Iran producing higher-enriched uranium: IAEA

Iran producing higher-enriched uranium: IAEA

www.spacedaily.com

Iran is pressing ahead with its controversial atomic programme, producing enriched uranium at higher levels of purification and installing more machinery, a restricted UN report revealed on Monday.

The UN atomic watchdog said Iran had produced at least 5.7 kilos (12.5 pounds) of higher-enriched uranium, adding that it remained concerned about the true nature of the nuclear activities, which Tehran insists are peaceful.

"Based on an overall analysis ... of all the information available, the agency remains concerned about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed nucle

(visit the link for the full news article)

Dig that "involving military related organisations:,

Do the actions of Turkey delay or even change any plans IDF have for Iranian nuclear infrastructure?

If there's anything I learned, history does have a tendency to repeat, especially when it comes to Israel and nuke sites.

It does add some extra 'spice' to this current mix.

forgot to add, Maybe POTUS is not exactly the best position to be in right now, or do we have the right man for the times? Either way, I do not envy being in his shoes right now, talk about a full plate!


www.spacedaily.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

UN report shows Iran fails to comply on nuclear program: US

The United States said Monday that a UN agency report showed "Iran's continued failure to comply with its international obligations and its sustained lack of cooperation" with the UN on its nuclear program.

www.spacedaily.com...

Well, whoever was predicting a summer showdown might have gotten it right for once on ATS.

does this situation with Turkey change the timing on any attacks on Iran?

[edit on 1-6-2010 by ErEhWoN]

National Security Council spokesman Michael Hammer reacted to portions of a restricted UN report which revealed on Monday that Iran had produced at least 5.7 kilos (12.5 pounds) of higher-enriched uranium.

Yeah except Iran CAN enrich uranium up to 20% under the NNPT.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in the restricted report that it "remains concerned about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed nuclear related activities, involving military-related organizations."

Keywords : POSSIBLE, UNDISCLOSED, RELATED.

Iraq POSSIBLY have WMDs, at UNDISCLOSED locations and Saddam could be RELATED to Al-Qaeda.

So in short, YOU MADE THAT UP.

"This latest IAEA report clearly shows Iran's continued failure to comply with its international obligations and its sustained lack of cooperation with the IAEA," Hammer said in a statement.

Ah so now it's CLEARLY SHOWS? Yeah sure.

"Most notably, the report outlines Iran's continued uranium enrichment at both 3.5-percent and near-20-percent levels, construction of a heavy water research reactor,

WHICH THEY CAN DO.

and refusal to permit the IAEA the access necessary

Yeah like Saddam uh?

to answer the ongoing questions... and long outstanding questions that surround a possible military dimension to its nuclear program."

POSSIBLE... ain't that word useful? Or is this about the WRONG NUCLEAR PLANS THE CIA SHIPPED TO IRAN to ``make them lose time``?

Hammer added that the IAEA report "underscores that Iran has refused to take any of the steps required of it... which are necessary to enable constructive negotiations on the future of its nuclear program."

Ah yes, SUSPENDING enrichment, WHICH THEY DID FOR TWO YEARS and discussions never advanced... so they should SUSPEND enrichment again and bow down to the US uh? For what? For nothing?

Iran, which has so far been enriching uranium to levels of no more than 5.0 percent in Natanz, started enriching to close to 20-percent purification in February, ostensibly to make fuel for the research reactor in Tehran.

WHICH THEY CAN DO.

The move drew wide condemnation from western countries because it brings the Islamic republic closer to levels needed to make the fissile material for a nuclear bomb.

Rectification : WIDE CONDEMNATION FROM ISRAEL, THE PARANOID STATE, which BTW have 400 nukes and are not signatories of the NPT.

In an IAEA-brokered deal last October, the United States, Russia and France proposed they take most of Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium (LEU) and turn it into the fuel rods for the research reactor.

WHICH THEY ARE DOING WITH TURKEY.

This whole thing is a joke. They just want war. War is good business for those bloodsuckers freaks.

I think thats what it all comes down to, it is good for business, no matter what we think of the right or wrong.

With the current tensions, this report will be inflammatory and I belive Israel will use this and current NPT UNSC stalemate on sanctions to initiate a strike on Irans nuclear facilities.

Originally posted by Vitchilo

and refusal to permit the IAEA the access necessary

Yeah like Saddam uh?

See, this is the problem for me. Saddam absolutely gave the IAEA the run-around. Here was a guy who had actually used WMD against people and invaded a neighbor. We knew he had WMD and had no problem using them. So when he wouldn't let the inspectors do their job I was 100% in agreement with going in there to find out what was going on. The undeniable fact is that nobody knew what he had....that was the point. Of course, we can be clever after the event and say "there was no WMD!" but at the time NOBODY knew. All we knew was that he had them in the past, had used them in the past, and could have produced even more.

Iran is a different situation of course. But the fact remains, they have to be 100% transparent with their nuclear work under the NPT. They can't obey some rules of the NPT and choose to ignore others. They DID hide a lot of their nuclear work for a long time and were busted by the IAEA in 2003, hence the current situation. I say again, you can't pick and choose which parts of the NPT you want to comply with. They are NOT being 100% transparent, and are therefor in violation of the NPT.

For starters, I am not a fan of Iran and do not buy into the whole peaceful nuclear energy mantra for a number of reasons not applicable to this thread.

That being said, the timing of this is incredibly suspect as somehow villifying Iran is going to make Israel look better? REALLY poor decision on whomever decided this was the way to go.

General consensus is that Israel stepped in it this time and trying to make Iran somehow the current front-running villian is going to backfire and may have the opposite effect, which would be gathering support for Iran.

Most people do not see the bigger picture of this situation. If people would have done some research, they would have known that Iran has been trying to become nuclear since the early nineties. Sources of various nationalities, including Russian military sources confirmed that Iran acquired highly enriched uranium and one or two nuclear warheads from Kazakhstan upon the collapse of the Soviet Union. Believing they are not after nuclear warheads is simply ignorant and naive. However, they don't want to ''become'' nuclear for the motives claimed by Israel.

Does that make sense? Yes. There have been numerous reports on missing uranium as well as nuclear warheads from former Soviet States. Do you think they have disappeared into thin air? Of course not. They have been sold on the black market. Even Israeli intelligence sources in the late 90s confirmed this.

Even in 2003, Axelrod confirmed this:

AXELROD: I think the president's sense of solicitude with those young people has been very, very clear, and we're very mindful of that. We are also mindful of the fact that the nuclear weapons in Iran and the nuclearization of that whole region is a threat to that country, all countries in the region, and the world. And we have to address that. We can't let that lie. source

If Iran's intentions would be peaceful, they would have had accomplished it in the twenty years they have spent on procuring technology and knowledge regarding nuclear enrichment.

However, for both Iran and Israel is wouldn't make sense to acknowledge this. Why? Because Iran would sign its death warrant by giving Israel a legitimate reason to destroy Iran. Israel would not benefit from that either. The general public is now under the impression that it's a race against time, whereas the internal and global support for an attack on Iran would greatly wane as the consequences of an Iranian nuclear retaliation would be catastrophic. Keeping people under the impression that it's not too late yet is simply a strategy to maintain support for an attack on Iran.

What is Iran doing now? It is very likely that they are seeking to expand their nuclear arsenal. Two warheads is not exactly sufficient to be a real threat. What if both ballistic missiles would be destroyed by air-to-air anti-ballistic missile defense? They need more warheads. And that's what they are after.

Why do you think they have refused a swap deal for years, but suddenly they agree with it? They have been trying to buy time and they will continue to do so - until they have succeeded in enriching enough highly enriched uranium. They continue to seek massive amounts of uranium from a large number of (African) countries as well from their own mines. Why would they be procuring so much uranium since tens of years if they would only be after peaceful nuclear power? Do you really think the West would have offered them such a generous package of incentives if they would really have peaceful intentions?

Do you really think that they would go through so much hassle if their intentions would be purely peaceful? Do you think the isolation and sanctions are worth it? It simply implausible to think so.

Are they really going to nuke Israel? No, they are not - they are not looking for self destruction. However, the power balance would greatly shift if Iran becomes nuclear and that's what Israel sees as the biggest threat ever. Now it is Israel that rules the Middle East like the US is the only superpower on a global scale. If Iran becomes nuclear, we would go to a power balance similar to the Cold War, in which the Soviet Union balanced the US and hence, both countries' leeway was greatly limited. Especially in the long-term, this would threaten Israel. Imagine how threatening it would be if Hezbollah would have nuclear missiles pointed at Israel. Israel would think twice before they would bomb the hell out of yet another country, whereas they can currently do whatever they like.

Originally posted by Mdv2
Are they really going to nuke Israel? No, they are not - they are not looking for self destruction. However, the power balance would greatly shift if Iran becomes nuclear and that's what Israel sees as the biggest threat ever. Now it is Israel that rules the Middle East like the US is the only superpower on a global scale. If Iran becomes nuclear, we would go to a power balance similar to the Cold War, in which the Soviet Union balanced the US and hence, both countries' leeway was greatly limited. Especially in the long-term, this would threaten Israel. Imagine how threatening it would be if Hezbollah would have nuclear missiles pointed at Israel. Israel would think twice before they would bomb the hell out of yet another country, whereas they can currently do whatever they like.

Great post

In fact, if Iran became nuclear, it would be worse (for Israel) than the balance of power the Cold War brought through M.A.D. - Israel already considers the current situation to be balanced.....surrounded and outnumbered, but they have nukes as a last resort. However it would only take 2-3 nukes to destroy Israel, so their enemies might consider it worthwhile because they could destroy Israel and take "acceptable losses" in return. That is pretty unlikely, but Israel has to consider it as a worst case scenario anyway.

That is pretty unlikely, but Israel has to consider it as a worst case scenario anyway.

And that is why I think Israel is compelled to act. They have a history of acting if this 'worst case scenario' comes close fruition.

The timing is suspect, I agree, but its just another spoke in the wheel of things to come.

I dont think anyone can accurately predict what will happen, but it is another variable acting upon the influences in the region.

reply to post by ErEhWoN


They will. I am 100% sure that Iran will be attacked. When? I don't know, but it is going to be rather sooner than later and very likely with help from the US. If it happens this year, I for one, wouldn't be surprised.