday accompanied by his cabinet members.

[American Patriot]

Enemies? Ok... we are seen as ENEMIES folks. How much more do we need to understand there is a serious problem here?

[falcon]

As the chess game move forward;
Looking at how to win this battle we have lost site of the overall objective to free the people of Iran. History tells us that over 80% of the Iranian people support the West and really have a love for Americans.

The Iranian people have been fighting a war inside Iran for the last 15 years. The Iranian people do not want to be ruled by the Mullahs and the Islamist.

Everyone believes if we bomb Iran we are in a trap, by Russia China and the Mildest. Well the way to turn the tables is do a massive support on two fronts.

1. Support a Regime Change within Iran.

2. Release news releases on the Human rights issues in Iran.

By using these methods you now have created a different front, from which to place the blame on to. Russia for helping a country that supports Human rights issues, by Russia supplying Iran with Arms, instead of helping them resolve the Human Right issues. Yes this will put Russia on the front burner but this is what is needed and this will force there hand.

[American Patriot]

Iran Claims to Have Successfully Enriched Uranium
Tuesday, April 11, 2006


TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has successfully enriched uranium for the first time, a major development in its quest to develop nuclear fuel, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani said Tuesday.

Iran's nuclear chief said Tehran has produced 110 tons of uranium gas, the feedstock for enrichment, nearly twice the amount previously known.

Current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad added that the country "will soon join the club of countries with nuclear technology."

The U.N. Security Council has demanded that Iran stop all uranium enrichment activity by April 28. Iran has rejected the demand, saying it has a right to develop the process.

The comments by the Iranian officials came as the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, Mohammed ElBaradei, was due to visit Tehran this week for talks on the nuclear standoff.

Officials with his International Atomic Energy Agency have said he is hoping to win at least partial concessions from Iran. IAEA inspectors are currently in Iran visiting two key facilities.

Speaking to a crowd in northeastern Iran, Ahmadinejad was quoted by state television as saying, "Enemies can't dissuade the Iranian nation from the path of progress that it has chosen."

Ahmadinejad had been expected to announce the successful uranium enrichment Tuesday in a nationally televised speech. But Rafsanjani — head of the powerful Expediency Council, a key governing body — released the news first in an interview with the Kuwait News Agency in Tehran. Soon after, the Expediency Council confirmed the announcement.

It was the first disclosure that Iran had successfully enriched uranium since February, when it began research at its enrichment facility in the town of Natanz.

Rafsanjani said the enrichment would put the country in a good position for ElBaradei's visit.

"When ElBaradei arrives in Iran, he will face new circumstances," Rafsanjani said, according to KUNA.

"Iran has put into operation the first unit of 164 centrifuges, has injected [uranium] gas and has reached industrial production," he was quoted as saying.

"We should expand the work of these machines to achieve a full industrial line. We need dozens of these units [sets of 164 centrifuges] to achieve a uranium enrichment facility," he said.

Enriching uranium to a low level produces fuel for nuclear reactors. To a higher level, it produces the material for a nuclear bomb.

Iran would require thousands of operating centrifuges to produce enough uranium for either purpose.

Once the unit of 164 centrifuges is up and running, however, its scientists can work to perfect the technology for larger scale production.

The resumption of work at Natanz prompted the IAEA to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council — escalating the standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions.

The United States and some in Europe accuse Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, an accusation Tehran denies, saying it intends only to generate electricity.

At the United Nations, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton told The Associated Press that the announcements by the Iranian officials "shows that they're not paying any attention to what the Security Council has said because they're clearly continuing with their enrichment activities if this statement is true."

"And it shows why we feel a sense of urgency here that we have to have Iran realize the mistaken course it's pursuing," he said.

In Vienna, IAEA officials declined to comment on the report. A diplomat familiar with Tehran's enrichment program said the report appeared to be accurate. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss information restricted to the agency.

A spokesman for the British Foreign Office recalled that Iran was under Security Council orders to "resume full and sustained suspension of all its enrichment."

"The latest Iranian statement is not particularly helpful," the spokesman said, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with government policy.

On Monday, Tehran shrugged off reports that the United States is drawing backup plans for military action against Iran over its nuclear activities, saying they were an attempt to scare it into halting its program and warning any attack would bring a "suitable response."

Several American media reports over the weekend said the Bush administration was studying options for military strikes against Iran to stop its nuclear program. The New Yorker magazine raised the possibility of using atomic bombs against Iran's underground nuclear sites.

President Bush said Monday the reports were "wild speculation." He said his vow to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons "doesn't mean force necessarily. In this case it means diplomacy."

But the White House was not ruling out a military response and said "normal defense and intelligence planning" was under way.

Kamal Daneshyar, head of Energy Committee at the Iranian parliament, said the announcement means Iran has mastered the technical hurdles needed to enrich uranium to the degree required for reactor fuel.

"This is a major achievement. It means Iran is now able to produce nuclear fuel for its future nuclear reactors without any reliance on foreigners," he told the AP.

The enrichment process is one of the most difficult steps in developing a nuclear program. It requires a complicated plumbing network of pipes connecting centrifuges that can operate for months or years.

The process aims to produce a gas high with an increased percentage of uranium-235, the isotope needed for nuclear fission, which is much rarer than the more prevalent isotope uranium 238.

A gas made from raw uranium is pumped into a centrifuge, which spins, causing a small portion of the heavier uranium-238 to drop away. The gas then procedes to other centrifuges — perhaps thousands of them — where the process is repeated, increasing the proportion of uranium-235.

The enrichment process can take years to produce a gas rich enough in uranium-235 that it can be used to power a nuclear reactor or produce a bomb.

[American Patriot]

Ok.... a few fast notes.

Starting from scratch, it might take a few years to do this. Enriching the uranium is a tough process.

But if I remember right, there were no centrifuges to create the original atom bombs.....

[American Patriot]

Council on Foreign Relations told of U.S. plans for Iran strike
World Tribune ^ | April 11, 2006

Western defense sources and analysts told a meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations that Britain and the United States are preparing for the prospect of air strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities in late 2006 if diplomatic efforts at the United Nations Security Council are not succesful.

"In just the past few weeks I've been convinced that at least some in the administration have already made up their minds that they would like to launch a military strike against Iran," Joseph Cirincione, director of the Washington-based Non-Proliferation Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said. At a seminar by the Council on Foreign Relations, Cirincione said he based his assessment on conversations with those with "close connections with the White House and the Pentagon.

[On Tuesday, Iran announced the successful enrichment of uranium to the 3.5 percent level required to produce fuel to operate nuclear power reactors.]

On Monday, President George Bush said Iran's nuclear program could be halted by means other than force. He dismissed reports of U.S. plans for an air strike against Teheran.

"I know we're here in Washington [where] prevention means force," Bush said. "It doesn't mean force necessarily. In this case it means diplomacy."

"There is already active discussion and even planning of such strikes," Cirincione said. "It is now my working hypothesis that at least some members of the administration, including the vice president of the United States, have made up their mind that the preferred option is to strike Iran and that a military strike will destabilize the regime and contribute to their longtime goal of overthrowing the government of Iran."

Sam Gardiner, a retired Air Force colonel and instructor at the National Defense University, held a recent simulation of a U.S. attack on Iran.

Gardiner, envisioning a five-day military operation, identified 24 nuclear-related facilities — some of them 15 meters underground — as part of 400 Iranian sites required for U.S. targeting.

The targets for the U.S. military, Gardiner told a security conference in Berlin in April, would include two Iranian chemical production plants, medium-range ballistic missile launchers and 14 airfields with sheltered aircraft. He said the United States could use its B-2 fleet to destroy these targets.

"The Bush administration is very close to being left with only the military option," Gardiner said.

[On April 9, the Iranian daily Jumhuri Eslami reported that Iran shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle launched from neighboring Iraq. The newspaper said the UAV was relaying reconnaissance of southern Iran.] On April 3, the British Defence Ministry hosted a high-level strategic meeting in London that included senior officials from the Prime Ministry, Foreign Office and military. The Telegraph newspaper reported that the meeting focused on military plans against Iran, something the government quickly denied.

"Clearly at some level, the British don't feel that the military option will come into play until, at the very earliest, the late summer," Hugh Barnes, director of the Iran program of the London-based Foreign Policy Center, said.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw agreed. On April 9, Straw told the British Broadcasting Corp. that a military strike against Iran was not on the agenda.

"They [the Americans] are very committed indeed to resolving this issue by negotiation and by diplomatic pressure," Straw said. "And what the Iranians have to do is recognize they have overplayed their hand at each stage."

At this point, the Western sources said, Britain and the United States have agreed to seek support from China and Russia on UN sanctions on Iran.

They said the two countries hope to draft a unified Security Council resolution on sanctions before the G-8 summit in July.

Should that fail, the sources said, Britain and the United States would prepare for an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. They said the plans would allow London and Washington to prepare for the prospect of a Shi'ite backlash in Iraq.

"It is a kind of dual policy that the military will be looking at," Barnes said. "Not just the context strategically for what an attack on Iran would involve, but also the likely fallout from such an attack if — as is not yet conceivable — it was to take place."

Richard Haas, a former White House national security adviser and president of the Council on Foreign Relations, said the United States has drafted a military option against Iran. Haas said the option called for a limited military strike that would destroy Iran's nuclear facilities without seeking to overthrow the regime in Teheran.

"It would be a preventive military option, not preemptive because there's no imminent threat of use [of nuclear weapons]," Haas said. "But something more limited, to basically destroy or set back their nuclear development — a classic preventive military strike."

At the Council on Foreign Relations discussion, Reuel Gerecht, a former CIA operative in the Middle East and now with the American Enterprise Institute, said the Bush administration would wait three months to determine whether the Security Council was prepared to sanction Teheran. In July 2006, Gerecht said, the military option would undergo open debate in Washington.

"We have not had that debate," Gerecht said. "We are going to have that debate. I think we should have that debate sooner, not later, so we don't have to get bogged down."

[American Patriot]

Force will not resolve Iran nuclear impasse: Lavrov
afp ^ | 4.12.06 | afp

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that the standoff over Iran's nuclear program could not be resolved through use of force, news agencies reported. ADVERTISEMENT

"I am convinced that there can be no resolution of the problem through use of force," the agencies quoted Lavrov as saying on Wednesday.

"Practically all European countries are in solidarity with Russia" in this regard, Lavrov said.

He cautioned against drawing conclusions too quickly following the announcement Tuesday by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the Islamic republic had successfully enriched uranium itself for use as nuclear fuel.

The main goal still remained preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, Lavrov said.

"I would not rush to draw any conclusions because passions are inflamed too often with respect to Iran's nuclear program," he said.

"Our task, as I have often stated, is to prevent violation of the nuclear non-proliferation regime," the Russian minister said.

Earlier, the Russian foreign ministry spokesman called Ahmadinejad's announcement "a step in the wrong direction" and called on Tehran to suspend all uranium enrichment activity including that for scientific research purposes.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during his meeting with his Jordanian counterpart Abdelelah al-Khatib in Moscow, April 11. Lavrov has said that the standoff over Iran's nuclear program could not be resolved through use of force, news agencies reported.(AFP/Yuri Kadobnov)

[Brian Baldwin]

Force will not resolve Iran nuclear impasse: Lavrov
afp ^ | 4.12.06 | afp

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that the standoff over Iran's nuclear program could not be resolved through use of force, news agencies reported. ADVERTISEMENT

"I am convinced that there can be no resolution of the problem through use of force," the agencies quoted Lavrov as saying on Wednesday.

"Practically all European countries are in solidarity with Russia" in this regard, Lavrov said.

He cautioned against drawing conclusions too quickly following the announcement Tuesday by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the Islamic republic had successfully enriched uranium itself for use as nuclear fuel.

The main goal still remained preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, Lavrov said.

"I would not rush to draw any conclusions because passions are inflamed too often with respect to Iran's nuclear program," he said.

"Our task, as I have often stated, is to prevent violation of the nuclear non-proliferation regime," the Russian minister said.

Earlier, the Russian foreign ministry spokesman called Ahmadinejad's announcement "a step in the wrong direction" and called on Tehran to suspend all uranium enrichment activity including that for scientific research purposes.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during his meeting with his Jordanian counterpart Abdelelah al-Khatib in Moscow, April 11. Lavrov has said that the standoff over Iran's nuclear program could not be resolved through use of force, news agencies reported.(AFP/Yuri Kadobnov)

Hmmm.... I'm betting it's the only way it can be resolved.

[American Patriot]

Well, Brian, being the fair-minded individual I am, I'm trying to give all the sides their say. However, I agree with you. The following news article will verify this for us all.

[American Patriot]

Middle East

Times Online April 12, 2006


An Iranian official holds a capsule
of uranium hexafluoride at a
ceremony in Mashhad, Iran’s
holiest city, yesterday (AP)

World condemns Iran for enriching uranium
By Times Online and Agencies

The world’s leading powers today joined in a chorus of condemnation of Iran for advancing its atomic programme in defiance of the United Nations.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President, declared yesterday that Iran had produced its first batch of enriched uranium and would now press ahead with industrial-scale enrichment.

His announcement kept Tehran on a collision course with the United Nations Security Council, which last month ordered it to halt all work on nuclear enrichment. Many Western countries fear that Iran is pursuing atomic weapons, not just fuel for power stations as it insists.

Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, said today that the UN Security Council would need to meet again on the issue, and take "strong steps to make certain (to) maintain the credibility of the international community".

She did not say what those steps might be, but her spokesman, Sean McCormack, said they would be stronger than the presidential statement already issued by the Security Council.

Scott McClellan, the main White House spokesman, said that sanctions against Iran remained "a possibility as well, one option that’s available".

Russia and China - traditionally sympathetic to Tehran - added their voices to the chorus of criticism. Both are important players on the Iran issue, with veto rights at the Security Council, and have hitherto opposed sanctions against a country that is one of their major trading partners. Today Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, urged Iran to stop all enrichment work but repeated that the use of force could not solve the stand-off over Iran’s nuclear programme.

"If such plans exist they will not be able to solve this problem. On the contrary they could create a dangerous explosive blaze in the Middle East, where there are already enough blazes," he said.

George Bush, the US President, this week dismissed media reports of plans for strikes on Iran as "wild speculation" and saidthat force might not be needed to curb its nuclear ambitions.

Wang Guangya, China’s UN Ambassador, said that Tehran’s enrichment move was"not in line with what is required of them by the international community".

But a senior Iranian official ruled out any retreat. "Iran’s nuclear activities are like a waterfall which has begun to flow. It cannot be stopped," said the official, who asked not to be named.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will visit Iran tomorrow to seek full Iranian cooperation. The IAEA, whose inspectors are in Iran investigating nuclear sites, has given no comment on Iran’s statements. But an agency diplomat said:"The timing was strange but it may have been intended by them to improve their bargaining position."

Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General, urged all parties to return to talks to defuse the crisis. "I appeal to everyone to actively work to search for a diplomatic solution and to cool down the rhetoric and not to escalate," Mr Annan told Reuters after a meeting with Jan Peter Balkenende, the Dutch Prime Minister, in The Hague.

Britain, France and Germany, who brokered a deal to suspend enrichment which broke down last year, weighed in with criticism of Iran.

Jack Straw, the British Foreign Minister, said that the announcement was "deeply unhelpful" and undermined confidence. His German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said that Iran was"going in precisely the wrong direction" for a return to negotiations.

Philippe Douste-Blazy, that French Foreign Minister, said that it was a worrying step and Iran should stop its"dangerous activities".

The US State Department said that it was unable to confirm that Iran had enriched uranium and some experts said even if Tehran’s assertions were accurate, it would still be years before the Islamic Republic was able to produce a nuclear weapon.

The level of enrichment needed for nuclear bombs is far higher than the 3.5 per cent that Iran says that it has reached.

It would take Iran about two decades to yield enough highly enriched uranium for one bomb with its current cascade of 164 centrifuges. But Tehran says it wants to install 3,000 centrifuges, enough to produce material for a warhead in a year.

[American Patriot]

Alright...

NOW... let me make somethings PERFECTLY CLEAR here, for everyone.

1) The creation of an "atomic weapon" does not require that you have centrifuges to make the weapons. All you need is a sufficient quantity of uranium that is fissionable. Fissionable material is usually U-235.

2) Commercial/civilian reactors use material which is generally not "good enough" (red: unstable) enough to produce nuclear weapons either.

3) Running uranium hexafloride through centrifuges separates out the the U-238 and U-235. Uranium 238 is heavier than the U-235 and thus it separates out in the centrifuge process.

4) U-235 IS used in atomic weapons.

Ok. Those are FACTS. (anyone who wishes to dispute my facts, please, go check your physics at the door ok? Otherwise, you will see I am right about these things).

FACT: Iran has stated over and over this is for civilian reactor programs to produce electricity.

FACT: separators are NOT required to produce the required material for nuclear reactors, ONLY for better Uranium and Plutonium to be used in WEAPONS GRADE BOMBS.

FACT: Iran is run by a bunch of religious KOOKS, who are akin to the folks that were running Pakistan until recently (Taliban).

FACT: Iran has called us "Enemies" more than once.

FACT: Iran has stated they want to "wipte Israel from the face of the map"

FACT: The United Nations tried UNSUCCESSFULLY for 14 years and through 17 resloutions to stop IRAQ from producing nuclear material. They did NOTHING to stop IRAQ. It required the US and allies to go in and stop IRAQ.

FACT: Iran is the number two producer and exporter for OIL in OPEC. They have reserves of oil that can last them upwards of six months. They can shut off the oil in their country.

FACT: IRAN controls, or can militarily control the Staits of Hormuz, through which 80-90% of the worlds oil supplies travel.

FACT: Iran has THREATENED to use OIL and their control over the aforementioned region as a WEAPON.

If there is not enough evidence here to point to military action on the part of the United States, then by golly... I'm going to go into another business.

There is NO WAY the UN is going to stop Iran, any more than they stopped IRAQ. There is NO WAY, Iran is going to back off. Their own arrogance towards the west has shown this. We've asked nicely, pleaded with them, talked, and diplomated (is that a word? LOL) until we're blue in the face.

Now, according to the previous article I posted, the rest of the world, INCLUDING CHINA AND RUSSIA are coming down pretty hard on them.

Now what?