U.S. Hangs Back as Inspectors Prepare Report on Irans Nuclear Program

joesmalls · Nov 7, 2011

Russias foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, also added a warning on Monday about recent statements by Israeli leaders that suggested they were preparing a military attack on Iran. This would be a very serious mistake fraught with unpredictable consequences, Mr. Lavrov was quoted as saying by Russias Interfax news agency.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/08/w...are-report-on-irans-nuclear-program.html?_r=1

This is scary stuff. Doesn't take long to connect the dots (Iran->Russia/China support vs Israel->US support). I sincerely hope Israel doesn't do anything stupid here. More importantly, I hope the US doesn't do something even stupider by getting involved militarily. The last thing we (and the world) needs are more wars. Particularly one that could go nuclear war. The worst part of all this is that it all brings back memories to 2002 prior to invading Iraq.

waltky · Nov 8, 2011

If their nuclear program is a peaceful one, den what in happy hell do dey need weapons parts for?...

IAEA: Iran designing parts for nuclear weapons
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 - UN's atomic watchdog issues most critical report to date; information from Israeli agencies played key role in compiling document; Tehran developing, test-firing detonators and explosives, says agency.

In the most critical and (*)(*)(*)(*)ing report of Irans nuclear program to date, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Tuesday that the Islamic Republic was working to develop a nuclear-weapon design and was conducting extensive research and tests that could only be relevant for such a weapon. The agency has serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Irans nuclear program, the IAEA said in the report, which included a 13-page annex with key technical descriptions of its research. The information indicates that Iran has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device.

Israel played a key role in helping the IAEA compile the report, and over the years, its intelligence agencies provided critical information used in the document. Israel now hopes that the United States will use the report to push through a new regimen of sanctions against Tehran, including a focus on the Central Bank of Iran and the Iranian energy sector. In the report, the IAEA reveals a list of Iranian research centers connected to the work on the nuclear weapons program. The agency says that it frequently confronted Iran with information it had obtained from various IAEA member states including documents seized from computers belonging to members of a black-market nuclear arms network that supplied technology to Tehran. The reference is likely to the Pakistani ring led by Dr. Abdul Qadeer Kahn.

The report focuses on three main technical areas the green salt project, a name for a covert Iranian program to enrich military-grade uranium; the development and testing of high explosives; and the re-engineering of the payload chamber of ballistic missiles to be able to accommodate a nuclear warhead. In the report, for example, the IAEA reveals that Iran was working on exploding bridgewire detonators, which are fast-acting detonators required to create a nuclear explosion. Given their possible application in a nuclear explosive device, and the fact that there are limited civilian and conventional military applications for such technology, Irans development of such detonators and equipment is a matter of concern, the report said.

One member state provided the agency with information about a large-scale test Iran conducted in 2003 to initiate a high explosive charge in the form of a hemispherical shell, the dimensions of which are consistent with the dimensions of a potential nuclear payload that can be installed on a Shahab-3 ballistic missile. Work on this project was assisted, according to the IAEA, by a foreign expert, apparently a reference to a Russian scientist who worked with Iran from 1996 to 2002. The scientist has been named in various media reports as Vyacheslav Danilenko. Additional information in the report reveals that Iran has manufactured simulated nuclear explosive components using high-density materials such as tungsten to determine if its theoretical design of an implosion device is correct.

More http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=244833
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See also:

Report: Iran developing nuclear bombs
Tue November 8, 2011 - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad slammed the IAEA and said the agency has no jurisdiction in Iran

The International Atomic Energy Agency issued a critical report Tuesday saying that it has "serious concerns" about Iran's nuclear program and has obtained "credible" information that the Islamic republic may be developing nuclear weapons. The IAEA report, the most detailed to date on the Iranian program's military scope, found no evidence that Iran has made a strategic decision to actually build a bomb. But its nuclear program is more ambitious and structured, and more progress has been made than previously known. "The agency has serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program," the report said. "After assessing carefully and critically the extensive information available to it, the agency finds the information to be, overall, credible. The information indicates that Iran has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device."

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the report had just arrived and refrained from commenting on details at an afternoon briefing. But a senior U.S. official called the report "a big deal." "The report is very comprehensive, credible, quite (*)(*)(*)(*)ing, and alarming," the official said. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad slammed the report as a fabrication of facts aimed at satisfying U.S. allegations about Iran's nuclear program. Ahmadinejad essentially called Yukiya Amano, the director general of the IAEA, a U.S. puppet and said the United Nations agency has no jurisdiction in Iran. "The Americans have fabricated a stack of papers and he keeps speaking about them," he said on state-run Press TV. "Why don't you do a report on the U.S. nuclear program and its allies? Present a report on the thousands of U.S. military bases where Washington has nuclear arms that threaten global security."

The IAEA had released another report on Iran in September but this one was highly anticipated because of the military aspect. Since 2002, the IAEA has regularly received new information pertaining to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile, the report said. It said Iran has made "efforts, some successful, to procure nuclear related and dual use equipment and materials by military related individuals and entities" and has acquired nuclear weapons information from "a clandestine nuclear supply network." It has also worked on mastering the design of a nuclear weapon and tested components, the report said.

The IAEA said the some of the activities have both civilian and military applications, but others are specific to nuclear weapons. Iran has repeatedly insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful, civilian energy purposes only. According to the IAEA report, Iran is believed to have continued weapons research and technology development after 2003, when the intelligence community thought Iran had stopped. Instead of halting, it seems Iran took a temporary hiatus at the time, although the program progressed at a more modest pace since then, the report said.

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waltky · Nov 9, 2011

Granny says dat Ammerjabberjob is a sneaky lil' Shiite...

Iran's nuclear program alarms world powers
Wed November 9, 2011 - World powers express concern about a new report on Iran; The British foreign secretary says Iran's actions are counter to regional change; Iran's president says his nation "will not retreat an iota"; The International Atomic Energy Agency report says Iran may be developing a nuclear bomb

World powers expressed alarm Wednesday about a critical report documenting Iran's progress toward making a nuclear bomb, with the British foreign secretary warning that his nation would take strong measures if the Islamic republic did not change direction. In its most detailed report to date on the military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) found no evidence that Iran has decided to actually build a bomb. But its nuclear program is more ambitious and structured, and more progress has been made than previously known, the report said.

"The agency has serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program," the report said. "After assessing carefully and critically the extensive information available to it, the agency finds the information to be, overall, credible. The information indicates that Iran has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device." British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Britain has extended a hand of reconciliation to Iran again and again. It is time, he said, for Iran to accept. "We are prepared to have further talks, but only if Iran is prepared to engage in serious negotiations about its nuclear program without preconditions," Hague said. "If not, we must continue to increase the pressure and we are considering with our partners a range of additional measures to that effect."

Hague said Iran's actions run counter to the gains made by the Arab Spring, if not worse. "They may threaten to undermine it, bringing about a nuclear arms race in the Middle East or the risk of conflict," he said. According to the report, Iran is believed to have continued weapons research and technology development after 2003, when the intelligence community thought it had stopped. Instead of halting, it seems Iran took a hiatus, although the program has progressed at a more modest pace since then, the report said. Iran has always said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

More http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/09/world/meast/iran-nuclear/
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RichT2705 · Nov 9, 2011

I think everyone knows what the report will show. Iran is working on weapons, and they have been for years.

More sanctions are meaningless. Sooner or later the world will need to ask itself if a regime like Irans can be trusted with nuclear weapons, and if the answer is no, then theyll need to take real action.

Iran doesnt care about more sanctions, their whole program has been carried out under sanctions already. Adding more wont matter one bit.

Iran is determined to have them, and will unless stopped by force.

Piscivorous · Nov 9, 2011

RichT2705 said: ↑

I think everyone knows what the report will show. Iran is working on weapons, and they have been for years.

More sanctions are meaningless. Sooner or later the world will need to ask itself if a regime like Irans can be trusted with nuclear weapons, and if the answer is no, then theyll need to take real action.

Iran doesnt care about more sanctions, their whole program has been carried out under sanctions already. Adding more wont matter one bit.

Iran is determined to have them, and will unless stopped by force.
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Although I agree, we haven't taken meaningful action versus N Korea either. Messing in China's back yard was geopolitical suicide. Do you really think we'll mess with Iran, which exports a lot of its oil to China?

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