News No military option against the Iranian nuclear program

[mheslep]

Related reading, from a recent Newsweek article on Iran, by Zakaria:

More here: http://www.newsweek.com/id/199147

...Iranians aren't suicidal.

Good to know.

"Ruling Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani declared Friday that the Muslim world could survive a nuclear exchange with Israel - while accomplishing the goal of obliterating the Jewish state.

[The] application of an atomic bomb would not leave anything in Israel - but the same thing would just produce damages in the Muslim world," Hashemi-Rafsanjani said, in quotes picked up by the Iran Press Service.

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/12/14/10132.shtml

 

[mheslep]

...I think the EU-3 draft proposals did originally leave room for that, but the US would not approve of it, so it was amended. Under US pressure it was decided that Iran cannot have any enrichment capability. This caused some delay in the finalization of the EU-3 proposals. When Iran finally got the proposals, it was unacceptable to Iran. Iran had suspended all their enrichment activities pending the negotiations for two years and that suspension then ended at that point...

Do you have a source for any of this?

 

[Gokul43201]

Good to know.

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/12/14/10132.shtml

I'm not surprised that Newsmax would chop the quote conveniently, to suit its purposes.

I found the full sentence quoted in this blog:

"If a day comes when the world of Islam is duly equipped with the arms Israel has in possession, the strategy of colonialism would face a stalemate because application of an atomic bomb would not leave any thing in Israel but the same thing would just produce damages in the Muslim world"

Clearly, Rafsanjani is talking about the deterrent value of a nuke, not actually laying out plans for mutual destruction.

 

[Count Iblis]

Do you have a source for any of this?

I read about it some time ago, I'll look it up.

 

[skeptic2]

Venezuela and Bolivia sending uranium to Iran?

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gWi9hJXmHRyYjNwd_IH3RL3abpkwD98DEPH80

 

[turbo]

Venezuela and Bolivia sending uranium to Iran?

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gWi9hJXmHRyYjNwd_IH3RL3abpkwD98DEPH80

Consider the source, and remember Niger's "sale" of yellow-cake to Iraq. It's pretty easy to leak "secret" intelligence to sway public opinion - I'd like to see some confirmation from another source, especially one that's not always claiming that Iran is building nuclear weapons. The CIA has plenty of information on mining, ore-production and transfer. Will they confirm, deny, or just stay out of it?

Additionally, even if it were true, how is it illegal for Iran to buy uranium ore?

 

[mheslep]

Venezuela and Bolivia sending uranium to Iran?

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gWi9hJXmHRyYjNwd_IH3RL3abpkwD98DEPH80

When N. Korea tried a similar materials supply under Bush, the NK ship ended up at the bottom of the Indian ocean. I wonder what this President will do?