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| Barak: Iran used up some of its uranium this summer, pushing back 'moment of truth' 8 to 10 months |
| 2012-10-31 |
| Otherwise, situation would have 'peaked' by now, defense minister tells Telegraph; says military option still on table Iran temporarily pulled back from its nuclear weapons drive this summer, and converted over a third of its enriched uranium to civilian use, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in an interview published Tuesday, intimating that this shift pushed off a decision by Israel and its allies about striking at Iran's nuclear facilities. Barak told The Telegraph that Tehran's move to transfer 38 percent of its enriched uranium stockpile into fuel rods for civilian use "allows contemplating delaying the moment of truth by eight to 10 months." Were it not for this Iranian move, he said, the situation would likely have "peaked" before the US presidential election. Talk of an Israeli or American strike against Iran's nuclear program has indeed died down since being raised to a zenith over the summer, with the US publicly opposing an Israeli resort to force and refusing Israel's call to set "red lines" that, if crossed by Iran, would trigger military action. The US maintains that time remains for diplomacy and sanctions to work, while Israel at the time said Iran was closing in fast on the ability to create a nuclear weapon. Asked whether, had they not made the move to reduce their uranium stockpile, the Iranians would likely be reaching the point of no return, necessitating military action "about now," Barak replied: "Probably, yes." He added that Iran could still reconvert the rods back into weapons-grade uranium, though this would take time and resources. Barak posited "at least three explanations" for why Iran had temporarily pulled back: "One is the public discourse about a possible Israeli or American operation deterred them from trying to come closer. It could probably be a diplomatic gambit that they have launched in order to avoid this issue culminating before the American election, just to gain some time. It could be a way of telling the IAEA [ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency] 'oh we comply with our commitments'... Maybe it's a combination of all these three elements." |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #4 With a little reflection - this story paints a big picture. There was recently a major schism in the Israeli Gov't between Netanyahu (PM) and Barak (Defense Minister). This schism contributed to Bibi (Netanyahu) dissolving the entire Gov't. A new Israeli Government is now due to be elected early next year. Bibi accused Barak of improperly courting the interests of the USA - at a time when Pres Obama was doing a "go slow" dance on the Iran nuclear issue. Now we see the reason for the Israeli schism. Barak knew that in fact the Iranians were not on a rapid pace towards assembling a cache of nuclear material - and the real critical deadline lies in late 2013 (not early 2013 as Bibi has implied). It appears that this realization by top Israeli leaders - and what to do about it - may have led directly to the collapse of their government. |
| Posted by: Raider 2012-10-31 21:57 |
| #3 If this is true, Iran spent a huge amount building a stock of U enriching to 20% U235, then fabricated 4% fuel for their reactor from that stock.` From a business sense, this is quite wasteful and stupid. |
| Posted by: lord garth 2012-10-31 06:06 |
| #2 Loose lips |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2012-10-31 03:43 |
| #1 As said or inferred times before, Iran prefers to be on the strategic defensive, + desires the US + Israel, etc. to attack it first - in so doing, Iran can reap the sympathy of World Islam, etc. + effec blame the US-West for any retaliatory TerrOps launched agz them + justify full-scale, overt NucWeaps production, as well the proliferation of Nuke-WMD Techs to Radical Islamic Groups. Right now, there are "NO WMDS IN IRAN" [nukes] + Iran presents no immediate or near-term threat to Regional, Trans-, or World Trade that would justify UNSC intervention or US-led ground war. OFFICIALLY, IRAN IS NOT BUILDING ANY NUCWEAPS, BUT DOES INTEND TO STOCKPILE "LESS-THAN-WEAPONS-GRADE" NUCMATS FOR CIVIE ENERGY INCLUD FOR NUCLEAR-POWERED MERCHANT SHIPS + IRANIAN NAVY WARSHIPS, + IS BUILDING LR "SPACE ROCKETS" + HT SATELLITES. Unlike DESERT SHIELD/STORM agz Saddam Hussein Iraq, THERE IS NO POTUS BUSH 41 ["Herbert/ Herbie"] <=> 1960'S = 1990'S ARCHANGELS "DRAWING LINES IN THE SAND" AGZ IRAN. [MADONNA'S "LIKE A PRAYER", MARIAH CAREY'S "I'LL BE THERE" [Three Lions of Troy] here]. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-10-31 00:57 |