Iranian Alert -- February 5, 2004 -- IRAN LIVE THREAD --Americans for Regime Change in Iran

The US media almost entirely ignores news regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran. As Tony Snow of the Fox News Network has put it, “this is probably the most under-reported news story of the year.” But most American’s are unaware that the Islamic Republic of Iran is NOT supported by the masses of Iranians today. Modern Iranians are among the most pro-American in the Middle East.

There is a popular revolt against the Iranian regime brewing in Iran today. Starting June 10th of this year, Iranians have begun taking to the streets to express their desire for a regime change. Most want to replace the regime with a secular democracy. Many even want the US to over throw their government.

The regime is working hard to keep the news about the protest movement in Iran from being reported. Unfortunately, the regime has successfully prohibited western news reporters from covering the demonstrations. The voices of discontent within Iran are sometime murdered, more often imprisoned. Still the people continue to take to the streets to demonstrate against the regime.

In support of this revolt, Iranians in America have been broadcasting news stories by satellite into Iran. This 21st century news link has greatly encouraged these protests. The regime has been attempting to jam the signals, and locate the satellite dishes. Still the people violate the law and listen to these broadcasts. Iranians also use the Internet and the regime attempts to block their access to news against the regime. In spite of this, many Iranians inside of Iran read these posts daily to keep informed of the events in their own country.

This daily thread contains nearly all of the English news reports on Iran. It is thorough. If you follow this thread you will witness, I believe, the transformation of a nation. This daily thread provides a central place where those interested in the events in Iran can find the best news and commentary. The news stories and commentary will from time to time include material from the regime itself. But if you read the post you will discover for yourself, the real story of what is occurring in Iran and its effects on the war on terror.

I am not of Iranian heritage. I am an American committed to supporting the efforts of those in Iran seeking to replace their government with a secular democracy. I am in contact with leaders of the Iranian community here in the United States and in Iran itself.

If you read the daily posts you will gain a better understanding of the US war on terrorism, the Middle East and why we need to support a change of regime in Iran. Feel free to ask your questions and post news stories you discover in the weeks to come.

If all goes well Iran will be free soon and I am convinced become a major ally in the war on terrorism. The regime will fall. Iran will be free. It is just a matter of time.

IRAN HAS SECRET ATOMIC BOMB PROJECT

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 2-6-2004 |

By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor in Vienna
(Filed: 06/02/2004)

America has convincing new evidence that Iran is hiding an atomic bomb project despite Teheran's promise to open up all of its nuclear facilities to international inspectors, a senior US official has told The Telegraph.

He said the Teheran regime was secretly trying to build a second and more advanced uranium enrichment plant in parallel to the large facilities in the town of Natanz revealed to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last year.

"There is no doubt in our mind that the Iranians have a lot that the IAEA does not know about," said the official. "The Iranians have a military programme that the IAEA has never set eyes on."

Another western source confirmed that the nuclear technology smuggling network headed by Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan's top nuclear weapons scientist, had sold much more equipment to Iran than Teheran has so far admitted to.

The latest intelligence on Iran, if corroborated, will ignite an intense international crisis with the Iranian regime.

The US seems, for the moment, to be seeking to strangle Iran's nuclear programme through inspections and diplomatic agreements brokered by Europe.

But the presence of US troops either side of Iran - in Iraq and Afghanistan - is a reminder to the regime that Washington retains the declared option of "pre-emptive" military action. Clear-cut proof of a secret nuclear weapons programme in Iran would be an acute embarrassment for Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, who has invested heavily in "engagement" with the clerical regime.

Last October three European countries - Britain, France and Germany - brokered a deal whereby Teheran supposedly came clean about its nuclear programme and in return was spared action by the United Nations Security Council.

Iran also agreed "temporarily" to suspend uranium enrichment at the Natanz plant. But western diplomats said it had continued to buy components, assemble centrifuges and test the equipment.

Senior diplomats from the big three European countries this week met Iranian officials in Vienna to demand that Teheran halt these subsidiary enrichment-related activities, but reached no agreement. It was not clear whether they discussed US suspicions that Teheran had a second secret enrichment plant.

Iran claims it has only sought to make low-enriched uranium as fuel for a planned civil nuclear reactor to generate electricity.

But it admitted to lying to the IAEA for 18 years, saying it had made a small quantity of highly-enriched uranium and also separated a few grams of plutonium - both weapons-grade fissile material. According to US and other western sources, it is now clear that Iran has been hiding much more. In particular, they believe Teheran has been trying to build a G2 centrifuge with high-speed rotors made of maraging steel, a light but high-strength form of the metal.

This is a more efficient model than the aluminium-based G1 design that is under IAEA inspection in Natanz.

Both versions are based on Dutch designs stolen in the 1970s by Mr Khan when he was working as a metallurgist in the Netherlands for Urenco, the British-German-Dutch nuclear fuel consortium. Libya bought both the G1 aluminium and G2 maraging steel versions from Khan's network. Moreover, a shipment of maraging steel centrifuge tubes destined for North Korea was seized by Japan last year.

Western intelligence agencies are trying to find out whether Iran and other countries have bought a design for a nuclear bomb that was sold to Libya by Pakistani scientists.

Officials will not say precisely how they have established that Iran is still working on an atomic bomb. But a wealth of information is emerging from the unravelling of the "nuclear supermarket" supplied by Mr Khan. Western intelligence services were already acting against the nuclear black market before Pakistani authorities began to "debrief" Mr Khan.

It is possible that along with the seizure of maraging steel shipments bound for Libya and North Korea, the intelligence agencies found a similar trail leading to Iran.

Nevertheless, officials admit that their information is still "sketchy".

It is unclear whether Iran has assembled a secret "G2" centrifuge plant, or even whether it has all the necessary components.

Diplomats in Vienna say, for instance, that Libya still had large "holes" in its centrifuge programme before abandoning the project.

"There is much that we don't know," said the senior US source. "We don't know how far the Iranians have gone, but they are making progress. "They are developing a completely indigenous capability. At some point cutting off the external support will not be enough to stop it."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/02/06/wiran06.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/02/06/ixnewstop.html

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