Iran News and Discussions

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RajeshA
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by RajeshA »

shyamd wrote:According to the report, Iran recently tested a neutron initiator, which is used to detonate a nuclear bomb, at the Fordo nuclear site.

The report also notes that North Korea recently sold Iran an MCNPX 2.6.0 computer program that simulates the neutron and photon flows in nuclear processes.A NoKo team of engineers were in Tehran to train def ministry officials on the program
Interesting how China has undermined American influence and power by proliferating to all. Through nuclear NoKo it has put Japan and South Korea in the dock, through nukes for Pakistan it has won Pakistan's gratitude and stolen West's rentboy from them. By using the NoKos, they have proliferated to Iran, and thus brought Iran closer to China. By using Pakistan, they have proliferated to Saudis and thus brought Saudis closer to China-Pakistan-Axis.

Chinese sell the biggest weapons in the world - nukes to everybody, so the Chinese get to have the most loyal friends in the world! Americans in their efforts to try to contain proliferation look like saboteurs in the national interests of all these countries. The Pakis think the Americans want to steal their nukes. The Saudis too would think, Americans don't want to allow Pakistanis to give the Sunni Saudis any nukes. Iran thinks America is out to get it, as the Iran nuclear file has been so prominent.

So the Chinese have neutralized the Western influence simply by busting Western system of proliferation without much cost to itself.

It is here that India should rethink our own policies regarding proliferation. India has to step up and transfer nuclear weapon know-how to Vietnam, Philippines, Taiwan and further if needed to South Koreans and Japanese. We have to make the Chinese suffer some of the inherent risks of nuclear proliferation as well including containment through nukes.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by ramana »

They used the system already existing against them.

Try to see the linakges of how the weapon was developed and how it spread.

US-> USSR (claimed by espionage)
US-> UK (by personnel working on original design)
US-> France (same as above)
France-> Israel (Plus US provided initial fuel)
US -> PRC? (TSP steals US components for PRC maal!)

So west is all proliferating like mad.

In addition all NATO including Turkey had weapons training with US weapons!

KS called all these crypto-nuke powers
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Agnimitra »

Iran in Mexico and the Caribbean: Building a Strategic Trampoline towards the US
Iran's plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington is a step further in a long term strategic effort to use Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean as a platform to operate in the US, says security expert Román D. Ortiz....
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by chetak »

Iran's Navy Threatens the Security of the Persian Gulf

Iran's Navy Threatens the Security of the Persian Gulf

Tehran's New Plan to Dominate its Region -- and Beyond


W. Jonathan Rue


October 24, 2011


While much of the world's attention focuses on Iran's nuclear program, Tehran has made considerable progress on another security front in recent years -- steadily increasing the reach and lethality of its naval forces. The goal by 2025, if all goes as the country has planned, is to have a navy that can deploy anywhere within a strategic triangle from the Strait of Hormuz to the Red Sea to the Strait of Malacca.




Should such plans materialize -- and Iran is making steady progress -- Tehran would redraw the strategic calculus of an already volatile region. The Persian Gulf is home to some of the world's most valuable supply lines, routes that are vital to the global energy supply. In the last few years, Iran has invested heavily in a domestic defense industry that now has the ability to produce large-scale warships, submarines, and missiles. [??? !!]





Since the end of the Iran-Iraq War in 1988, Iran has largely pursued a strategy of deterrence. Its ground forces, which number roughly 450,000, are trained and equipped to fight a prolonged, asymmetric defensive battle on its own territory. Likewise, Iran's air force can protect high value domestic targets such as the Natanz uranium enrichment facility and numerous military and political headquarters inside Tehran; it is incapable of long-range strike missions abroad. Iran simply does not possess the capability to project hard power into neighboring states.




But Iran's navy is different. It is the best organized, best trained, and best equipped service of the country's conventional military establishment. More than a nuclear weapons program, which would likely function as a passive deterrent, Iran's navy is an active component of Iran's activist foreign policy. The country's leadership, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has repeatedly said that Iran's navy is the critical foundation on which its long-term development and prosperity rests.





Iran actually has two navies -- the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRIN) and the vaunted Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN). The responsibilities of both have been expanding since 2007.




The IRIN operates conventional surface and subsurface platforms and fulfills a more traditional naval role. It is now responsible for the Caspian Sea, the Gulf of Oman, and the blue waters outside the Persian Gulf.




The IRGCN, which executes asymmetric operations with swarms of small boats that overwhelm the defenses of larger ships, has been tasked with defending the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz. This reorganization reflects Tehran's desire to be a naval power that can deploy and operate well outside Persian Gulf waters (via the IRIN) while still retaining formidable coastal defenses in the Persian Gulf (via the IRGCN).




Evidence of Iran's growing naval assertiveness is already on display. In December 2010, Iran participated in a training exercise with Djibouti during a port call there. Tehran sailed away from that engagement with a partnership agreement that could allow Iran to use Djibouti as a logistical base supporting a larger and persistent Iranian presence in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. Two months later, for the first time since 1979, Iran sent two ships through the Suez Canal to the Eastern Mediterranean, inducing the ire of both Israel and the United States. Neither country retaliated, but Israel closely tracked the ships as they sailed along the Israeli coast. This summer, Iran sent one of its Kilo class submarines to the Red Sea on a counter-piracy operation. Finally, Iran recently asserted plans to send naval patrols to the Western Atlantic. Although Iran probably doesn't have the capacity for such a mission, this kind of rhetoric speaks to Tehran's grand ambitions and is a way of emphasizing what it sees as the illegitimacy of the U.S. naval presence in the Persian Gulf.




On numerous occasions in recent years, IRGCN small boats have come dangerously close to U.S. and Western naval ships operating in the Persian Gulf. By all accounts, this is not an abnormal occurrence and usually ends with the small boat being turned away. But a recent change has increased the danger of escalation. Since 2005, Iran has been decentralizing command and control, not requiring subordinate commanders to get approval for all actions from senior leaders in Tehran. Thus, an IRGCN boat commander was able to take the initiative and capture a small crew of British sailors in 2007, a tactical action with strategic consequences. Should the IRGCN become more assertive, such engagements could spiral out of control.



Iran's emboldened navy is also increasing the country's influence throughout the region. The navy has the operational reach to visit countries that do not share a border with Iran. Such visits help foster good political relations, but, more important, they provide a foundation for military-to-military ties that can also yield operational benefits. For example, using ports in places such as Djibouti as resupply points allows Iran to increase the length and duration of deployments to waters outside its navy's traditional areas of operation. More worryingly, such an extended reach could also allow the IRIN to deliver weapons to various Iranian proxy groups abroad.




Moreover, the United States must now contend with the presence of IRIN ships well outside the Persian Gulf. This has enormous implications for U.S. military planners and commanders -- for example, it could force the U.S. Navy to implement increased force protection measures in waters, such as the Red Sea, that were once considered less volatile. Iran could soon have the ability to deny the U.S. entry through the Strait of Hormuz and into the Persian Gulf. [??? !!!]




In many ways, the origins of Iran's naval buildup stem from embargoes that the U.S. slapped on Tehran during its war with Iraq, more than two decades ago. Since then, Tehran has sought what it calls "self-sufficiency." It has invested heavily in a domestic defense industrial base. Employing Chinese, Russian, and North Korean technology, Iran has begun building its own ships, submarines, and missiles.




That industry is now producing. In 2010, the IRIN put its first domestically manufactured traditional surface combatant, the Mowj class destroyer, to sea. Tehran has also built four Combattante II class guided missile patrol boats. In August 2010, it expanded the Peykaap/Tir class line, a fast-attack craft capable of carrying anti-ship cruise missiles and hitting a cruising speed of 55 knots. The U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence says that these programs "demonstrate Iran's ability to produce mid- to large-size ships" and "will likely be followed by others."




Iran is also producing its own submarines and missiles. It has added multiple Ghadir class mini-subs to its order of battle since the reorganization. In 2007, Iran had only three in service. Now it has eleven, with another nine expected in the next three years. In 2008 Tehran announced the opening of a production line for a larger, more potent submarine platform, the 1,000 ton Qa'em class. It is working on its own missile designs, too, by reverse-engineering older Chinese models. The IRGCN test fired one such missile last spring, claiming an effective range of 186 miles. Last month, Tehran announced that it had begun full production of one based on those tests.




Reaction to the buildup in the Gulf has been mixed. For most of the six states that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council, Iran's nuclear program remains the dominant regional security concern.

With the United States' Fifth Fleet stationed in Bahrain and serving as the prime guarantor of maritime security across the region, the GCC has displayed little angst over Iran's growing naval power. Saudi Arabia, however, has been taking Tehran's growing assertiveness seriously. According to news reports, Riyadh is looking to spend another $30 billion to upgrade the Royal Saudi Navy (on top of the $60 billion arms deal that Washington and Riyadh signed in 2010). Final word on the new agreement could be announced by the end of the year.




Washington, meanwhile, has responded in a few different ways. Then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen suggested last month that Tehran and Washington link up a hotline to avoid miscommunication and prevent accidental tactical naval engagements from spiraling out of control. Tehran rejected the idea, presumably because it would give legitimacy to an ongoing U.S. naval presence in the Persian Gulf. Asked about Iran's September announcement that it would deploy naval vessels to the U.S. Atlantic coast, White House spokesman Jay Carney dismissed the possibility, saying that the White House did not take such pronouncements seriously.




Iran will obviously never reach naval parity with the United States, but the GCC countries, even with their newer, Western-supplied ships, would likely find themselves on the losing end of a naval engagement with Iran, mainly because of their minimal force numbers and their inability to coordinate any naval campaign.





As long as the United States continues to provide maritime security in the Middle East, the GCC will be able to rest easy. But Iran has a head start and the GCC should start thinking about implementing a naval modernization and development plan of its own.



W. JONATHAN RUE is Senior Research Analyst at the Institute for the Study of War.



A former active duty Marine officer, he served in Iraq from 2009–2010.
menon s
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by menon s »

KAHLILI: Iran already has nuclear weapons
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 ... r-weapons/
Commander Ali Shamkhani traveled to Pakistan, offering billions of dollars for a bomb, but ended up with a blueprint and centrifuges instead. The first centrifuge was transferred to Iran on Khomeini’s personal plane.
Kazakhstan, which had a significant portion of the Soviet arsenal and is predominately Muslim, was courted by Muslim Iran with offers of hundreds of millions of dollars for the bomb. Reports soon surfaced that three nuclear warheads were missing. This was corroborated by Russian Gen. Victor Samoilov, who handled the disarmament issues for the general staff. He admitted that the three were missing from Kazakhstan.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by shyamd »

^^ Its BS and just propaganda, they dont have the stuff ready yet.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by abhischekcc »

ramana wrote:They used the system already existing against them.

Try to see the linakges of how the weapon was developed and how it spread.

US-> USSR (claimed by espionage)
US-> UK (by personnel working on original design)
US-> France (same as above)
France-> Israel (Plus US provided initial fuel)
US -> PRC? (TSP steals US components for PRC maal!)

So west is all proliferating like mad.

In addition all NATO including Turkey had weapons training with US weapons!

KS called all these crypto-nuke powers

This makes the Indian nuke program the only nuke program other than the one run by the US.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by svinayak »

abhischekcc wrote:
ramana wrote:They used the system already existing against them.

Try to see the linakges of how the weapon was developed and how it spread.

US-> USSR (claimed by espionage)
US-> UK (by personnel working on original design)
US-> France (same as above)
France-> Israel (Plus US provided initial fuel)
US -> PRC? (TSP steals US components for PRC maal!)

So west is all proliferating like mad.

In addition all NATO including Turkey had weapons training with US weapons!

KS called all these crypto-nuke powers

This makes the Indian nuke program the only nuke program other than the one run by the US.
Even the Indian TN weapon design is supposed to be inspired by US design
The complex metal fusion of the outer layer with the inner layers for accurate gas expansion is supposed to have been derived from earlier design.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Agnimitra »

Sorry if this is OT:
Iran footballers could face lash for goal celebration
A pair of Iranian footballers may face a public lashing after a bizarre goal celebration was deemed to have violated the country's strict homosexuality laws, Iran's state media reported.

The country's political, sporting and religious establishment wheeled on Mohammad Nosrati and Sheys Rezaei after television footage appeared to show Nosrati pushing his hand into his team mate's buttocks as they celebrated during scoring during a domestic league game.

Both men, who play for Tehran-based team Persepolis, were immediately banned from football for life for "immoral acts" and fined £25,000.

The Fars news agency, which often acts as an official mouthpiece for the Iranian government, quoted a judge who warned that "this action can be considered as a violation of public chastity."

Judge Valiollah Hosseini said: “The punishment of this crime is prison up to two months and 74 lashes.

“It is even worse to do these actions before the eyes of thousands of spectators and TV cameras."
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by svinayak »

Image



Iran Forgets India and Keeps Pitching Peace Pipeline to Pakistan

Iran, becoming more isolated appeals to Pakistan to move ahead with natural gas “peace pipeline.” Saboteurs have already had their say in the idea. Image via BSO-NA

As Iran becomes more marginalized with US-backed sanctions, Iran seeks to conduct business with more hospitable partners, like Pakistan. Every year floods devastate Pakistan, this year with a momentous 6 million displaced. Lack of regular power, according to Natasha Paracha (Miss Pakistan 2008), is a top 3 problem in Pakistan, along with food insecurity, and the diseases and troubles that flood waters carry with it. But as past US President Clinton seeks to repair US-Pakistan relations Pakistan could be doing itself a disservice by looking to Iran to furnish its energy needs via an Iran-Pak gas pipeline.

According to the Pakistan Daily Times, Mashallah Shakari, the Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan, has said the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline could bring an bring industrial revolution to Pakistan.

Two weeks ago, he said so at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, commenting that such a pipeline would create “a peaceful atmosphere in the region” and it would improve tourism and economy of both the nations. Iran has already laid down a part of the pipeline, and he implored Pakistani businessman to look to strengthening economic cooperation between Iran and Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Iranian Big Brother?

He said exchange of business delegations could pave the way for exploring areas of common interest. Iran would provide technical and all other kinds of assistance to Pakistan to overcome energy crisis.

He said Ummah should be united to overcome the challenges of world powers. There were centuries-old civilisation, historical and cultural relations between Pakistan and Iran, both countries should enhance further cooperation in trade, industry and other sectors.

He expressed hope industrial exchange program would help promote trade relations. He said Iran was willing to import rice, meat, fruits and many other items from Pakistan, adding, Iran and Punjab government were going to set up slaughterhouses in Lahore.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Cosmo_R »

How much credibility does this 'greenprophet.com' have? It confuses Hillary with Bill:

"But as past US President Clinton seeks to repair US-Pakistan relations". Also, Iranians do not see themselves as Pakistan's 'little brother'.

It's a paki plant
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by RamaY »

^ see Balochistan in the above map :eek:
svinayak
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by svinayak »

Good eye :mrgreen:
Cosmo_R
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Cosmo_R »

@RamaY ^^ missed it. What's the map imply? It's from the Heritage Foundation. I don't think the shaded lines mean much.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by svinayak »

No Paki will post it in his article.
Indians may do things like this with maps without Kashmir
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Philip »

Ye Gods! Bankrupt Europe,emboldened by their "victory" in Libya, now want to go to war with Iran! Israel's PM Bibi and his Df. Min. are all gung-ho to wage war with Iran and attack its N-installations and are arm twisting the US to approve of their plan.As of now they've not got the majority of the cabinet behind them.Britain from this report is preparing for a war with Iran even as the Euro is having a heart attack and our beloved FM,Pranabda,says today that poverty stricken India,where lakhs of farmers have committed suicide,is willing to help bail out the Euro!!!

We will now have another Tony B.Liar assessment that Ahmed-in-a-jacket has got N-tipped missiles ready to strike the UK within 15 minutes,blah,blah.The same bull-crap that the west used to wage war with Iraq will be dusted off the covers,the UN and its flunkey Bunkum Sec-Gen trained to do his Uncle's bidding,pass another resolution to "save humanity" from the Persian nuclear predator and we will be off the blocks again,this time starting war that could set the entire oil rich region aflame.Iran is not another supine Iraq,which is also a Shiite dominated nation and any atack on Iran could see Iraq erupt again not to mention the disruption of oil supplies from the Gulf with Iranian naval attacks against tanker shipping.I can see in my mind someone I know extremely well,who has a vital maritime role in the Gulf nervously biting his fingernails at the prospect of war.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/no ... ck-nuclear

UK military steps up plans for Iran attack amid fresh nuclear fears
British officials consider contingency options to back up a possible US action as fears mount over Tehran's capability

Xcpts:
Britain's armed forces are stepping up their contingency planning for potential military action against Iran amid mounting concern about Tehran's nuclear enrichment programme, the Guardian has learned.

The Ministry of Defence believes the US may decide to fast-forward plans for targeted missile strikes at some key Iranian facilities. British officials say that if Washington presses ahead it will seek, and receive, UK military help for any mission, despite some deep reservations within the coalition government.

In anticipation of a potential attack, British military planners are examining where best to deploy Royal Navy ships and submarines equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles over the coming months as part of what would be an air and sea campaign.

They also believe the US would ask permission to launch attacks from Diego Garcia, the British Indian ocean territory, which the Americans have used previously for conflicts in the Middle East.

The Guardian has spoken to a number of Whitehall and defence officials over recent weeks who said Iran was once again becoming the focus of diplomatic concern after the revolution in Libya.

They made clear that Barack Obama, has no wish to embark on a new and provocative military venture before next November's presidential election.

But they warned the calculations could change because of mounting anxiety over intelligence gathered by western agencies, and the more belligerent posture that Iran appears to have been taking.

Hawks in the US are likely to seize on next week's report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is expected to provide fresh evidence of a possible nuclear weapons programme in Iran.

The Guardian has been told that the IAEA's bulletin could be "a game changer" which will provide unprecedented details of the research and experiments being undertaken by the regime.

One senior Whitehall official said Iran had proved "surprisingly resilient" in the face of sanctions, and sophisticated attempts by the west to cripple its nuclear enrichment programme had been less successful than first thought.

He said Iran appeared to be "newly aggressive, and we are not quite sure why", citing three recent assassination plots on foreign soil that the intelligence agencies say were coordinated by elements in Tehran.

In addition to that, officials now believe Iran has restored all the capability it lost in a sophisticated cyber-attack last year.The Stuxnet computer worm, thought to have been engineered by the Americans and Israelis, sabotaged many of the centrifuges the Iranians were using to enrich uranium.

Up to half of Iran's centrifuges were disabled by Stuxnet or were thought too unreliable to work, but diplomats believe this capability has now been recovered, and the IAEA believes it may even be increasing.

Ministers have also been told that the Iranians have been moving some more efficient centrifuges into the heavily-fortified military base dug beneath a mountain near the city of Qom.

The concern is that the centrifuges, which can be used to enrich uranium for use in weapons, are now so well protected within the site that missile strikes may not be able to reach them. The senior Whitehall source said the Iranians appeared to be shielding "material and capability" inside the base.

Another Whitehall official, with knowledge of Britain's military planning, said that within the next 12 months Iran may have hidden all the material it needs to continue a covert weapons programme inside fortified bunkers. He said this had necessitated the UK's planning being taken to a new level.

"Beyond [12 months], we couldn't be sure our missiles could reach them," the source said. "So the window is closing, and the UK needs to do some sensible forward planning. The US could do this on their own but they won't.

"So we need to anticipate being asked to contribute. We had thought this would wait until after the US election next year, but now we are not so sure.

"President Obama has a big decision to make in the coming months because he won't want to do anything just before an election."

Another source added there was "no acceleration towards military action by the US, but that could change". Next spring could be a key decision-making period, the source said. The MoD has a specific team considering the military options against Iran.

The Guardian has been told that planners expect any campaign to be predominantly waged from the air, with some naval involvement, using missiles such as the Tomahawks, which have a range of 800 miles (1,287 km). There are no plans for a ground invasion, but "a small number of special forces" may be needed on the ground, too.

The RAF could also provide air-to-air refuelling and some surveillance capability, should they be required. British officials say any assistance would be cosmetic: the US could act on its own but would prefer not to.

An MoD spokesman said: "The British government believes that a dual track strategy of pressure and engagement is the best approach to address the threat from Iran's nuclear programme and avoid regional conflict. We want a negotiated solution – but all options should be kept on the table."

The MoD says there are no hard and fast blueprints for conflict but insiders concede that preparations there and at the Foreign Office have been under way for some time.

One official said: "I think that it is fair to say that the MoD is constantly making plans for all manner of international situations. Some areas are of more concern than others. "It is not beyond the realms of possibility that people at the MoD are thinking about what we might do should something happen on Iran. It is quite likely that there will be people in the building who have thought about what we would do if commanders came to us and asked us if we could support the US. The context for that is straightforward contingency planning."

Washington has been warned by Israel against leaving any military action until it is too late.

Western intelligence agencies say Israel will demand that the US act if it believes its own military cannot launch successful attacks to stall Iran's nuclear programme. A source said the "Israelis want to believe that they can take this stuff out", and will continue to agitate for military action if Iran continues to play hide and seek.

It is estimated that Iran, which has consistently said it is interested only in developing a civilian nuclear energy programme, already has enough enriched uranium for between two and four nuclear weapons.

Experts believe it could be another two years before Tehran has a ballistic missile delivery system.

British officials admit to being perplexed by what they regard as Iran's new aggressiveness, saying that they have been shown convincing evidence that Iran was behind the murder of a Saudi diplomat in Karachi in May, as well as the audacious plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington, which was uncovered last month.

"There is a clear dotted line from Tehran to the plot in Washington," said one.

Earlier this year, the IAEA reported that it had evidence Tehran had conducted work on a highly sophisticated nuclear triggering technology that could only be used for setting off a nuclear device.

It also said it was "increasingly concerned about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed nuclear-related activities involving military-related organisations, including activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile."

Last year, the UN security council imposed a fourth round of sanctions on Iran to try to deter Tehran from pursuing any nuclear ambitions.

At the weekend, the New York Times reported that the US was looking to build up its military presence in the region, with one eye on Iran.

According to the paper, the US is considering sending more naval warships to the area, and is seeking to expand military ties with the six countries in the Gulf Co-operation Council: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

PS:Barak Obama,who is worried about another war lessening his chances of re-election,is now being seduced with the spin that he can don the mantle of being the messiah of the West havng already exterminated Bin Laden and Gaddhafi and will perform a hat-trick if he knocks out Ahmed-in-a-jacket too along with Iran's N-ambitions,and thus avenge the humiation of the US when the Iranians took US diplomats hostage after the Revolution and exorcise the memory of Carter's failed rescue attempt.A dickey-bird tells me that the Paki military are being given the option to cooperate with any US attack against Iran and forgo US action against their N-sites and military targets.Afghanistan is going to be their prize if they assist the US in taking out the Iranians.Paki territory will be used as it has been before for covert insertions of agents and other classified secret ops,perhaps even the use of Paki air bases for US air attacks against Iran.

The speed with which the ground is shifting in the region with Iran now the target letting the Pakis off the hook is firghtening! This explains Hillary's ambivalent comments recently,Pak has been offered the carrot or stick.The big Q is what will the PRC and the Russians do of Iran is attacked.The PRC have made huge investments in Iran's military and any "Mc Donald's take-away" of the Gulf's oil will dramatically impinge upon them.Stock up on gas guys and start collecting firewood!.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by abhischekcc »

So the change of heart of Hillary towards paksitam, and toning down of rhetoric is about paki cooperation for attacks on Iran?

Truly a country without a single ethical bone in their.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Philip »

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 56297.html

Missile test fuels talk of Israeli plan to strike Iran's nuclear sites
Public opinion is divided on the merits of such an attack, but not along left-right lines

Xcpt:
Israel yesterday test-fired a ballistic missile – believed to be long-range and capable of reaching Iran – amid a public debate triggered by reports that the country's Prime Minister is mustering support for a strike on Tehran's nuclear facilities.

Though said by officials to have been long planned, the missile launch from the Palmachim air base near Tel Aviv fed speculation about Israel’s intentions after strong signs that there has been serious discussion within its Cabinet about the merits of a military option.

Defence officials gave few details of the launch but the Defence Minister Ehud Barak said it was “an impressive technological achievement.” He added: “The successful experiment proves again that the engineers, technicians and staff of the Israeli defence industries are of the highest level."

The test coincided with persistent, if unconfirmed, media reports, which began anew last Friday with a front page column by Israel’s most prominent commentator Nahum Barnea, that both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr Barak are seeking to build ministerial support for a military strike designed to disrupt Iran’s nuclear programme.

It also comes days before the expected publication next week of the latest report from the International Atomic Energy Authority, which Israeli experts are anticipating may help to vindicate the assessment that Iran could be two or three years away from a nuclear weapons capability once it decides to pursue it.

The degree of public comment - including by politicians taking part in supposedly secret discussions of strategy on Iran - yesterday prompted Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor to complain that it was “insane” and causing a “very serious situation” to be conducting open discussion about such a sensitive security issue.

Mr Meridor, who also has responsibility for intelligence affairs, declared in an interview with the Maariv newspaper that, “a public debate about this is nothing less than a scandal. I don’t think we’ve ever had anything like it. We’re talking about the country’s basic ability to function. Not every issue is a matter for public debate.” Though emphatic in his views on the threat posed by Iran, Mr Meridor has in the past stressed the importance of any move against it being led by the US.

However Mr Meridor’s remarks coincided with another report yesterday, this time in Haaretz, that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Barak had converted a hitherto sceptical foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, to a favourable view of a military attack on Iran. The report quoted an unnamed Israeli official saying that this still left a “small advantage” in the Cabinet for those currently opposing a military strike
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Suppiah »

Someone's gotta get up and shout 'Delanda Iran' or words to that effect. If it is Netanyahu dragging Unkil and its poodles into that situation, so be it..that would only leave the KSA sub-humans as the remaining outpost of jehadi terrorism to be dealt with.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Philip »

Israeli PM orders investigation into Iran leakKuwaiti paper says Binyamin Netanyahu believes the heads of the Mossad and Shin Bet may have leaked plans for attack

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/no ... -iran-leak

The former head of Mossad and recently its former chief peace negotiator with the Palestinians,have condemned Bibi Netanyahu's warmongering against Iran and his stand on the peace talks.They both feel that his agressive policies will bring disaster to Israel and as the report alleges,may have deliberately leaked out Bibi's plans to attack Iran in order to prevent a most dangerous conflict from erupting.
Israeli PM orders investigation into Iran leak
Kuwaiti paper says Binyamin Netanyahu believes the heads of the Mossad and Shin Bet may have leaked plans for attack

Ian Black, Middle East editor guardian.co.uk, Thursday 3 November 2011

Israel has successfully test-fired a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and striking Iran. Photograph: Baz Ratner/Reuters
Israel's prime minister has ordered an investigation into alleged leaks of plans to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, it has been reported.

According to the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Jarida, the main suspects are the former heads of the Mossad and the Shin Bet, respectively Israel's foreign and domestic intelligence agencies.

Netanyahu is said to believe that the two, Meir Dagan and Yuval Diskin, wanted to torpedo plans being drawn up by him and Ehud Barak, the defence minister, to hit Iranian nuclear sites. Tzipi Livni, leader of the opposition Kadima party, is also said to have been persuaded to attack Netanyahu for "adventurism" and "gambling with Israel's national interest".

The paper suggested that the purpose of the leaks was to prevent an attack, which had moved from the stage of discussion to implementation. "Those who oppose the plan within the security establishment decided to leak it to the media and thwart the plan," it said.

Both Dagan and Diskin oppose military action against Iran unless all other options – primarily international diplomatic pressure and perhaps sabotage — have been exhausted. In January the recently retired Dagan, a hawk when he was running the Mossad, called an attack on Iran "the stupidest idea I've ever heard".
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by shyamd »

^^ Military deception. They (US, Israel, Turkey) are just playing psy ops games with Iran - due to Syria situation. No one is ready yet for war - they are all busy preparing. Last option is war and its increasingly more likely but not yet. I'll publish a blog post tonight on the regional situation.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Prasad »

Is it just Netanyahu who is hell bent on going to war or does he have widespread support among politicos and public in Israel?
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Suppiah »

Netanyahu is a smart politician who understands the pulse like any other politician. I think he would not be jingo otherwise. Israeli public seem to be with him on not just this but also his other aggressive postures on the Palestinian issue - even angering US/Germany and others at times, let alone ME neighbours..
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by shyamd »

x post

Regional Update - Nov 4th
This week has been particularly action packed with Israel testing a ballistic missile system, Turkey threatening to send its warships to escort aid ships to the port of Gaza, Syria - Arab League deals, UK stands ready to deploy its Trident equipped submarines in Arabian Gulf waters to support an allied mission to destroyIranian nuclear sites.

Syria

We continue where we left off from our 2 part series on the Syrian situation.




We are of the opinion that large number of alawite leaders (both businessmen and military) are of the view that it is now too late to save the system. However, the question they seem to be pondering is whether they will continue to have a role in a post Assad world? Will the wider public take it easy on them? Looking at Egypt, businessmen who were allied with the Mubarak regime are today being prosecuted and targeted, so we should probably conclude that Syrian public will not go easy on the alawite community. Therefore It is likely that several Alawites may fight right to the end and prolong the brutal attack on citizens. This will lead to further growing international pressure. Just yesterday the Chinese asked the Syrian government to resolve the issue.

Is the Syrian government agreement with the Arab League to implement reforms a sign of strength or weakness? Probably weakness. In our opinion, this is just to buy more time, on the ground not a lot seems to have changed as more deaths were reported yesterday and today.



The Alawite military can still rely on a vast number of loyal soldiers, therefore this is a recipe for civil war. So therefore efforts are underway to convince the army to conduct a coup in order to have an orderly transition of power preventing a civil war from taking place. Will this be successful? Maybe.

Keep in mind, that for Obama and Sarkozy elections are coming up. It is easier for them to show external success than to show domestic economic successes, so you will see Sarko and Obama more active with regards to Syria.


Iran

The international pressure on Iran seems to be increasing. If the IAEA and western/GCC intelligence reports are to be believed it appears that Iran is speeding up its nuclear activity. If this is not resolved diplomatically, war is the last option. Therefore, countries require more time to prepare for the eventual war.




The Gulf intelligence agencies have compiled an intelligence report titeled "The nuclearisation of Iran". This is meant to be issued prior to the GCC Defence ministers meeting in Riyadh sometime in November/December. According to the report, Iran has recently tested a neutron initiator, which is used to detonate anuclear bomb at the Fordo site. It also mentioned that Khamanei has taken full contol of the nuclear file, away from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The report also notes that North Korea recently sold Iran an MCNPX 2.6.0 computer program that simulates the neutron and photon flows in nuclear processes.A North Korean team of engineers were in Tehran to train defence ministry officials on the program.





There appears to be a lot of deception and psy-ops going on. First Britain confirmed that it will take part in any operation to support an allied mission to destroy Iranian nuclear sites by deploying its Trident equipped Submarines. The British subs were in the Arabian gulf a few years ago conducting manuevers with other allied forces.

Raising the nuclear issue about Syria's attempts to acquire nuclear capability was also we think, a means to attack Iran diplomatically and also keep the pressure on the Syrian regime. Transfer of US troops from Iraq to the Gulf is also due to the fact that there is an estimate that Iran will respond to the removal of the Assad regime by retaliating in the Gulf. This will be done via proxy groups such as Mahdi army in Iraq (the IRGC is busy professionalising the Mahdi Army and building it on the lines of Hezbollah), Hezbollah and others.


Israel Air Force planes participating in an aviation drill at Decimomannu air base, Italy, Oct. 2011.

Another interesting piece of news was the NATO exercise with the Israeli Air force, where F-16s travelled 1700km to bases in Italy, which was supposedly a dress rehearsal for an attack on Iran. Then also the leak of news to the media about PM Netanyahu convincing his cabinet to agree to military strikes on Iran. Our opinion is that this is nothing but strategic deception in order to maintain the pressure on Iran and divert its focus away from saving the Syrian regime. These exercises are also due to the fact that western alliance do not rule out some response by the Iranian regime to the removal of the Assad regime (their ally).

The decision for Erdogan to send Turkish Naval ships to escort aid ships to Gaza may also be strategic deception. Most people know that the Turkish Navy has no capability to take on Israeli navy, therefore there is a possibilitythat this serves as a cover for some other action.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by ramana »

Please put a visitor counter on the blog to get traffic data.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Jeff Lira »

Israel now prepares a war against Iran to paralyze their nuclear program, apparently US is also in favour as it is against Iran's nuclear program for years. Britain has also decided to deploy its royal navy near Iran to assist American and Israeli assault. Israel has instructed their ambassadors around he world to explain their stand on it.

Israel Prepares to Attack Nuclear Iran; Iran Ready
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by member_20029 »

abhischekcc wrote:So the change of heart of Hillary towards paksitam, and toning down of rhetoric is about paki cooperation for attacks on Iran?

Truly a country without a single ethical bone in their.
Abhischek ji,

I don't necessarily think that is the case. I'm currently in the US, and the politics here are *very messed up*.
I don't think it's about "paki cooperation", but more along the lines of making sure that the Mid East doesn't blow up.

think of it this way, India doesn't need American dealings right now. But, if the Pakis are left unattended, the entire country will dissolve and turn into a bunch of raghead jihadis.

plus, as evidenced in the First Gulf War, using an Islamic country to fight another Islamic country doesn't work very well (unless there's a Sunni/Shi'ite split, like Iraq/Iran). So I don't think Pak will be needed for tactical help, and the Paki generals will probably be too paranoid about loosening military pressure on the LOC.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by shyamd »

ramana wrote:Please put a visitor counter on the blog to get traffic data.
Done. Thanks.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Suppiah »

shyamd wrote:
ramana wrote:Please put a visitor counter on the blog to get traffic data.
Done. Thanks.
These days that is meaningless as there are so many bots and auto-indexing programs around, they generate a lot of traffic..

Incidentally, have you started posting articles for some media that you mentioned earlier?
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Suppiah »

I really doubt Haaretz, though left-wing, and opposed to attacking Iran, would openly publish a cabinet discussion if it really were discussing a specific attack. 400% psy-ops onleee, just using Haaretz makes it somewhat more credible, IMHO. Jpost would probably not have same effect..very interesting thing is that in UK too, Guardian has been roped in, not some right wing media! If indeed it is psy-ops, that is one damn smart move..

The game plan may be to keep the nerves of Iranian mullahs and its army so much on the edge for months or weeks, that it frays and when the real attack comes, they are caught off guard...though it is no surprise to anyone, it still is a surprise to the ones defending...after all, no human army can stay on razor edge alert for so long..

Plus it could be a bit to add some fire to the rabid mullah - Ahmed-nutjob conflict going on for a while now with nut job being summoned to parliament etc. coming to head. This on surface may look like a plan to unite them on one anti-zionist anti-Unkil crusade, but that is not the way it may turn out to be, if war is really on the horizon and one or both camps see only damages and losses in the horizon. At least that could be Unkils calculation.

Either that or a more benign plan to get sanctions implemented...all that we have seen so far of Ombaba does not make him the kind of guy that would initiate conflict that too in a crashing economy and poll ratings in dolldrums scenario. The right wing jingos are never gonna vote for him even if he were to put the entire ME to sword. All he ends up with is losing the hardcore left wing vote and jehadi followers of CAIR etc.

Netanyahu must be reckoning that if he can light the fuse, the right wing pro-jewish lobby in US will take care of rest and drag unkil and its poodles across the Atlanic in as well - with only one result - destruction of Iranian mullacracy, even if nooks themselves survive in their underground cellars.

IMHO that is also a smart move..hope he succeeds..
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by shyamd »

Suppiah wrote: These days that is meaningless as there are so many bots and auto-indexing programs around, they generate a lot of traffic..

Incidentally, have you started posting articles for some media that you mentioned earlier?
Not yet, IBN are having IT issues per the editor... so just waiting.

----------------------------
FYI, they will keep the war drum beats going, the plan is to collapse Iran from within in the long run - as long as naval armada's start moving in and out of the hormuz, iran will have to keep spenidng less on development/its people. But strikes on Iran will take place in the next 2 years as a last resort, but they all need to get prepared and ready for it - this takes time. Bushehr will be left alone. India needs to build its reserve capacity/underground caverns to have at least 30 day apacity. Right now its around 9 - 15 days max! Indian navy will have to deploy to secure oil and prevent blocking of the hormuz.

The next move appears to be sanctions on iranian oil, but Obama is a bit reluctant given the economic situation. KSA will pump from excess capacity when the war happens. The expectation is that India, Rus, PRC will continue dealing with Iran after the oil sanctions, so there is also a question of futility of oil sanctions with the obama administration.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by shyamd »

All the diplomats and officials are waiting for the release of the IAEA report. ITs going to be the most detailed charges against IRan's nuclear weapon development. Paves the way for oil sanctions in the next few months?
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by nandakumar »

There is some talk that George Bush is coming to India tomorrow. Could it be about Iran? Bush is supposed to have a rapport with Manmohan Singh.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Agnimitra »

shyamd wrote:All the diplomats and officials are waiting for the release of the IAEA report. ITs going to be the most detailed charges against IRan's nuclear weapon development. Paves the way for oil sanctions in the next few months?
Are oil sanctions against Iran feasible? Iran currently has presidency of the OPEC. China won't allow such sanctions, and even India would need a very good reason to go along with it.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by shyamd »

^^ Its the big debate raging at the moment. They can justify it legally. I've mentioned the same in the post above, India PRC Rus will still buy Iranian oil so it wont make a difference. Obama himself is reluctant due to the fragile economy. But KSA says they have enough spare capacity to cover the Iranian production.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Philip »

Cohen: "Ultimately,it's a fight about Israel's nuclear monopoly in the region"

Iran nuclear report: IAEA claims Tehran working on advanced warhead
IAEA findings could pave way to sanctions or military strike although no 'smoking gun' expected to be revealed in report

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/no ... ar-warhead

Xcpts:
Julian Borger, diplomatic editor guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 November 2011 22.38
An Iranian nuclear power plant in Bushehr. Photograph: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA

The UN's nuclear watchdog will publish new details on Wednesday on alleged Iranian work on an advanced design for a nuclear warhead developed with the help of a former Soviet scientist, according to nuclear experts.

The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which will also identify a suspect site where warhead components have been tested, is the most detailed presentation to date of its evidence for recent nuclear weapons research in Iran.

It is expected to raise tensions in an already volatile region, amid reports that Israel, the US and the UK are weighing military options aimed at setting back the Iranian nuclear programme. Israeli officials are telling western capitals that the report represents the "last chance" for a peaceful resolution to the Iranian nuclear crisis.

Iranian officials have already denounced the report as "counterfeit" and there are doubts, even in Washington and London, whether the IAEA evidence will be enough to convince Russia and China to abandon their opposition to further economic sanctions, let alone countenance air strikes.

The report will use information provided by western intelligence agencies, and although it will cite only evidence that has been corroborated by the IAEA's own research, its provenance is likely to become a focus of debate. The IAEA report will say the Iranian studies on weaponisation have been downgraded since 2004 from building and testing components to mostly computer modelling.

"This will not be a smoking gun," said Olli Heinonen, formerly the IAEA's chief inspector now at Harvard University. "But there are areas of concern, and much of it is alarming."

One of the biggest areas of concern for the IAEA is evidence that Iranian scientists have conducted research on hemispherical arrays of explosives, of a type used in the construction of nuclear weapons to crush a spherical core of fissile material and thereby trigger a chain reaction.

The central evidence for the research is a five-page document outlining experiments with the device, codenamed the R265 because it has a 265mm radius, but the UN inspectors are said to have gathered other corroborating evidence.

David Albright, a former UN weapons inspector who now runs an independent thinktank, the Institute for Science and International Security (Isis), said the device, first described in a 2009 article in the Guardian, relies on a complex system to ensure a large number of explosives are triggered simultaneously.

"It is a hemispherical aluminium shell system that contains a distributed array of explosive filled channels which terminate in explosive pellets," Albright told the Guardian.

"The pellets simultaneously explode to initiate the entire outer surface of a high explosive component in hemispherical form under the shell. These explosive would compress the core. The whole hemispherical system is initiated by one initial point of detonation, or two points for an entire device of two hemispheres."

Previous IAEA reports have said Iran appears to have received foreign assistance in its experiments with advanced explosive devices, and the Washington Post named Vyacheslav Danilenko, a Russian former atomic scientist, as a key advisor, who is said to have given lectures and contributed papers on explosives at Iran's now defunct Physics Research Centre, which had ties to the country's nuclear programme.

Danilenko did not reply to emails seeking comment, but sources close to the IAEA said he told its inspectors that he believed his advice was being used for civilian purposes. He is now carrying out research for a Czech-based company which uses explosives to make tiny diamonds for industrial uses.

Press reports from Vienna, where the IAEA is based, said Wednesday's report will also give details of the agency's suspicions that a steel bus-sized chamber spotted in satellite photos at a military complex at Parchin, 18 miles south-east of Tehran, has been used for testing explosive components for a nuclear weapon. The IAEA has previously conducted two inspections of parts of the Parchin complex in 2005, but found no evidence of nuclear activity. However, large parts of the complex were not subject to inspection.

The Tehran government has rejected the evidence. The foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, has rejected it as "counterfeit". In an interview with an Egyptian newspaper, Al Akhbar, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said: "The bullying powers of the world should know that Iran will not allow them to take any measure against the country."

The IAEA report comes at a time of an unprecedented public debate in Israel over whether the country should take military action to try to prevent Iran developing a nuclear weapon, amid reports that the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, is seeking to convince his coalition government to support such action.

Earlier this year the US supplied Israel with 55 bunker-busting bombs, and last week the Israeli air force conducted drills at a Nato base in Sardinia for long-range attacks. Reports from Israel have suggested that any raid against Iranian nuclear sites could be routed over Iraq, which has no anti-aircraft batteries.

However, Avner Cohen, an expert on Israel's own nuclear arsenal and a professor at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, said: "I think it's 70%-80% bluff that we are planning to attack. I don't think Israel is planning to do anything right now, but it wants to leverage the report to put maximum pressure on Russia and China to agree to very new sanctions or risk a new war."

Cohen added: "Everybody recognises it will be counter-productive, that the costs outweigh the benefits. Iran would leave NPT [nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty] throw out the IAEA, and declare it has the right to nuclear weapons. I don't they have a majority even in the inner cabinet to do it, but there is no question they are building capabilities."

He said they thought that even hawks did not believe that Iran would use a nuclear weapon against Israel, but they believe it might be necessary to go to war to preserve Israel's relative power in the Middle East.

"Ultimately this is a fight over the Israeli nuclear monopoly in the region," Cohen said.

Jeffery Lewis, a nuclear expert at the New America Foundation, said that the details of the IAEA report would be crucial in judging its significance.

"If the allegation is that the Iranians have continued to do research at university level, the question whether these things are unambiguous. The precise level of government involvement is the key," Lewis said.

He added: "If Iran is moseying towards a bomb option, there are all sorts of things they can do legitimately which taken in sum support the hypothesis they are taking that path. The thing they want to avoid is making that final choice [to make a bomb].

"We are going to have accept there is going to be some risk, but maybe its worth living with ambiguity in the hope of somehow heading them off from exercising that choice, because iff you strike the Iranian programme you guarantee they are going to turn around and try to make a bomb. You buy yourselves a few years but it's pretty sure they end up with a bomb."

Explosive charge: The scientist accused of aiding Tehran
Vyacheslav Danilenko, a Russian former atomic scientist, was alleged in the Washington Post to have provided advice on explosives to Iranian scientists which was incorporated into Tehran's design for a nuclear warhead.

Sources close to the IAEA confirmed he was the "foreign expert" referred to in its past reports on Iranian weaponisation.

It said he had given lectures over a number of years to Iranian specialists on how to rig simultaneous explosions: mastering such explosive force is critical in building an implosion-type nuclear device, in which high explosives compress highly enriched uranium or plutonium until it reaches critical mass, triggering a chain reaction. However, in interviews with the IAEA, Danilenko is said to have insisted that he had been under the impression his advice would be used for purely civilian applications of explosive technology, sources close to the agency said.

Although he did not specify what those applications were, he now works for a company called Nanogroup, based in the Czech Republic, which specialises in the use of explosives to make tiny diamonds for industrial purposes. On its website the company describes itself as "the first industrial manufacturer of nanodiamonds in the world market".

Danilenko, who is said to be writing a theoretical textbook on high explosives, did not respond to requests for comment.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -Iran.html

Russian warning .

Russia warns against Israeli air strike on Iran
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavov has warned that a military strike on Iran would be a “very serious mistake” with “unpredictable consequences”, after Israel’s president Shimon Peres said that an attack was increasingly likely.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by devesh »

unless Israel can ensure that Iran won't retaliate in the Straits of Hormuz, they shouldn't (won't?) attack. the consequences, if Iran retaliates on sea routes, will be disastrous for Israel. at that point, I really do believe the compact between US and Israel will break. they can't take that chance...
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Agnimitra »

The picture in the link below has Putin with Wen Jiabao and Iran’s FM Ali Akbar Salehi at the SCO meeting.

Turkish Hurriyet Daily:
Putin welcomes Iran, Pakistan to join SCO
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin lashed out yesterday at “arrogant world powers” as he hosted his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao for a regional security summit Moscow bills as a counterpart to NATO.

Russia’s likely new head of state after next year’s presidential elections accused Western nations of hypocrisy for backing revolutions in North African countries that previously enjoyed their strong support. “It really is just like you said -- these are arrogant world powers,” Putin said in response to remarks from Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi made during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Saint Petersburg. “They also supported the old North African regimes,” news agencies quoted Putin as saying in a clear reference to European powers and the United States.

“But what is interesting, they also supported the North African revolutions as well, the ones that overthrew the old regimes.” Russia strongly opposed NATO’s air campaign in Libya and has warned the West against acting tough towards its close Soviet-era ally Syria.

The 10-year-old SCO joins Russia and China with the four ex-Soviet states of Central Asian in a loose security union that Moscow hopes to develop into a more powerful force rivaling the Brussels-based NATO bloc. Iran is one of three nations along with Pakistan and Iran to have applied to join the organization. {sic. I guess he means along with Pak and India} Monday’s summit brought together mainly prime ministers from the SCO’s member and observer states. But the group made no formal decision on expansion at yesterday’s meeting and was short on other concrete results. “Russia would welcome the positive review of applications to join our organization in one form or another from any interested nation,” Putin was quoted as saying.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by ramana »

UN Report: Iran suspected of weapons work

Some one please post the 13 page report. Would like to see the logic.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Agnimitra »

Iran makes airspace off limits to PIA over payment backlog :rotfl:
KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) confirmed on Tuesday that Iran has shut its airspace to Pakistani air craft due to a six-month backlog in transit payments.

PIA owes Iran close to $600,000 in past payments.

PIA officials said that the ban may affect the shorter route for flights carrying returning Hajis from Saudi Arabia via Iranian airspace. A redirect to the longer and slightly expensive route over Oman would resolve the issue for the flights, the first of which are expected to start from Thursday.

PIA officials said that it is expected that a solution to the current ban will be found through diplomatic channels by tomorrow.
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