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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran to have nukes by 2007 |
| 2004-07-22 |
| Israeli intelligence chiefs told Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's security cabinet in a joint assessment Wednesday that Iran will have a nuclear weapons capacity by 2007, public radio reported. The warning came in an annual intelligence report delivered by the heads of the Mossad overseas spy agency, domestic Shin Beth intelligegence service and representatives from army intelligence. Israel's military intelligence chief General Aharon Zeevi Farkash said earlier this month he believed Iran could build a nuclear weapon by 2007 but Wednesday's report comes with the seal of approval from all the main intelligence agencies. Iran is now regarded as Israel's number one enemy since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq and intelligence chiefs have increasingly voiced fears about Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Earlier this week, one military intelligence officer accused Iran of resuming suspect nuclear activities linked to the production of enriched uranium which can be used to build atomic bombs. The officer said Iran's activities -- which he did not specify -- contravened commitments by Tehran to the UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran has announced it would resume the assembly of centrifuges -- used to enrich uranium in the most sensitive part of the fuel cycle -- but said it was committed to an accord to allow tougher IAEA inspections, make a full declaration of its activities and suspend enrichment itself. The IAEA is probing allegations that the country is using power generation as a cover for a secret weapons drive but Tehran insists its programme is solely aimed at meeting the future energy needs of a burgeoning population and freeing up its oil and gas resources for export. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #6 Mebbe the World Court will decide that its part of Iran's "cultural heritage" to nuke Israel? |
| Posted by: borgboy 2004-07-22 8:05:48 PM |
| #5 Tomorrow's follow up headline in the Jeruselum Post: "Iran to have smoking holes in the ground instead of Nukes by 2006" |
| Posted by: JerseyMike 2004-07-22 3:59:22 PM |
| #4 Iran to have nukes by 2007 There is no way on earth any sane person should accept this projected time line. The levels of subterfuge and concealment that have consistently played out in Iran make it essential to dismantle them now. There are few ways of actually verifying exactly how far along Iran is in making a nuclear device. It may be possible for them to purchase refined plutonium from North Korea or Pakistan (neither of whom have submitted breeder reactor samples for fingerprinting) and thereby circumvent significant development and enrichment portions of their weapons R&D cycle. All of this makes it imperative that Iran be taken off-line immediately. Their continuing contribution to regional instability and international terrorism only makes this more imperative. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-07-22 3:27:58 PM |
| #3 I imagine the the Black Turbans have been humming along with their centrifuges for quite a while, so they should be close to having enough U235 for a bomb or a number of bombs. Only problem is that a U-bomb will be too heavy for a missile. They need Pu239 for a bomb light enough to fit on a Shahab-3 missile. They will either have to make it in their Bushehr reactor or buy it somewhere. Since they are not foaming around with threats of taking out Israel now, it means that the BTs cannot buy it. So their Pu239 supply will depend upon Bushehr being fueled up, and that will drive the date of the attack on the reactor. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-07-22 2:00:33 PM |
| #2 I don't think the Blachhats are going to be around that long. |
| Posted by: djohn66 2004-07-22 12:24:33 PM |
| #1 2007? Jeez that sounds pretty optimistic. I'll lay odds on November 2005. Perhaps they mean small enough for the abu double dong to launch. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-07-22 12:23:05 PM |