Posted on 05/02/2006 9:43:19 AM PDT by Alouette
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran threatened on Tuesday to attack Israel in response to any "evil" act by the United States and said it had enriched uranium to a level close to the maximum compatible with civilian use in power stations.
The defiant statements were issued shortly before world powers meet in Paris to discuss the next steps after Tehran rejected a U.N. call to halt uranium enrichment.
Senior officials from the U.N. Security Council's permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany were to discuss how to curb an Iranian program that Western nations say conceals a drive for atomic warheads.
Iran denies the charge and refuses to back down from what it calls its right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.
Driving home that message, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, said his country had now succeeded in purifying uranium to 4.8 percent, at the top end of the 3 to 5 percent range for fuel used in nuclear power plants.
"Enrichment above 5 percent is not on Iran's agenda," Aghazadeh told the students' ISNA news agency.
Iran has previously said it had enriched to more than 4 percent, far below the 80 percent level needed for bomb-making.
It has used a test cascade of 164 centrifuges to enrich uranium so far and is building two similar cascades. It says it will start installing 3,000 centrifuges later this year -- enough to yield material for one bomb within a year.
The United States and Israel have vowed to deny Iran nuclear weapons. Washington has not excluded war if diplomacy fails, while Tehran has sworn to retaliate if attacked.
TARGETING ISRAEL
"We have announced that wherever America does something evil, the first place that we target will be Israel," ISNA quoted a senior Revolutionary Guards commander, Rear Admiral Mohammad-Ebrahim Dehqani, as saying on Tuesday.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map."
Iran's deputy oil minister said there was "some possibility" of a U.S. attack on his country over its nuclear program.
"I am worried. Everybody is worried," Mohammad Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian said in New Delhi after talks on a proposed $7-billion pipeline from Iran to India via Pakistan.
Concerns that Iran's dispute with the West could lead to disruption of its oil output pushed oil prices above $74 a barrel, close to the record of $75.35 touched last month.
The United States, Britain and France are expected to introduce a resolution to the Security Council this week that would legally oblige Iran to comply with U.N. demands. The three countries favor limited sanctions if Tehran remains defiant.
Iran said Russia and China, also veto-wielding permanent council members, would not back any punitive measures.
"The thing these two countries have officially told us and expressed in diplomatic negotiations is their opposition to sanctions and military attacks," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told Iran's Kayhan newspaper.
China and Russia both have big energy interests in Iran, the world's fourth biggest oil exporter. Russia is also helping Iran build its first atomic power plant in the Gulf port of Bushehr.
Nicholas Burns, the U.S. under-secretary of state for political affairs, said in Paris that Tuesday's meeting would seek to keep the Security Council members and Germany united before a meeting of foreign ministers in New York on May 9.
Asked about Mottaki's comments, he said: "All I know is that China and Russia say that they don't want a nuclear-armed Iran. And China and Russia have voted with us against the government of Iran. So we intend to preserve this unity."
Burns said he expected a consensus to emerge over the next 30-40 days on the need to send a "stiff message" to Iran, adding that a range of sanctions had been discussed privately.
These included restricting exports to Iran of dual-use technology that could support its research and development or help it fabricate fissile material or a nuclear device.
Other options were travel curbs on Iranian officials and a ban on arms sales to Iran, such as a planned Russian missile deal. Oil and gas sanctions were not being discussed now.
"We hope that the U.N. Security Council, through a resolution, will send a firm and united message to Iran," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said in Paris.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), says it cannot confirm that Iran's goals are peaceful, but has found no proof of a military program.
A U.N. resolution would be adopted under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, making it binding in international law. A separate resolution would be required for sanctions or military action.
(Additional reporting by Alireza Ronaghi and Parinoosh Arami in Tehran, Mark Heinrich in Vienna, Jon Boyle in Paris and Himanghsu Watts in New Delhi)
"This nutjob has not read his bible prophecies lately, has he?........"
Can't believe in both the bible and the koran.
>>With all his blustering, we had better attack before he is capable of launching a nuke in rataliation. He is just dying for an excuse to do it. Why wait?? If Israel and US join forces and don't wimp out it could be done!!<<
I think we are gonna attack but there is no winning scenario -only avoiding too much loss.
You can bet that someone in Israel has a nice neat war plan for flattening Iran, and after this, someone else's finger is on the trigger.
My guess is that he and his buddy Assad over in Syria are holding onto Saddams WMD's waiting to use them.
Amen!
Yes, RB, you should read their eschatology - interesting stuff. One very interesting element is that they say that in addition to the Mahdi (who forms a new Caliphate and conquers the world for Islam) and their version of Jesus (who denounces Judaism and Christianity and says Islam is the one true religion), a false Jesus - called the dajjal, their version of the antichrist - shows up with a whole bunch of Jewish followers to fight against the Mahdi.
I agree with you, jackv - I believe their versions are the AC and FP also, and their "false Jesus" is the real one. And as you said, Ahmadinejad et al are trying to set up the circumstances necessary for the appearance of the Mahdi, and since his harbinger in their eschatology is major war, Ahmadinejad is truly gunning for it.
One more interesting thing - Muslim eschatology says that the Mahdi will make a seven year treaty with non-Muslims.
Yes, the similarities are quite amazing!! I just read "Unleashing the Beast" which spells it all out!
Yes, that is what I am afraid of. Unless they bought the plutonium from someone, it will hopefully take them sometime before they can begin production, but foreign assistance could allow them to begin production relatively quickly. But it would be easier for Iran to acquire Russian weapons, which is a definite possibility. Russian weapons appear in Iran's hands all they time. The ease at which they can acquire the most advanced Russian and Chinese weapons is astounding.
Been doing a lot of internet digging lately on the subject. Plenty of Muslim sources out there to verify it all; chilling stuff, when you compare it all to Biblical eschatology.
I think we should nuke this guy's arse just for grins.
It has also occurred to me that, if threatened, Israel might choose to remove the threat.
Muslim eschatology.....Muslime scatology..........
I believe Isreal will not be as passively non chalant as they have been in the past with this whack-job.........
Hmmmmm.....I think I have something that might be even more suitable (and entertaining) for this boil on Satan's tush: Capture him, tie him down, pour honey all over him, and let loose several colonies of fire ants!
Terp Mole 5/2/2006 11:54AM PDT |
They also dont want to think about where some of the money goes when they buy gasoline to groups that threaten the U.S., Woolsey said.Groups of Dark Age clergy inspecting Nuclear Age technology today; Iranian technicians explains a piece of equipment to a clergyman during an exhibition of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization at the Qom University in the city of Qom 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, May 2, 2006. Iran has discovered new deposits of uranium and is continuing its nuclear enrichment program despite international protests, a top nuclear official said Tuesday.Doesn't that "equipment" looks an awful lot like a fission implosion assembly device? |
If he had terminal cancer, we can only hope Iran doesn't get nukes before his demise.
The Iranians may be a little closer to making a missile warhead than we'd like. Link to the full story below:
The Clinton Follies http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/hawkins200604241046.asp
Those are good missles for a fusion or plutonium bomb, but a U-235 bomb is a horse --- around 10,000 pounds.
Short of the rockets used to put people in orbit, I am unaware of anything that comes close to that payload.
It would be a huge, probably liquid-fueled beast.
Unstable, not easy to launch, and an easy first-strike target.
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