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Russians employed at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactor suddenly depart in a body..
DEBKAfile ^ | October 1, 2007 | DEBKAfile

Posted on 10/01/2007 9:29:57 AM PDT by AU72

The Khorramshar News Agency, which is published by the ethnic Arab underground of Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan, reported early Oct. 1 that the entire staff of Russian nuclear engineers and experts employed in building the nuclear reactor at Bushehr had abruptly packed their bags Friday, Sept. 28, and flew back to Russia. The agency’s one-liner offers no source or explanation. DEBKAfile have obtained no corroboration of its report from any other source.

The story appears to have originated with the ethnic Arabs who live near the reactor or who come in contact with its Russian staff. If true, DEBKAfile can offer three hypothetical scenarios to account for the Russians’ precipitate departure:

1. Another crisis has cropped up in the patchy Russian-Iranian dealings over the Bushehr reactor. This is unlikely because Russian president Vladimar Putin is due for a high-profile visit to Tehran on Oct. 16, when he plans to sign a series of nuclear accords with the Islamic Republic. Furthermore, Moscow, like Beijing, stands foursquare behind Iran’s efforts to delay harsher sanctions for its continued uranium enrichment. Only this week, the two powers gained Iran two to three months’ grace by forcing a delay in the UN Security Council session that was to have approved a third round of sanctions.

2. Moscow or Tehran has been tipped off that a US or Israeli attack is imminent on the Bushehr plant and Iran’s other nuclear installations and acted to whip Russian personnel out of harm’s way.

3. Moscow has learned that an Iranian pre-emptive attack is imminent against American targets in Iraq and the Persian Gulf and/or Israel.

Aside from these hypothetical scenarios, DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources report that the Khorramshar News Agency keeps its ear to the ground on happenings in Bushehr, because it is claimed by Khuzistan separatists as Arab land which they will fight to liberate from Iranian “occupation.”


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: iran; nuclear
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To: JMK

Scope of work issues

http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=153403


21 posted on 10/01/2007 10:00:44 AM PDT by Perdogg (Join the NCAA basketball thread - Freemail me)
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To: AU72

I dunno...Debka’s been right on the money lately.


22 posted on 10/01/2007 10:01:42 AM PDT by Virginia Ridgerunner ("Si vis pacem para bellum")
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To: AU72

They must have had Polonium 210 salad dressing for lunch..........


23 posted on 10/01/2007 10:03:45 AM PDT by Red Badger (ALL that CARBON in ALL that oil & coal was once in the atmosphere. We're just putting it back!)
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To: Badeye

If something big was coming up there would be other clues to look out for such as national leaders canceling scheduled events and heading back to their capitols.


24 posted on 10/01/2007 10:05:59 AM PDT by AU72
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To: AU72

October surprise bump.


25 posted on 10/01/2007 10:07:55 AM PDT by Former Proud Canadian (How do I change my screen name after Harper's election?)
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To: AU72

Could be the reason I got so sun burned this weekend.


26 posted on 10/01/2007 10:11:50 AM PDT by mtbopfuyn (I think the border is kind of an artificial barrier - San Antonio councilwoman Patti Radle)
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To: AU72
The Khorramshar News Agency...

At least the credibility of that source is on a par with the credibility of Al-AP and Al-Reuters...

27 posted on 10/01/2007 10:12:58 AM PDT by Zeppo (We live in the Age of Stupidity. [Dennis Prager])
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To: Thrownatbirth

LOL!


28 posted on 10/01/2007 10:13:27 AM PDT by Brucifer (G. W. Bush "The dog ate my copy of the Constitution.")
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To: AU72

Fair point, one with historical records to back it up.

The problem is you never know when the ‘historical norm’ becomes ‘what used to happen’.


29 posted on 10/01/2007 10:17:18 AM PDT by Badeye (Wee willie asston reece, the fraud of NYC)
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To: AU72

Hey Boris, what say we unass this place before the amis reduce it to a glowing hole in the desert?

I’m with you Sergei - one more vodka hit and we’re outta here - let the ragheads deal with it!


30 posted on 10/01/2007 10:17:28 AM PDT by 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
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To: AU72

Little Hitler has promised something big for Oct. 12th. Nutjob may be dumb enough to try something as he wants to hasten the return of the hidden imam. I would rather we give him a ticket to his 72 virgins before he can cause more trouble.


31 posted on 10/01/2007 10:17:37 AM PDT by milwguy
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To: Ingtar

That’s what I was thinkin’ - if this is true (unlikely as it s DEBKA), then their paychecks musta bounced once too often...


32 posted on 10/01/2007 10:19:55 AM PDT by Little Ray (Rudy Guiliani: If his wives can't trust him, why should we?)
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To: AU72

I thought this was an interesting story - until I saw the source.


33 posted on 10/01/2007 10:20:30 AM PDT by PAR35
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To: Thrownatbirth
"Damn Russians are gone and now I gotta mop up all this heavy water by myself?"

Didn't that skit end with Dan Akroyd doing Jimmy Carter?

34 posted on 10/01/2007 10:24:26 AM PDT by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
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To: AU72

What’s the Russian for “unass the AO” ?


35 posted on 10/01/2007 10:27:31 AM PDT by PLMerite ("Unarmed, one can only flee from Evil. But Evil isn't overcome by fleeing from it." Jeff Cooper)
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To: AU72
Hmm....maybe there was a "change in the status quo."


36 posted on 10/01/2007 10:33:17 AM PDT by NordP (No running or relenting. The problem will be dealt with. Decisively. Systematically. Permanently.)
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To: Moonman62
Didn't that skit end with Dan Akroyd doing Jimmy Carter?



Yep, and he ran off with the cleaning woman played by Garret Morris.
37 posted on 10/01/2007 10:35:07 AM PDT by Thrownatbirth (.....when the sidewalks are safe for the little guy.)
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To: KylaStarr; Cindy; StillProud2BeFree; nw_arizona_granny; Velveeta; Dolphy; appalachian_dweller; ...

I wonder if this scientist tracking is related.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1902655/posts
Spy Officials Tracking Key Scientists


38 posted on 10/01/2007 10:37:06 AM PDT by Calpernia (Hunters Rangers - Raising the Bar of Integrity http://www.barofintegrity.us)
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To: maquiladora
>A quick google search reveals that the “Khorramshar News Agency” doesnt exist outside of the world of this Debka article/short story

That's probably true.
But still, once or twice a year,
I'll see a business

or read of someone
and even though they are real
there's NO web presence.

It always feels like
a Twilight Zone moment but
such things do exist.
39 posted on 10/01/2007 10:37:30 AM PDT by theFIRMbss
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To: AU72

It’s probably true, and I’m voting for number 1, a “crisis in Russian-Iranian relations.” Russia withdrew all its personnel suddenly a few months ago, apparently because Iran had defaulted on its payments for the reactor or the material. The Iranians resumed payment and the Russians came back. I’m sure that’s what’s going on in this case, too.


40 posted on 10/01/2007 10:41:41 AM PDT by livius
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