Posted on 10/24/2004 4:11:14 PM PDT by watchout
ABC News Iran Says Uranium Facility Almost CompleteIran Says Uranium Conversion Facility 70 Percent Complete Just Days After Offer From EuropeThe Associated Press
TEHRAN, Iran Oct 24, 2004 — A uranium conversion facility in Iran is nearing completion, a top official said Sunday, only days after European countries offered a deal in which Iran would reportedly have to give up all nuclear activities.
State-run radio quoted Mohammed Ghannadi, second in charge of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, as saying the Isfahan uranium conversion facility in central Iran was nearing completion.
"The Isfahan UCF facility is operational by 70 percent right now," Ghannadi told 21 lawmakers during a visit to the plant, which Iranian officials said was inaugurated in March.
Ghannadi was quoted as saying 21 of 24 workshops have been commissioned at the facility, which converts uranium powder called yellow cake into hexafluoride gas, a stage prior to enrichment. He did not elaborate.
Zarqawi Group Claims Killing of 50 Iraqis Iran Says Uranium Facility Almost Complete Children Bear Emotional Scars from School Siege In talks Thursday in Austria, envoys from Britain, France and Germany offered civilian nuclear technology and a trade deal to the Iranians reportedly in return for Iran permanently giving up all uranium enrichment activities technology that can be used to produce nuclear fuel or nuclear weapons.
"The proposal by the Europeans is unbalanced," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told a news conference on Sunday. "However, the Europeans have chosen the correct path of dialogue."
Iran's nuclear program is now a matter of national pride, and is one of the few issues on which hard-liners and reformists agree. The conservative-dominated parliament is drawing up a bill requiring the government to resume uranium enrichment, the only stage in the nuclear fuel cycle that Iran says it is not yet carrying out.
Britain, Germany and France have warned that most European countries will back Washington's call to refer Iran's nuclear dossier to the U.N. Security Council for possible economic sanctions if Iran doesn't give up all uranium enrichment activities by the Nov. 25 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran, Asefi said, was still studying the European proposal.
"We think we have to reach a solution acceptable to both sides so that European concerns are eased and, at the same time, our rights under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty are recognized and met," Asefi added.
The spokesman said Iran had its own proposals but refused to discuss details.
Detailed talks with the three key European powers would resume Wednesday, he said.
Asefi said Iran would not accept a permanent suspension of its nuclear activities, and maintained that the Europeans didn't want that either.
"The discussion is not about permanent suspension of enrichment. The Europeans have proposed indefinite suspension until an agreement is reached. They didn't call for a permanent suspension," he said.
Iran insists its nuclear activities are peaceful and geared solely toward generating electric power. The United States contends it is running a covert atomic weapons program.
Last month, the IAEA unanimously passed a resolution demanding Iran freeze all work on uranium enrichment and related activities, such as uranium reprocessing and the building of centrifuges used for enrichment. The U.N. nuclear watchdog is to judge Iran's compliance at the Nov. 25 meeting.
Iran already has defied the IAEA resolution by continuing to build centrifuges and by converting a few tons of raw uranium into hexafluoride gas, a stage before enrichment.
Iran has said the agency has no authority to ban it from enriching uranium, a right granted under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. However, while not prohibited from enrichment activities under that treaty, Iran faces growing international pressure to suspend them.
Soon to be dust thanks to the Israeli AF.
Where is the conveniently-located exhaust port in this damn thing?
Thanks for telling us ...and GGOD BYE!
The Iranians in power see this issue as a vehicle to stay in control, by uniting their internal enemies against an external one. It would be wise in this case to take our time, not give them what they want, an external military confrontation which would strengthen their internal control.
China and Iran Test-Fire Missiles
Charles R. Smith
Friday, Sept. 6, 2002
Against the backdrop of impending military action by the United States against Iraq, China and Iran have recently conducted tests of their own ballistic missile forces.
On Aug. 28, following Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage's visit to Beijing, the People's Liberation Army 2nd Artillery Corps conducted a successful flight test of its Dong Feng (East Wind) 4 missile from a launch site in southern China.
The two-stage Dong Feng 4 limited-range missile was designed initially to hit the U.S. air base at Guam and later modified to increase its range to be able to strike Moscow. The large liquid-fueled missile is armed with an H-bomb warhead equal to 3 million tons of TNT and has a range of over 4,000 miles.
China is estimated to have approximately 20 of the powerful ICBMs, which are capable of striking U.S. military assets in the Asia-Pacific theater, as well as targets in Russia and Europe.
Most of the Dong Feng 4 missiles are stored in tunnels under high mountains, and are launched immediately outside the mouth of the tunnel. The missiles must be moved into the open and fueled prior to firing, an operation dubbed "chu men fang pao" or "shooting a firecracker outside the front door."
PRC Missile Diplomacy
The Chinese missile test was considered by Western intelligence sources to be a signal by Beijing that it will continue to develop, deploy and export missile technology despite a new agreement with the Bush administration on weapons proliferation.
According to a recent report by the U.S.-China Security Review Commission, China is a leading exporter of missile technology. According to the report, Chinese proliferation of weapons, "particularly in the Middle East and Asia," poses a serious threat to the security of the United States.
"China fails to control the export of dual-use items that contribute to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems," noted the commission's report, which was published in August.
"China is a leading international source of missile-related technologies," states the report. The report also noted that China has reneged on previous promises and continues to export missile technology to Libya, Iran and Syria.
State Department Denies Visas to Chinese Space Experts
In a move seen as a response to Beijing's missile diplomacy, the U.S. State Department has decided to deny visas to about 20 Chinese space experts invited to attend the World Space Conference in Houston this fall. Over 6,000 scientists, engineers and policy-makers are expected to show up for the space conference scheduled to start in October.
The State Department flagged several members of the Chinese delegation due to "technology-transfer concerns." The word inside Capitol Hill is that the attendees were actually high-ranking military officers from the Chinese Army 2nd Artillery Corps.
North Korea and Iranian Missiles
Meanwhile, Iran also carried out an unsuccessful test of its Shahab-3 missile. The failed test flight from northern Iran occurred late last month. The Shahab missile test reflects ongoing Iranian development of the medium-range rocket, which can strike Israel, Turkey and parts of India.
The Shahab missile is reported to be a derivative of the North Korean No Dong missile. U.S. intelligence sources have accused North Korea of working with Iran for several years to develop the Shahab system.
In a recent speech in South Korea, Under Secretary of State John Bolton labeled Pyongyang "the world's foremost peddler of ballistic missile-related equipment, components, materials, and technical expertise" and a top exporter of missiles to "notable rogue state clients such as Syria, Libya and Iran."
According to Bolton, North Korea's connections with Iran and Iraq, the other countries labeled by President Bush as constituting the "axis of evil," are reason enough to continue sanctions against Pyongyang.
"There is a hard connection between these regimes – an axis along which flow dangerous weapons and dangerous technology," stated Bolton.
Another sign of war in the Middle East comes from Israel. Israel has moved to defend critical targets in case of attack from Iran or Iraq. The Israeli air force has deployed units of U.S.-made Patriot anti-ballistic missiles close to the Dimona nuclear reactor in the south of the country. The Patriots are expected to assist a unit of Arrow anti-ballistic missiles already deployed in southern Israel in the event of retaliatory missile strikes from Baghdad.
U.S. Tomahawk Armed With Directed-Energy Warhead
An additional indication that war with Iraq is in the near future comes with reports that the U.S. Navy is deploying Tomahawk cruise missiles armed with newly developed "directed energy" warheads. Several Navy warships in the Gulf region are armed with the new Tomahawk missiles.
According to U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper, the strategy to use the new missiles is "in the works."
"You have to coordinate the effects, no matter what forms they take," noted Gen. Jumper. The new Tomahawk missiles are said to be equipped with warheads that produce high-power microwaves. The directed-energy warheads are intended to scramble military computers and destroy sensitive electronics. The most likely targets for the new warheads are Iraq's Chinese-made air defense system and Iraqi chemical storage facilities.
As with their destruction of Osirak in 1981, Israel will take pre-emptive action.
Breaking news...
America says its first 1000 MOABs are now ready to be dropped. Film at 11:00!
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