Nuclear Crisis

[Rasputin]

Nuclear "carrot and stick" approach doomed: Iran

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said on Sunday the West's "carrot and stick" method for getting it to halt sensitive nuclear fuel work was doomed to failure.

Iran's case has been returned to the U.N. Security Council because the Islamic Republic failed to heed a U.N. demand to suspend uranium enrichment, a process the West believes Tehran is using to develop atomic weapons, despite Iranian denials.

The United States and European countries back U.N. sanctions, although European officials say this will be an incremental process which Iran can curtail by halting enrichment.

At the same time, the five permanent members of the Security Council -- the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China -- plus Germany have offered Iran trade and other incentives if it suspends enrichment as a precondition for nuclear talks.

"Our negotiating partners have always emphasized the need for talks, but they are moving in two different directions," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said.

"Iran's position is that you cannot use the policy of 'carrot and stick' at the same time because it is an incompetent policy and it will result in failure."

Hosseini said imposing sanctions would have an impact beyond the Middle East region. "But if they choose sanctions, we will make appropriate decisions in proportion with that," he said.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator has said its response could involve halting U.N. checks of its declared atomic sites.

A senior diplomat close to the U.N. watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran was likely to limit the frequency and scope of inspections to Iranian nuclear sites, but not halt them entirely, in response to an initial sanctions resolution.

"IAEA access will suffer if this resolution passes. Iran could play around withholding visas for inspectors, for example," the diplomat told Reuters in Vienna.

"But a complete shutdown of inspections is only likely with a more biting resolution like the one against North Korea," he said. Pyongyang test-detonated a nuclear device on October 9.

Hosseini said a suspension of uranium enrichment "has no place in Iran's nuclear policies. But we have said also that, if the conditions are fair, this issue could be discussed during negotiations like other issues."

Iran has said it would discuss suspension talks, rather than as a precondition for talks to start.

France, Britain and Germany are drafting a Security Council resolution on sanctions and have been discussing it with the United States, which wants tougher measures.

Russia and China, which can veto a resolution and are both major trade partners of Iran, are loath to impose penalties.

"We are witnessing a positive position by the Russians compared to some other Western countries," Hosseini said.

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

NUCLEAR MULLAHS

Lately, the nuclear theatre of the mullahs in Iran has dominated the world news. There are different scenarios being considered by the U.S. as the Europeans, the mullahs' main supporters, attempt to persuade them to abandon their quest for acquisition of the N word, i.e. the nuclear bomb. Nobody, probably not even the demonstrators in Iran, believes the mullahs' claim that they are interested only in nuclear energy. The mullahs, on the other hand, despite their appearance, are not stupid. They are fully aware that an aerial attack on their nuclear facilities by the U.S.-conveniently stationed next door in Iraq- could be easily carried out on a moment's notice. They also realize that, because of oil and the Persian Gulf, if Mr. Bush is informed that Iran has weapons of mass destruction, he is likely to unleash his own weapons of mass destruction no matter what the rest of the world thinks. Globally, ten million people demonstrated against the Iraq war, but... .

With that in mind, I'm led to believe that the mullahs are merely playing a cat and mouse game to buy more time. They do not really want an atomic bomb. A few atomic bombs would not enable them to, say, attack another country, make Iranians any more miserable, or promote their Islamic terrorism around the globe. Let us separate the facts from fictions:

First, the mullahs have already accomplished their main assignment which was to turn Iran into a dump, and make Iranians poor, desperate, unemployed, and afraid all without an atomic bomb.




Second, Islam is as much an agenda for the ruling mullahs in Iran as the promotion of Catholicism on the minds of (those) Catholic priests who molest young boys in their church. After carrying out their above mentioned task, their primary ambition now is to stay in power, and steal more money. Acquiring one or two atomic bombs would not advance that purpose; and they know that as well.

Third, contrary to what Mr. Bush and the 'Fox news' are passing on to Americans, if the mullahs had an atomic bomb, they would not give it to other terrorists. Why would they? Do bank robbers share their heists among each other? Although the mullahs are the very core definition of terror, giving an atomic bomb to other villains, again, would not be beneficial to their primary pursuit.

What then do they (gangster mullahs) want to gain from their cat and mouse game? To impress the big guys, those who instigate wars and then make and sell weapons to both sides of warring nations, that they are capable of causing even further chaos and disturbance above and beyond their assignment mentioned earlier. Given time, they want to show the 'middle-east' policy makers of the U.S. and Europe, whom are buried in greed and corruption up to their necks , that they, too, can play the game. Then, in a vicious cycle tainted by Iran's blood and tears, using Iran's wealth they would buy, yet, more time and recognition. They are demonstrating to the West that they intend to hold on to their bestowed riches as implicitly evident in their statements in recent news conferences, and IAEA meetings.

Did the West bite off more than it could chew when it decided to deliver Iran to Khomeini in 1979? That remains to be seen. Today, more than 4 million Iranians who have fled Iran since the second 'Islamic' take over, and some 65 million inside Iran are suffering from her demise. Granted a million or two, being provided for by these turban headed thieves to help them stay in power, are reaping the benefits of hoodlumism, of raping and ransacking the country; nonetheless, their off button could be pressed as well as that of the Shah's (was).


Although Iranians revolted in millions against the Shah in 1978, his removal and replacement by Khomeini would not have materialized if it were not for the U.S. and Europeans (wishes). They decided, then, that the Shah's usefulness had expired; therefore, they encouraged and inflamed- the abundant- public dissatisfaction courtesy of Shah's 25 years of dictatorial rule following his second installation in 1953 by the C.I.A. Using a double edged sword, they simultaneously forced the Shah to introduce a foreign element into Iran's political arena: freedom. The phrase open political atmosphere was thus coined. We must bear in mind that this suddenly deemed necessary freedom, following 25+ years of an absolute rule, was being provided to a people, among whom were those, who would flog themselves and cut their own heads for they believed, and still do- that their prophet's grand-son was killed unjustly some 1300 years ago!! A people, among whom are those, who today volunteer to be suicide bombers because they are being told that their religion is being attacked by Zionism.

Despite Shah's dictatorship and incompetence, Iran was a prestigious and proud country. Even his critics, including myself, would submit that he loved his country and wanted the best for her. Today, Iranians have lost their country to a group of gangsters who are raping, torturing, and killing them either in the name of Islam or in spite of it. Whether this mullah brand is true Islam or not is irrelevant to the fact that Iranians are poor, miserable, drained and hopeless, despite living on top of some of the world's richest resources of oil.

Islam, in my view, and in short, was invented some 1400 years ago to control and command the Arabs. To be fair, the same goes for other religions that were introduced to neanderthals and stone-age man who worshiped goats and statues.

The principles of Islam, or lack there of, could not satisfy the demands of the 21st century humans. However, Islam was eventually the very means, the fatal weapon, used to bring Iran down to her knees and rob her blind. 'Cause: illiteracy, effect: enter Khomeini'.

The statistics of misery and corruption in Iran are mind boggling, and I will not bore the reader with details. Those who do not know, probably don't want to.

But who are we to blame? This will interest Shahollahis (as in Hezbollah): the group of people who cannot break away from creating idols from men. If we do not learn to follow and cherish ideologies instead of men, we will not free ourselves from the chains that bind us.

1-Blame the Shah for being a dictator, keeping people oppressed for 35 years, and then giving in to outside pressure and opening the gates of freedom to give a crazed mob a sneak preview.

Blame the Shah for donning a military uniform whenever he desired, yet not being willing to put up a fight for his nation, to go the distance as far as to sacrifice his life; If he were a soldier, he would have.

Blame the Shah for being a softie, a coward, for letting Mr. Carter's theoreticians and the European leaders help Khomeini take Iran away from him and ruin it. On the day he decided that he was going to be an absolute King, and have a mock Parliament, he forfeited his option of being a softie. To save his nation, he should have told Mr. Carter and the European Mafia to mind their own business, the same as that chimp for President for Islamic Republic is doing today. The least the Shah could, and should, have done was to exterminate Khomeini. He was wise enough to have said 'they ?the mullahs- will turn Iran into Iran-estan' : rhymes with Arab-estan (Note to American reader: what Iranians call Saudi Arabia). He knew that, and yet would not heed his military Generals' advice to eliminate that blood thirsty, Iran-hating lunatic when he had many chances to do so.

2-Blame ourselves for having fallen for Khomeini's lies (those who did) , for being ignorant to the fact that a 79 year old theocrat, with a robe and a turban, who preaches the teachings of a religion that was imposed on Persians after the first Islamic invasion 1400 years ago, would not have Iran's interests in mind.

Blame ourselves for not having a plan of action after we got rid of the Shah, and again for believing Khomeini that he would deliver the Heavens to us if we did.

Blame ourselves for taking part in destroying Iran and her image by facilitating Khomeini's return after 15 years in exile.

Blame ourselves for being poor and illiterate? Being Shiite Moslem and fanatics, being naive enough to fall far Khomeini, not seeing what was behind him, and what lay ahead? No way!!

Our ignorance and illiteracy can be blamed on God for 'blessing' our land with some of the world's richest resources of oil, and the fact that the Europeans and later the American oil companies discovered its potential before we did.

For more than 70 years our history has been adversely affected by our natural wealth. Over decades, robbing Iran and other oil rich countries around the Persian Gulf has practically become a western tradition. From time to time that oil is given different names and is referred to by phrases such as U.S. interests, world stability and freedom, fighting terrorism, or weapons of mass destruction, and, unfortunately, some Americans believe that! Since we cannot take God to court, or fight the European and American beneficiaries of our oil, we must figure out other ways to free our country from these foreign mullahs. We must strive to understand our history, and we must unite.

[Rasputin]

Twenty seven years of mullahs' rampage in Iran, 8 years of a bloody war with Iraq, again orchestrated by the West, astronomical inflation, unemployment, and the abundance of illicit drugs furnished by the mullahs have left Iranians exhausted. I believe our salvation rests but upon our unity; once we understand and appreciate our history, we can set out to get rid of the mullahs.

While it's true that these occupiers hold all the guns, and kill mercilessly to create terror, they will not be able to confront people's will. Indeed, their ruthlessness stems from their weakness and fear. Very recently, they stormed and beat up a group of women who had gathered to observe 8th of March on a university campus! Why would a regime be afraid of a few hundred women who are doing nothing but talk?

Some sixty five percent of Iranians are young people. That is bad news for the Islamic Republic. These young people are a lot smarter than given credit for; and that is precisely why the Islamic Republic of mullahs is flooding their society with drugs, keeping them unemployed and struggling.

To expel these low-life scum bags we must first let their main supporters know that we will not tolerate their appointees any longer. As proven on several occasions, a few hundred demonstrating here, and a few hundred there will not suffice. If Iranians decide to take to streets in millions, as they did in 1978, because of the internet, and no thanks to the BBC, the world will see and hear their outcry. The 'civilized' European who are sucking Iran's blood by supporting the mullahs will reluctantly back off, or face condemnation by their own people. Once that support is withdrawn, the mullahs, like rats, will escape to go fetch their stolen millions in foreign banks. Whether the people capture them upon their escape or not they would win.

[Sepideh_UK]

Iran could have nuclear bomb by 2015: Germany

BERLIN (Reuters) - Iran is unlikely to be able to develop a nuclear bomb before 2015, the chief of Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency said on Tuesday.

His estimate falls within the 3-10 year range of forecasts given by most international experts.

"It is difficult to give an exact estimate of the time," BND head Ernst Uhrlau told a security conference organized by the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

"According to the current rate of enrichment, the Islamic Republic will not have sufficient amounts of highly enriched uranium with which to build atomic weapons before 2010. For a nuclear bomb we are looking at around 2015," said Uhrlau.

Iran is OPEC's second biggest oil exporter and denies accusations from the United States and other western nations that it wants to make nuclear weapons.

Tehran is in a standoff with the international community over its program to develop nuclear technology which it says it needs to meet booming energy needs.

Talks between Iran and the European Union to explore a compromise on enrichment to avoid U.N. sanctions have collapsed.

Iran is hoping Russia and China, both major trade partners and Security Council veto holders, will prevent the United States from pushing through anything more than largely symbolic sanctions.

Earlier this month the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to impose financial and weapons sanctions on North Korea after it conducted a nuclear test.

[Rasputin]

IAEA Head: Iran Close To Enriching Uranium

Iran has taken another step in its ability to enrich uranium, the head of the U.N. atomic energy agency confirmed yesterday, as the Bush administration and European allies failed to reach agreement on sanctions against Tehran's expanding nuclear program.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said that Iranian technicians had pieced together a second line, or cascade, of 164 centrifuges and are days away from using the cascade to enrich uranium.
It's in place and ready to go," ElBaradei said in a brief interview yesterday.

European officials suggested that the new cascade is a political move by Iranian officials who are hoping to send a defiant message to the U.N. Security Council as it weighs possible sanctions.

It would take many years for the Iranians to produce bomb-grade uranium using the other 164-centrifuge cascade it is currently operating, and U.S. intelligence officials think that Tehran is at least four years away from gaining the technical capability to produce enough nuclear material for a single weapon. Since February, Iran has produced minuscule amounts of low-enriched uranium suitable for the energy program that the government says it wants, and not for bombs. The same cascades, if run longer and more efficiently, can produce bomb-grade uranium.

The Bush administration has dismissed the energy claims and thinks Iran intends to use the program to secretly build nuclear weapons. ElBaradei's inspectors, on their fourth year investigating in Iran, reported earlier this year that they were unable to determine whether the Iranian program is peaceful.

The United States backed a package of European incentives designed to coax Iran into negotiations if it suspended the nuclear program during talks. When Tehran did not respond to the offer, the Security Council stepped in and passed a resolution in August obligating Iran to halt the program and negotiate. The council threatened to impose sanctions if Iran balked.

Iran has since said it wants talks with China, Europe, Russia and the United States but will not suspend its nuclear work in advance, arguing instead that it is exercising its right to peaceful nuclear technology. Iran signed on to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in the 1960s, forswearing nuclear weapons for sensitive technology that could be used for an energy program.

Yesterday, U.S. diplomats met with British and French negotiators to try to complete a draft resolution on sanctions that the rest of the council members, including China and Russia, would approve. The Bush administration had hoped to reach an agreement last Friday, but European officials said they were not comfortable with some of the tougher measures that the United States sought to impose.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said there was "widespread agreement, although not total agreement," among Britain, France and the United States on sanctions. European officials said privately that the resolution is likely to be limited to a ban on any nuclear or missile trade with Iran, while carving out an exception for a preexisting Iranian-Russian nuclear deal.

Some U.S. officials have been pushing for broader action, including travel bans and financial restrictions on people connected to the nuclear program.

Iran began its program in secret in 1987, with equipment and know-how from Pakistan's top nuclear scientist. The existence of the program, which includes a large facility in the town of Natanz built to house thousands of centrifuges, was made public in 2002 by Iranian exiles who hope to overthrow the country's clerical regime. The Pakistani scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, remains under house arrest in Pakistan, but the Pakistani government has refused to let U.S. officials directly question him about Iran's program or other programs he supplied in North Korea and Libya.

A senior Pakistani military official said yesterday that Khan responds to written U.S. requests for information as best he can. The Pakistani official, in Washington to lobby against a U.S. nuclear deal with rival India, said his country had put Khan and his black market network in the past and suggested it is time for the United States to also move beyond the episode.

[Rasputin]

Iran to begin 2nd atom fuel network in days: agency

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will start feeding uranium gas into a second network of centrifuges in days, an Iranian news agency said on Wednesday, expanding a program which Western powers fear is intended to make atomic bombs.

The interconnected centrifuges can enrich uranium for making fuel for power plants or for nuclear bombs. Iran says it wants only to make electricity but has failed to convince world powers who are holding out the threat of United Nations sanctions.

European Union powers started circulating a draft resolution for the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to ban transfers of nuclear and missile-related technology and materials.

Diplomats told Reuters on Monday that Tehran had begun "dry-testing" a second network, known as cascades, of 164 centrifuges to go with a maiden cascade that yielded Iran's first batch of enriched uranium suitable for power plant fuel.

The Iranian student news agency ISNA quoted an informed source as confirming the second cascade had been installed at the Natanz pilot enrichment plant two weeks ago.

It said the next important stage of work, injections of uranium UF-6 gas, would be done this week.

"Soon after injection of the gas, we will obtain the product of the second ... cascade," ISNA quoted the source as saying.

The first cascade of 164 centrifuges -- cylindrical machines that create nuclear fuel by whirling at supersonic speeds -- produced a tiny amount of low-enriched uranium in April.
Iran would need thousands of centrifuges spinning non stop for months to enrich uranium to the high level that would detonate a bomb. Experts say that could be 3-10 years away.

But Western powers fear Iranian advances could accelerate once Tehran has mastered a pilot program and worry that Iran may have clandestine operations unknown to U.N. inspectors.

CHASM OF MISTRUST

Western leaders resorted to a sanctions resolution after talks failed with Iran, OPEC's second largest crude oil exporter. But discord between Western powers and Russia and China over whether to punish Iran, and between the United States and EU allies over how tough to be, has delayed U.N. action.

Britain, France and Germany have begun circulating the draft sanctions resolution even though not all of its measures have been settled with Washington.

They disagree over a U.S. demand that Russia be forced to stop building Iran's first nuclear power plant at Bushehr in the southwest, U.S. officials and European diplomats said.

The draft exempts construction of Bushehr and seems to allow 1,500 Russians to continue work there, an EU diplomat said.

The exemption did not extend to fuel deliveries, diplomats said, meaning Russia would not be able to fire up the reactor.

UnderSecretary of State Nicholas Burns said during a visit to Colombia he did not think the Bushehr issue would be a major stumbling block.

[Rasputin]

Iran to expand nuclear enrichment

Iran says it has taken further steps in developing its nuclear programme.
A report carried by the Iranian student news agency, Isna, says it has installed a second centrifuge cascade for uranium enrichment.

The report says Iranian scientists intend to start injecting uranium gas into it within days.

The UN Security Council set a deadline at the end of August for Iran to stop enriching uranium, threatening sanctions if it did not.

Iran rejects western criticism of its nuclear programme and maintains that it is enriching uranium only to generate electricity.

Capacity doubled

BBC Tehran correspondent Frances Harrison says that while Iran's enrichment activity is still at an early stage, the latest move will be seen as an act of defiance to the United States and its allies.

Iran first produced a small quantity of enriched uranium in February. Scientists were running just one cascade then, made up of 168 centrifuges, the machines that spin uranium gas to enrich it.

Now it has emerged that Iran has doubled its capacity by installing a second cascade two weeks ago.

Some reports had suggested Iranian scientists were experiencing technical difficulties. Others said they were going slow, awaiting the outcome of political talks that have now stalled.

Iran had said earlier that it planned to install three thousand centrifuges at its site in Natanz by the end of this year.

To produce industrial-scale nuclear fuel, tens of thousands of centrifuges would be needed, our correspondent says.

[Rasputin]

US demands UN sanctions on Iran

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has urged the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution imposing sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme.
Iran's defiance must be held to account to save the international community's credibility, Ms Rice said.

Her comments come after Tehran said it was taking steps to further develop its nuclear programme.

The UN gave Iran an end of August deadline to stop enriching uranium, threatening sanctions if it did not.

Iran rejects Western allegations that its nuclear programme has a military aspect, and maintains it is enriching uranium only to generate electricity.

China's UN delegate Li Junhua said it was premature to say that the Security Council was in a position to impose sanctions.

But Ms Rice pressed the council to take immediate action.

"For the international community to be credible, it must pass a resolution now that holds Iran accountable for its defiance," she said.

Capacity doubled

A report carried by the Iranian student news agency, Isna, on Wednesday said it has installed a second centrifuge cascade for uranium enrichment.

The report says Iranian scientists intended to start injecting uranium gas into it within days.

Iran first produced a small quantity of enriched uranium in February. Scientists were running just one cascade then, made up of 168 centrifuges, the machines that spin uranium gas to enrich it.

Now it has emerged that Iran has doubled its capacity by installing a second cascade two weeks ago.

Some reports had suggested Iranian scientists were experiencing technical difficulties. Others said they were going slow, awaiting the outcome of political talks that have now stalled.

Iran had said earlier that it planned to install 3,000 centrifuges at its site in Natanz by the end of this year.

To produce industrial-scale nuclear fuel, tens of thousands of centrifuges would be needed.

[Rasputin]

Now that the world has failed to stop North Korea from going nuclear, it's all the more imperative to prevent Iran, another member of George W. Bush's "axis of evil," from going down the same route.

But how? The approach that failed with North Korea -- endless negotiations backed by feeble sanctions and rhetorical bluster -- isn't likely to be any more successful with Iran.

The only sanction that might really cripple the Iranian regime would be an embargo on its exports of crude oil and imports of refined petroleum, but that would require a concerted international effort, so don't hold your breath.

United Nations Security Council members may be willing to pass resolutions condemning Iran, but they're unlikely to pay more for oil in order to punish the mullahs.

At least two alternatives should be seriously considered: "soft'' and "hard'' approaches to regime change.

The soft line would be to offer Iran a grand bargain: If you verifiably suspend your nuclear program and end support for terrorism (primarily in Lebanon and Iraq), the United States would lift sanctions, re-establish diplomatic relations and back Iran's entry into the World Trade Organization.

As part of this deal, the U.S. could pledge to not use force to overthrow the Iranian regime, but we most assuredly would not give up peaceful support of Iranian democrats. In fact, by establishing an embassy in Tehran and opening more cultural and economic links with the West, we might be able to do more to foster regime change than by continuing to try to isolate the mullahs.

This is the preferred strategy of leading Iranian dissidents such as Akbar Ganji, who was released from prison earlier this year after a hunger strike. Iranian liberals believe that such a gambit would put Iran's government on the defensive because most Iranians want greater foreign investment and more access to the outside world.

This approach may be worth trying, if only to score points with the Iranian public and Washington's allies, but such a deal is unlikely to be accepted by the hard-liners in Tehran. They don't want to give up the "Great Satan'' as a scapegoat for all the ills of their society.

Hence thought must be given to a tougher approach to regime change. The U.S. already has increased aid for the promotion of democracy in Iran, from $3 million in 2005 to $76 million in the just-concluded fiscal year. If the nation's leaders are serious, they need to spend much more, and they need to consider the possibility of going beyond peaceful measures to foment change.

An American invasion is out of the question.

But perhaps the U.S. could do to Iran what the Iranians are doing to us in Iraq, where they are funnelling weapons and money to militias that are killing U.S. soldiers.

A little-known fact about Iran is that it is only 51 per cent Persian. The rest of the country is made up of ethnic minorities, many of them quite restive. Azeris -- at 24 per cent of the population -- rioted earlier this year to protest "Persian chauvinism'' after they were depicted as cockroaches in a newspaper cartoon. Kurds, at seven per cent, Arabs, at three per cent, and Baluchis, at two per cent, all have active separatist movements that have carried out anti-regime bombings.

There also are a number of opposition groups that span the ethnic spectrum. Workers, women's groups and students have staged peaceful demonstrations to protest various grievances. The Mujahedin Khalq, a leftist political cult, mounted attacks on Iran in the 1980s and 1990s from bases in Iraq. Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, American troops have detained thousands of its activists. They could easily be set loose to make trouble across the border.

This option has a lot of drawbacks. It's not clear that, even with massive U.S. support, we could mobilize an active insurgency.

And even with U.S. support, the strategy could backfire and unite the Iranian people around their regime.

But then this also would be a likely consequence of airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, which would be the only serious option left once the current Bush administration policy of half-hearted multilateral negotiations backed by toothless UN resolutions fails. (Or, rather, once its failure can no longer be denied.)

These options aren't really palatable to major political constituencies in the United States -- conservatives disdain the soft line; liberals the hard line. But the U.S. can't let political orthodoxy stand in the way of stopping another rogue regime from going nuclear.

Max Boot is a senior fellow at the U. S. Council on Foreign Relations and author of War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History, 1500 to Today.

[Rasputin]

Iran starts up second nuclear fuel network

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has started enriching uranium in a second network of centrifuges, Iran's student news agency ISNA reported on Friday, expanding a programme which the West fears is intended to make nuclear bombs.

ISNA quoted an "informed source" as saying "the injection of gas was carried out" in the past week. "We have obtained the product of the second cascade," the source said.

Uranium UF-6 gas is injected into cylindrical centrifuges which spin at supersonic speeds to produce enriched material. The process can make fuel for power plants or material for atomic bombs.

Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, says the aim of its nuclear program is to meet energy needs. But it has failed to convince world powers, who are threatening U.N. sanctions after Tehran failed to heed a U.N. demand to halt enrichment work.

"This is increasing the worries of the international community about the growth of Iran's capacity to produce fissile material," French Foreign Ministry Spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei told reporters in Paris in response to the news.

"The priority is to move toward the negotiation of a Security Council resolution," he added.

A British Foreign Office spokesman said it was a matter for the IAEA, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog body, to investigate.

Another British government source said: "The fact that they've now started to feed stuff through the centrifuge isn't going to shock anyone. But it will demonstrate further Iranian intransigence and that will all be taken in the round."
Diplomats said this week Iran had started "dry testing" a network of 164 centrifuges, known as cascades, to go with an original network that yielded Iran's first batch of enriched uranium suitable for power plant fuel.

The first cascade of centrifuges produced a tiny amount of low-enriched uranium in April.

Western intelligence experts estimate Iran remains three to 10 years away from an industrial-scale operation of thousands of centrifuges that could yield enough fuel for nuclear bombs.

Iran now faces possible sanctions for failing to halt its enrichment work, as demanded by the U.N. Security Council. A draft sanctions resolution has been drawn up by European states, but Russia has expressed misgivings about the proposal.

Iran has shrugged off the threat of sanctions. Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, has threatened retaliation, possibly by halting U.N. inspections of Iranian facilities.

"By imposing sanctions, you yourselves will be hurt more than Iran. Give up these games," an influential Iranian cleric, Ahmad Khatami, told worshippers during Friday prayers.

Russia, the United States, Britain, France and China -- the five permanent council members -- plus Germany held their first meeting on Thursday on the draft resolution, which would ban Iranian trade in nuclear materials and ballistic missiles.

French President Jacques Chirac said in Beijing on Friday he supported temporary, reversible and specially adapted sanctions against Iran if talks over its nuclear program failed.

[Rasputin]

کنفرانس خبری بوش در امریکا

3 مشکل اتمی- سیاسی

امریکا با جمهوری اسلامی




در روزهائی که احمدی نژاد مملکت و مملکت داری را تعطیل اعلام کرده و خود برای سخنرانی به منطقه خوش آب و هوای شمیرانات رفته بود، درحاشیه رایزنی های مهم جهانی پیرامون آینده ایران که در جمع اخبار این شماره پیک نت می خوانید، جورج بوش نیز یک کنفرانس خبری برگزار کرد که عمدتا علیه ایران بود. با فضای بسته ای که دولت برای مردم بوجود آورده، بعید است این اخبار با دقت و همراه با تحلیل وتفسیرهای مرتبط با آن در ایران انتشار یافته باشد. بوش در سخنرانی خود به بهانه مسائل عراق گفت:

ما با ايران سه مشكل اصلي داریم و من می کوشم این سه مشکل را حل کنم.

1- ايران مانع دمكراسي نوپای عراق است و علیه آن کارشکنی می کند.

2- ایران در امور داخلی لبنان دخالت می کند و علیه دولت کنونی لبنان برای نشاندن حزب الله لبنان بجای آن در تلاش است.

3- فعالیت های اتمی ایران که از نظر ما سمت گیری نظامی دارد و در پی تولید سلاح اتمی است.



حال سئوال اساسی ما از ایران اینست که آیا شما ظرفیت آن را دارید که بیش از این منزوی شوید؟



ما چه می گوئیم: ما همچنان براین نظر پافشاری می کنیم که دست از غنی سازی اورانیوم بردارید و آن را به حال تعلیق در آورید و به پای میز مذاکره بازگردید. البته این تعلیق در صورتی از نظر ما پذیرفته شده است که مجامع بین المللی (آژانس اتمی) آن را تائید کنند و راست آزمایشی شود.

[Rasputin]

Iran 'steps up nuclear programme'

Iran has reportedly taken another step in its uranium enrichment programme, in defiance of international pressure.
It has activated a second set of centrifuges - the machines used to enrich uranium - the semi-official Isna agency has said.

A BBC correspondent says Iran would need tens of thousands of centrifuges to make industrial-scale nuclear fuel.

The UN Security Council is to debate sanctions after Iran failed to meet an August deadline to stop enrichment.

Iran has not convinced the US and other Western states that its enrichment work is only aimed at generating electricity, and not acquiring nuclear weapons.

There is no doubt that the use of the second cascade of centrifuges will be seen as an act of defiance by the international community at what is a sensitive time, the BBC's Frances Harrison reports from Tehran.

'No secret'

The Iranian report suggested that scientists had injected gas into the second cascade.

Isna quoted its unnamed source as saying the second cascade's "product" had been obtained.

The source said the second cascade had been installed two weeks ago with the knowledge of UN nuclear inspectors.

"The International Atomic Energy Agency has been fully aware of the issue and the inspectors are present in Iran," the source said.

Iran's first cascade, consisting of 168 centrifuges, produced a small quantity of enriched uranium in February.

Iran has said it plans to install 3,000 centrifuges at its nuclear site in Natanz by the end of this year.

[Sepideh_UK]

Iran starts up second nuclear fuel network - ISNA

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has started enriching uranium in a second network of centrifuges, Iran's student news agency ISNA reported on Friday, expanding a programme which the West fears is intended to make nuclear bombs.

ISNA quoted an "informed source" as saying "the injection of gas was carried out" in the past week. "We have obtained the product of the second cascade," the source said.

[AD] Uranium UF-6 gas is injected into cylindrical centrifuges which spin at supersonic speeds to produce enriched material. The process can make fuel for power plants or material for atomic bombs.
Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, says its atomic programme aims to meet energy needs. But it has failed to convince world powers, who are threatening U.N. sanctions after Tehran failed to heed a U.N. demand to halt enrichment work.

U.S. President George W. Bush said in Washington he was aware of "speculation" that Iran has started enriching uranium in a second network of centrifuges.

"Whether they doubled it or not, the idea of Iran having a nuclear weapon is unacceptable," Bush said.

But Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said it was too early to speak about Iran being able to produce weapons-grade uranium, and that he "did not share the concerns about this".

"These are empty centrifuges, you can't produce anything with them, so to speak about enriching uranium is premature," Ivanov said, Itar-Tass news agency reported.

France's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said the report increases the international community's worries about the growth of Iran's capacity to produce fissile material.

"The priority is to move towards the negotiation of a Security Council resolution," Mattei told reporters in Paris in response to the news.

A British Foreign Office spokesman said it was a matter for the IAEA, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog body, to investigate.

Another British government source said: "The fact that they've now started to feed stuff through the centrifuge isn't going to shock anyone. But it will demonstrate further Iranian intransigence and that will all be taken in the round."

Diplomats said this week Iran had started "dry testing" a network of 164 centrifuges, known as cascades, to go with an original network that yielded Iran's first batch of enriched uranium suitable for power plant fuel.

The first cascade of centrifuges produced a tiny amount of low-enriched uranium in April.

Western intelligence experts estimate Iran remains three to 10 years away from an industrial-scale operation of thousands of centrifuges that could yield enough fuel for nuclear bombs.

SANCTIONS DEBATE

Iran now faces possible sanctions for failing to halt its enrichment work, as demanded by the U.N. Security Council. A draft sanctions resolution has been drawn up by European states, but Russia has expressed misgivings about the proposal.

Iran has shrugged off the threat of sanctions. Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, has threatened retaliation, possibly by halting U.N. inspections of Iranian facilities.

"By imposing sanctions, you yourselves will be hurt more than Iran. Give up these games," an influential Iranian cleric, Ahmad Khatami, told worshippers during Friday prayers.

Russia, the United States, Britain, France and China -- the five permanent council members -- plus Germany held their first meeting on Thursday on the draft resolution, which would ban Iranian trade in nuclear materials and ballistic missiles.

French President Jacques Chirac said in Beijing on Friday he supported temporary, reversible and specially adapted sanctions against Iran if talks over its nuclear programme failed.

Speaking in Russia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the draft did not match previous agreements among the major powers seeking to rein in Iran's nuclear ambitions, and predicted long negotiations before the issue is resolved.

The United States had wanted to suspend Russia's construction of a nuclear power plant at Bushehr, which will be Iran's first atomic power station.

No agreement on the resolution is expected until sometime next week at the earliest after which the text goes to the full 15-member Security Council.

(Additional reporting by Crispian Balmer in Paris)

[Rasputin]

Iran reveals boost of nuke effort

In an expected move nonetheless seen as a political signal to Washington, Iran said it stepped up its uranium enrichment program Friday, even as a divided UN Security Council became bogged down over a European draft resolution to impose sanctions on Tehran.

President Bush called the report that Iran had doubled its enrichment capacity "speculation" but said a nuclear-armed Iran was unacceptable.
Iran's injection of gas into a second network of 164 centrifuges, reported by the Iranian Students News Agency, marked the country's first known uranium enrichment since February.

Doubling Iran's capacity would mean it still is nowhere close to churning out enough uranium to fuel a reactor. Tehran has said it plans to install 3,000 centrifuges at its pilot complex in Natanz by year's end, but it would take 54,000 centrifuges to fuel a reactor.

In addition, Friday's ISNA report said the second cascade, like the first, would produce enriched uranium at a 4.5 percent "research" level. Enrichment levels can be an indication of the use of the uranium. The usual level of enriched uranium fuel is 5 percent for reactors, but 90 percent enrichment is needed for a bomb.

Tehran touted its ability to enrich uranium in February, when it produced a small batch of low-enriched uranium using a first set of 164 centrifuges at Natanz. Though no experiments to enrich more uranium had been announced since then, Tehran insists it never halted the process despite Western demands, and it defiantly bypassed an Aug. 31 deadline to do so.

"Iran more likely slowed down the development program over the summer as part of a diplomatic strategy to persuade the world that it would not be nearing nuclear weapons capability any time soon," said Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. "Now that the Security Council is taking up a sanctions resolution, Iran has started the second cascade as a political signal to show that it does not give in to pressure."

At the United Nations, Russia and China, with strong commercial ties to Tehran, have shied away from punitive measures and left the door open to last-minute talks. U.S. and European officials say they anticipate a long, hard diplomatic struggle over the coming weeks to fashion a formal reaction to Iran's enrichment activities.

Reacting to Friday's announcement, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said he did not "share concerns" about the report and suggested Iran's new centrifuges are harmless.

France, one of the UN draft resolution's sponsors, called Iran's move a "negative signal." Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said Iran's announcement was no big surprise because the International Atomic Energy Agency said in August that Iran was developing new nuclear capacities.

With no breakthrough in sight at the UN, France, Britain and Germany presented the United States, Russia and China this week a draft resolution that would ban trade related to Iran's nuclear and ballistic-missile programs but would allow Russia to continue to support the construction of an Iranian nuclear facility at Bushehr.

The Bush administration declined to endorse the European draft because of concerns it is too weak to constrain Iran from pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons program. But Ivanov has said the European draft is too tough and does not conform with the aim of eliminating "the risks of sensitive technology falling into Iran's hands" while maintaining "vital channels of communication" with Tehran.

In his response to the latest development, Bush insisted the United States would not stand for a nuclear-armed Iran.

"Whether they've doubled it or not, the idea of Iran having a nuclear weapon is unacceptable," Bush said. "It says to me that we must double our effort to work with the international community to persuade the Iranians that there is only isolation from the world if they continue working forward."

In the enrichment process used by Iran, gas is produced from raw uranium with the aim of increasing its proportion of the uranium-235 isotope, needed for nuclear fission.

The gas is pumped into a centrifuge, which spins, causing a small portion of the heavier, more prevalent uranium-238 isotope to drop away. The gas then proceeds to other centrifuges--thousands of them--where the process is repeated, increasing the proportion of uranium-235.