Posted on 08/27/2006 1:39:53 AM PDT by familyop
PARIS (Reuters) - Iran has built at least 15 advanced P-2 centrifuges, which could dramatically speed up its production of nuclear fuel, and will have hundreds more ready next year, an exiled opposition group said on Thursday.
Iran faces possible sanctions over its refusal to stop enriching uranium by an Aug. 31 U.N. Security Council deadline set because of suspicions Tehran's professed civilian nuclear energy project is a front for making atom bombs.
The France-based National Council of Resistance of Iran, which has reported accurately on hidden Iranian nuclear activity in the past, said Tehran was making P-2 centrifuges at a secret site run by the "Iran Centrifuge Technology Company".
"According to the information obtained by the Iranian Resistance at least 15 P-2 centrifuges have been assembled so far and are being tested," Mohammad Mohaddessin, director of international relations for the NCRI, told a news conference.
"Our intelligence shows that in the next year they would have hundreds of P-2 centrifuges," he added.
It was not immediately possible to verify the NCRI's report. Iranian officials, and officials of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, were not immediately available for comment. Iran has denied claims by the group in the past.
Iran enriched uranium at its pilot nuclear fuel plant in April for the first time, using a network of 164 older, less sophisticated P-1 centrifuges, which spin at supersonic speeds to heighten the fissile element in uranium ore.
IRAN REVEALED P-2 PROGRAMME
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also announced then that Iran was pursuing research and development of P-2 centrifuges, which can purify uranium for use as power plant fuel or atomic bombs 2-3 times faster than the P-1 model.
Also in April, the NCRI said Iran was working at secret military sites to develop P-2s and that it was frequently relocating the operation to escape international scrutiny.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has been probing the origin and extent of secret nuclear activity in Iran since 2003.
The IAEA's governing board referred Tehran to the Security Council in February for failing to come clean on the work.
IAEA inspectors are monitoring Iran's declared operation of P-1 centrifuges at the Natanz pilot plant.
But tensions rose last week when Iran prevented inspectors from re-examining a larger underground section of Natanz under construction where "industrial scale" enrichment of uranium with thousands of centrifuges is planned, diplomats said.
Mohaddessin also said Iran was increasing the number of P-1 centrifuges -- Iran has said it wants 3,000 working at Natanz by next year -- and working quickly to complete a heavy water reactor at Arak that could yield produce plutonium for bombs.
Most diplomats and analysts say Iran remains 3-10 years way from enriching fuel to the high level required for a warhead.
The NCRI, which is on a U.S. list of terrorist groups and wants to oust Iran's clerical leaders, first disclosed covert uranium-enrichment work in the Islamic Republic in 2002.
Iran on Tuesday handed over a formal response to an offer of incentives from six world powers to halt its nuclear fuel drive. Iran said its reply contained ideas that would allow serious talks to defuse its standoff with the West to start immediately.
That's OK, Bush has Rice negotiating furiously as we speak...........sarcasm off.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is speeding up his demise.
LOL!
Someday they will talk about this in the same apocryphal terms..."Nero fiddled while Rome burned..."
Bush postured, pontificated and called 9-11 for the U.N. to take care of things.
Those who once thought he was conservative or had a backbone...Any Questions?
Agreed. They may already have assembled enough Special Nuclear Material to assemble some test bombs. And are simply awaiting acquisition of enough for actual weapons deployment before showing off.
How could he take action?
He has to build support for his action within our country and to some degree within the world or the action only immediately ignites WWIII.
So with Democrats taking Arab and Communist money and foaming at the mouth for him confusing our general population as to what is going on - until then, what is he to do?
Iraq was only possible because of the general (backdoor) agreement within the U.N. and the consensus within this country.
The Democrats having spent years villifying Saddam could not backpedal fast enough.
Unfortunately, now their backpedaling and their support of the Iranian suicide bombers in Iraq, public opinion has been blunted from our 9/11 anger.
Furthermore, we have a military designed for TWO wars in two places at the same time. That is currently ongoing.
How can we start a THIRD one now? which will may also ingite a FOURTH (North Korea/South Korea), FIFTH (China/Taiwan), and SIXTH (Venezuala/South America).
We do not have be engaged in Iraq to the degree we are.
We can let them kill themselves and then we can kill the victors.
We do not have to be engaged in Tehran. The leadership meets once a month. We know the coordinates.
That sounds like the thinking that started WWI with an assassination.
If we nuked N.K., who would really care?
If we took out the oil facilities in Iran (flammable materials, right? conventional cruise missles OK), they'd be out of money for adventurism.
If China goes after Taiwan, I suspect Japan would help us do something about it...
Venezuela we can ignore for the moment. They're pipsqueaks.
When there's a will, there's a way!
Cheers!
We need to take care of Iran before then and quit running to the *^@#@$% do-nothing UN! Every day, we fight Iran via their IEDs and military trainers stationed in Iraq. Why don't we escalate this situation? Building IEDs to kill our soldiers is an act of war. Which reminds me of something I read today. The sentence where the General said Iran's proxy attacks are "mainly a political challenge" made me furious (not at him). We can escalate this, and Iran is dumb enough to fall for the trap. The next time a soldier is killed, announce that an investigation showed the Iranians made the weapon. Fire cruise missles at politically sensitive targets. The Iranians respond. You get the idea. Liberals in Congress will be unable to stop it.
Liberal websites I've visited are convinced we are going to do this along with Israel's help, and they are of course horrified. One liberal was moaning about the radiation in the environment after we hit a nuclear facility. I guess he doesn't consider the radiation problem of an Iranian bomb going off in New York City.
Yes, I was referring only to stopping enemies' mobility long enough to train a large enough army for necessary occupations. We could do that in the event of such an emergency.
I agree that we should reply to Iran's infiltrations and attacks. Another way might be to put some of our posts in Kurdish areas that have been fired upon from the Iranian side. That should've already been done but wasn't.
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