The New York Times reported today that the US and Israel remain at odds on whether Iran’s nuclear facilities are about to become impregnable.
Senior Israeli officials have reportedly told the Americans in recent weeks that Israel is rapidly reaching the so-called “zone of immunity,” the circumstances under which Israel could no longer hold off from a military attack because Iran’s effort to produce a bomb would be invulnerable to any strike. The American officials have argued that Israel and the West have more time and should allow sanctions and covert actions to deter Iran’s plans.
The Americans have said publicly that an Israeli strike against Iran could come as early as spring. But the Times reports that in a recent phone conversation, President Obama has convinced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give economic sanctions more time to work.
The Israelis have zeroed in on Iran’s uranium enrichment plant at Fordo, an underground facility beneath so many layers of granite that it would be out of the reach of bunker-busting bombs. Once enrichment activities are under way at Fordo, the Israelis argue, Iran could throw out IAEA inspectors and produce bomb-grade fuel without fear the facility would be destroyed.
The Americans reportedly do not see the urgency of attacking Fordo and argue that other actions could be as effective, like shutting off Iran’s oil revenues, taking out facilities that supply centrifuge parts to Fordo or hitting installations where the Iranians would turn the fuel produced at Fordo into a nuclear weapon.
Source: The New York Times, 9 February 2012
10 comments:
'A STORY ABOUT A 'DREAMER' MOUSE'
Could one imagine of a match, a fight, or a war between a paranoid little mouse with a brave big cat? By my calculation, what I think is, that mouse could only afford to dream of it by 'beating' the empty drum of war threat against that cat. What else!
I have come across of a video of an interview with an Iran Army Commander or General, I guess(no idea of who he is nor his name, something in 2007 or 2008). Listen to what he is saying or commenting:
" The Shahab 3 missile has a cluster warhead, and consequently, its destructive power exceeds several kilometers. I'm not at liberty to talk about some things, because they are highly classified.
But I can say that our communications systems are very advanced. We can communicate with all our unit. Even at the brigade level, we maintain five levels of contact and communication with our units.
We make full use of satellite systems and can handle the enemy's satellite systems. We can disrupt the satellite systems of the enemy.
We can disrupt the communication networks of the enemy. In fact, the maneuvers were carried out with combat weapons and were not just for show.
The americans have many weaknesses. In fact, in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, they clearly displayed their strengths and weaknesses (sorry for the event of disruption of in between his commentation) precisely on the basis of their strengths and weaknesses.
We don't see any motivation among the american forces in Iraq. They are very cowardly. There are even scenes from Iraq in which they are seen crying. When their commanders encounter a problem, they burst into tears.
We did not see such spectacles in the eight years of the Iran-Iraq war. I can therefore say that our advantage over the foreign forces is moral and human.
Of course, in accordance with the technology that we have or that we are able to obtain from other countries(interruption again)
We have equipped our armed forces with the most advanced anti-aicraft, anti-helicopter, anti-tank and anti-ship weapons.
The equipment used in these wargames was only part of what we have. We never reveal all our cards to the enemy.
We used only a small sample of our personnel and equipment(interruption again). As I pointed out, starting a war with another country or attacking it is currently not part of our plans or strategy.
But if the Zionist Regime or the americans make problems for us and organize attacks against us(interruption again).
The Zionist Regime is about 1,300 km from our centers. If we have a missile range of 2,000 kilometers, it is only natural that a distance of 1,300 km is within this range.
I'd like to say something else. If the Zionist Regime was defeated by a group of Hezbollah in Lebanon. After all, Hezbollah is a small group in Lebanon, which defeated the israeli army in this 33-day war.
How can Israel withstand a great nation that numbers 70 million.
As for the IRGC and the Basij- we have 10 million Basij members and strong Revolutionary Guards. There is no comparison.
Therefore, I do not believe that the Zionists would even dream of threatening us. If they do, they will face the greatest danger to their very existence.
I say again: We are interested in peace and quiet in the Middle East. We have no policy of attacking(anyone)but we will respond to any invading power with a force that they cannot even imagine.
Neither the americans nor the Zionist know what complex, precise, and intelligence-based plans we have designed in order to defend our country and to deal with their possible attacks."
*Sorry if my english writings do not well fit you people out there.
mat--- Iran's military process as compared to the US's big cat is more akin to a pile of mouse turds than that of a mouse.
you really are suffering from delusions.
Iran's Military is obviously not meant to defeat The Planets super power (whose defense budget is 43% of total defense budget on the planet)in the classical way. Scoring Highly Visible points against super power for public media, absorbing the attacks, increasing the cost of continued aggression on Iran, ... , and maintaining power are the goals. These goals do not require a "Ray guns" for Iran military and its defense forces to achieve...
'MANY COUNTRIES SEEKING IRAN ASSISTANCE IN SATELLITE LAUNCH'
Thu Feb 9, 2012 9:53PM GMT
Head of Iran Space Agency (ISA) says "many" countries have approached Iran and asked for help in launching satellites into space, Press TV reports.
Hamid Fazeli made the remarks during an exclusive interview with Press TV on Thursday.
“Iran is now able to build and launch satellites weighing less than 100k,” he said.
“Last year, we participated in the IAF [International Astronautical Federation] conference where we put our achievements on display. There, many countries, even Western countries, came to us and said that they were interested in sending their research satellites into orbit … and asked us to launch their satellites,” Fazeli added.
Head of ISA went on to say that Western sanctions have had little if any impact on the resolve of the Iranian scientists to make further advances.
Obama's weak leadership may well end up with him getting into a real war with Iran.
He can put a stop to all of this nonsense by telling his dogs to lay low. Either he's edging them on behind the scenes to avoid any blame for whatever blowback that could possibly come to haunt the US or he's totally stupid and naive.
he's the president of the United States and it's about time he acted as one.
Yeah mat the world is queuing up for Iran's space know how.
'IRAN BUILDING NEW LAUNCH BASE FOR SUPER-HEAVY SATELLITES'
Fri Feb 10, 2012 9:39AM GMT
Iran’s Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi says the Islamic Republic is establishing a new satellite launch base to put super-heavy satellites into orbit.
Vahidi said Thursday that the base will be used to launch one-ton satellites into an orbit of 1,000 kilometers.
He said that among Iran’s next year plans was the launch of Tolou (Rise) and Fajr (Dawn) satellites into orbit.
Vahidi also said that Iran is planning to launch satellites into orbits of up to 36,000 kilometers next year.
Iran is one of the 24 founding members of the United Nations' Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, which was set up in 1959.
One ton is not super heavy mat.Super heavy has to be over five tons.As usual the regime spews out its nonsense for some of their illiterate followers and you parrot on their garbage on Uskowi.
'CIA FEARS IRAN HAS DATA DOWNED DRONE FAILED TO DUMP'
Fri Feb 10, 2012 6:48PM GMT
A comprehensive CIA investigation reportedly fails to find the cause of the US drone going down in Iran last year, raising fears that the aircraft failed to dump sensitive data.
FOX News quoted a former intelligence official as saying that CIA's comprehensive, 10-week review was unable to replicate the “malfunction” that brought down the RQ-170 Sentinel drone in Iran.
The report supports Iran’s claims that the reconnaissance was cyberjacked by the army’s electronic warfare unit and eased to a safe landing while deep in Iranian territory on December 4.
Washington originally denied the loss of the drone before changing its story and insisting that contact was lost with the aircraft during a surveillance mission over neighboring Afghanistan.
“Investigators were focusing on how to prevent a repeat of the incident in the future, but without the hardware or the drone - Iran refused to return it - those efforts have been frustrated,” the report added.
Iran, however, responded that the drone is now its “national asset” and had undertaken reverse engineering procedures on the US spy plane. Tehran said it had necessary technology to decode the captured US drone's data and documents.
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