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Israeli officials said in a report Wednesday that a mysterious explosion at an Iranian nuclear facility two days ago was no accident. The eyebrow-raising remarks surfaced in a Times of London story reporting that satellite images show smoke billowing from the uranium enrichment facility in the city of Isfahan. “There aren’t many coincidences,” retired Major-General Giora Eiland told Israel’s army radio, noting that it was the second attack on an Iranian nuclear site in a month. “When there are so many events, there is probably some sort of guiding hand, though perhaps it’s the hand of God,” said Eiland, who...

The large, deadly explosion at an Iran military base in Iran on Nov. 12, which Iranian authorities have called an accident that set back research work there by a few days, appears to have been far more devastating than their description suggested, according to an analysis of newly released commercial satellite images of the blast site. The images reveal vast destruction and chaotic disarray across a sprawling complex composed of more than a dozen buildings and large structures. The Institute for Science and International Security, a private group in Washington, made the satellite images public Monday, along with an analysis...

The Times reported on Wednesday that the mysterious explosion that rocked the city of Isfahan two days ago struck the uranium conversion facility located just outside Iran's third-largest city. According to the British newspaper, satellite images clearly show billowing smoke and destruction, despite Iran's claim that no such blast had taken place. The Times quoted Israeli intelligence officials as saying there was "no doubt" that the blast struck the nuclear facilities at Isfahan and that it was "no accident."

Another week, another explosion at or near an Iranian military installation (or is it a nuclear research facility?). As usual, the regime doesn’t know what to say. The mullahcracy is so intensely divided that different “spokesmen” from different ministries/news outlets/cults/mafias put out different versions. There was an explosion, or at least “the sound of an explosion.” This goes out on the wires. Then, no, there was no explosion, it was just the sound of our fierce military training. Then again, yes, there was something, but not to worry, just go home and shut up. And so it goes in the...

Source, target of Isfahan blast unclear; satellite image shows extensive damage to missile base blown-up Nov. 12. A mysterious explosion rocked the Iranian city of Isfahan on Monday, home to a key facility in Tehran’s nuclear program. The source and target of the explosion were unclear. Some reports claimed that it took place in a military base and others claimed it was a gas explosion. Isfahan hosts a nuclear facility involved in processing uranium which is fed to the Natanz fuel enrichment facility. Two weeks ago, on November 12, an explosion hit an Iranian military base near the town of...

Last week the International Atomic Energy Agency released its report on the Iranian nuclear program. The report exposed Iranians plans to militarize their nuclear program despite their claims that it was for energy production and medical use only. This claim isn’t far fetch. Because of Iran’s lack of crude oil refining capability approximately 30 percent of the petroleum products it needs must be imported. Sanctions If the United States and/or our Allies wish to demand that Iran answer for its nuclear program or face economic sanctions they will be thwarted in the U.N, by Russia and China. Iran will be...

More than seventeen years after a Clinton administration State Department spokesperson told USA Today that Iran’s nuclear program had none of the characteristics of a peaceful energy program and all of the hallmarks of a weapons program, the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has released a statement indicating that they are “increasingly concerned” about intelligence that shows that Iran is in fact working on nuclear weapons.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog released a report Saturday stating that Iran is pursuing the development of nuclear weapons, adding that the Islamic Republic has upgraded its nuclear facilities in order to defend them from possible cyber attacks. According to the report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has installed new and improved 2IR as well as 4IR centrifuges, which according to experts, will be immune to cyber attacks that were able to breach the older centrifuges. The centrifuges have allegedly been installed, the report states, in a fortified underground facility for uranium enrichment near the city of Qom.

A man shot dead on a Tehran street by motorcycle-riding gunmen last weekend was a scientist involved in suspected Iranian attempts to make nuclear weapons and not a student as officially claimed, a foreign government official and a former UN nuclear inspector said Thursday. The man was shot Saturday by a pair of gunmen firing from motorcycles in an attack similar to other recent assassinations of nuclear scientists that Iran blames on the United States and Israel. Iran's State-run media initially identified him as Darioush Rezaei, a physics professor and expert in neutron transport, but backtracked within hours, with officials...

Having experienced the Cuban Missile Crisis at the CIA, Langley, ion 1962, I have little enthusiasm for a repeat. But we may get one. A German newspaper is running a disturbing report: BERLIN – The Iranian government is moving forward with the construction of rocket launch bases in Venezuela, the German daily Die Welt wrote in its Friday edition. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is Teheran’s most important South American ally. Iran is building intermediate- range missile launch pads on the Paraguaná Peninsula, and engineers from a construction firm – Khatam al-Anbia – owned by the Revolutionary Guards visited Paraguaná in...

In his State of the Union speech, President Obama addressed one of the biggest threats to the free world in the 21st century in just one sentence: "Because of a diplomatic effort to insist that Iran meet its obligations, the Iranian government now faces tougher and tighter sanctions than ever before." However, the president failed to mention that his policies toward Iran, in the two years he's been in office have proven to have been a complete failure. .... We would do well to remember the words of President Reagan to the nation on the night of our bombing of...

A high-stakes international standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions came no closer a resolution Saturday as the latest round of talks aimed at curtailing the controversial program ended in failure in Turkey. The two-day meeting in Istanbul between Iran and six world powers was in effect stalled from the very start, with Tehran insisting that it has the right to continue enriching uranium and demanding an end to United Nations sanctions. Ashton said any expectations that Iran would respond positively to the ideas Western diplomats brought to the table were crushed.

Iran's nuclear agency is trying to combat a complex computer worm that has affected industrial sites throughout the country and is capable of taking over power plants, Iranian media reports said. Experts from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran met this week to discuss how to remove the malicious computer code, or worm, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported Friday. The computer worm, dubbed Stuxnet, can take over systems that control the inner workings of industrial plants. Experts in Germany discovered the worm in July, and it has since shown up in a number of attacks — primarily in Iran,...

A report has surfaced in the British press indicating that President Barack Obama is set to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (Increasingly, the British press is playing the role of watchdog when it comes to the Obama administration since US “journolists” have become essentially messengers for the regime.) In this case, as Obama promised in his presidential campaign, he is reportedly set to meet directly with the Iranian president. Readers may recall that during the campaign Obama spun this idea by claiming that he was “not afraid” to meet with Ahmadinejad. This is a foolish concept. Meeting with Ahmadinejad...

The odds of an Israeli military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities within the next year have risen to above 50 percent, according to a report in a leading U.S. magazine.

Back when the US first imposed sanctions on Iran and Libya barring US oil companies from giving corporate life support to the regime in Iran, Total established a business strategy to pursue business in those terrorist, rogue nations so they wouldn’t have to compete with US oil companies.

Negotiations grind on toward a fourth U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution against Iran's nuclear weapons program, even as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrives in New York to address the Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference. Sanctions advocates acknowledge that the Security Council's ultimate product will do no more than marginally impede Iran's progress. In Congress, sanctions legislation also creaks along, but that too is simply going through the motions. Russia and China have already rejected key proposals to restrict Iran's access to international financial markets and choke off its importation of refined petroleum products, which domestically are in short supply. Any new U.S....

Washington - Senator John McCain says the United States has been backing away from a brewing fight with Iran, while that country moves ever closer to having nuclear weapons.McCain opened a Senate hearing Wednesday by saying that Iran will get the bomb unless the United States acts more boldly. Speaking figuratively, the Arizona Republican says the U.S. keeps pointing a loaded gun at Iran but failing to "pull the trigger."

Iran announced Friday that is had developed a new, faster generation of centrifuges for uranium enrichment, signaling its determination to press on with its nuclear work despite possible new sanctions being sought by U.S. President Barack Obama. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had indicated earlier in the week that a "momentous" development was in the offing about Iran's nuclear program and Friday's announcement of a new generation of centrifuges at the Natanz enrichment facility came as little surprise. Both Mr. Ahmadinejad and Iran's atomic energy head Ali Akbar Salehi spoke at a ceremony marking Friday's "Nuclear Energy Day," amid pomp and media...

Iran announced Friday it has advanced its nuclear technology, unveiling new, faster centrifuges and celebrating "giant steps" forward. In a speech celebrating National Nuclear Day, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad slammed "selfish behavior" by "arrogant" countries that have tried to negotiate a halt to Iran's nuclear activity. As he spoke, a crowd chanted "God is great" and "Death to America."

Less than 24 hours after six world powers meet to discuss sanctions against Islamic Republic, head of Iranian Atomic Energy Organization says President Ahmadinejad to announce new centrifuges 'which have a separation power 10 times that of the first generation' Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will unveil new "third generation" centrifuges later on Friday capable of much faster uranium enrichment, the head of the Iran's Atomic Energy Organization said. "Iran will demonstrate third generation centrifuges today which have a separation power 10 times that of the first generation," Ali Akbar Salehi said at a speech marking Iran's annual national nuclear day,...

THE White House is rushing to complete an agreement on new sanctions against Tehran, but could be forced to accept limits demanded by Russia to avoid "a slap, a blow, a huge shock for the whole (Iranian) society". Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in private talks with Barack Obama yesterday, put strict limits on what Moscow would accept in punishing Iran for its nuclear program. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov underlined Russia's concerns, warning that Moscow had ruled out sanctions on petrol and other oil products. "These types of things that shock the fundaments of a society or country are...

TEHRAN, April 8 (UPI) -- No U.S. soldiers in the region would live to tell about a U.S. military attack on Iranian soil, the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces said Thursday. Maj. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, the armed forces chief of staff, was quoted in the semiofficial Fars News Agency as saying Thursday that U.S. soldiers would not survive an attack on Iran. "If the U.S. seriously threatens Iran and takes an action against Iran, none of the U.S. soldiers in the region will return to America alive," he said. Washington is ramping up the pressure on Iran...

TEL AVIV, Israel, April 8 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, may have signed a landmark arms-control treaty, but a U.S. think tank is suggesting Israel could resort to using tactical nuclear weapons to destroy Iran's deeply buried nuclear facilities. Whether this is all part of a U.S. effort to crank up the pressure on Iran to be more compliant on the nuclear issue by using scare tactics or if the right-wing government in Israel is actually inclined to resort to nuclear weapons is almost impossible to discern. But one day after the Center...

The Obama administration is reported to be pressing key members of the U.S. Congress to allow more time before taking final action on legislation that would impose tough, unilateral sanctions on Iran. The president says he believes there can be success within weeks, rather than months, in building a tough sanctions resolution in the U.N. Security Council. Senator Joseph Lieberman called for quick action, describing new sanctions as a "last chance" for Iran. But efforts at the United Nations come amid increased concern in the U.S. Congress that Iran might be speeding up efforts to develop a nuclear weapons capability....

An Iranian firm closely linked to Tehran's nuclear program acquired special hardware for enriching uranium, despite sanctions intended to keep such equipment out of Iran, according to officials with knowledge of the matter. In recent weeks, the officials said, an Iranian procurement firm obtained critical valves and vacuum gauges made by a French company that until December was owned by U.S. industrial conglomerate Tyco International. The French and U.S. firms said they knew nothing of the case. Western authorities are still struggling to understand precisely how the valves and gauges in question reached Iran. The International Atomic Energy Agency is...

US President Barack Obama has decided to abandon any serious effort to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. He is determined instead to live with a nuclear Iran, by containment and, if possible, negotiation. This is the shifting tectonic plate in the Middle East. This is the giant story of the past few weeks which the world has largely missed, distracted by the theatre of the absurd of Obama's contrived and mock confrontation with Israel over 1600 apartments to be built in three years' time in a Jewish suburb in East Jerusalem. Iran is the only semi-intelligible explanation for Obama's...

Should Israel attack Iranian nuclear facilities, it would probably carry out precision strikes while making every effort not to hit the oil sector or other civilian sites. Past Israeli operations, such as the 1981 bombing of Iraq's Osirak atomic reactor and a similar sortie against Syria in 2007, suggest a strategy of one-off pinpoint raids, due both to military limitations and a desire to avoid wider war. A simulation at the Brookings Institution in Washington last December theorized that Israel, intent on halting what the West suspects is Tehran's covert quest for atomic arms, would launch a sneak attack against...

Six major world powers have agreed to draw up new sanctions on Iran because of its nuclear ambitions. Officials from the US, Britain, France, Russia, Germany and China reached an agreement on sanctions during a conference call. They fear Iran's nuclear program is a front for building weapons but Iran insists the aim of the program is to generate electricity. "The time has come to take decisions. Iran cannot continue its mad race," French president Nicholas Sarkozy said. Mr Sarkozy has held talks at the White House with US President Barack Obama, who has also been keen to move on...

Abstract: The Obama Administration's engagement policy toward Iran has failed to defuse the nuclear standoff. Instead, Iran has continued to conceal and lie about its nuclear weapons program in an attempt to stall until it can present the world with a nuclear fait accompli. A nuclear-armed Iran not only will have a dramatically increased ability to threaten its neighbors and U.S. interests, but will also trigger a destabilizing nuclear arms race in the already volatile Middle East. The Administration's best option is to press both its allies and the U.N. Security Council to impose the strongest possible sanctions on Iran...

WASHINGTON – With the president of France at his side, President Barack Obama declared Tuesday he hopes to have international sanctions against Iran in place "within weeks," not months, because of its continuing nuclear program. But he acknowledged he still lacks full support at the United Nations. "Do we have unanimity in the international community? Not yet," Obama said. "And that's something that we have to work on." Obama said he and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are "inseparable" in their thinking on the subject.For his part, Sarkozy told reporters, "Iran cannot continue its mad race" toward acquiring nuclear weapons.

(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he wanted tougher U.N. sanctions in weeks against Iran over its nuclear program, and the world's leading industrial nations expressed optimism that China will agree on possible next steps. Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy presented a united front on Iran at a joint White House news conference, saying they felt it was time to move ahead with tougher sanctions that their governments have been negotiating with China, Russia, Germany and Britain. "My hope is that we are going to get this done this spring," Obama said. "I'm interested in seeing...

An award-winning Iranian nuclear scientist, who disappeared last year under mysterious circumstances, has defected to the CIA and been resettled in the United States, according to people briefed on the operation by intelligence officials. Shahram Amiri, a nuclear physicist in his early 30s, went missing last June three days after arriving in Saudi Arabia on a pilgrimage, according to the Iranian government. The officials were said to have termed the defection of the scientist, Shahram Amiri, "an intelligence coup" in the continuing CIA operation to spy on and undermine Iran's nuclear program. A spokesperson for the CIA declined to comment....

Iran is poised to begin producing nuclear weapons after its uranium program expansion in 2009, even though it has had problems with thousands of its centrifuges, according to a newly released CIA report. "Iran continues to develop a range of capabilities that could be applied to producing nuclear weapons, if a decision is made to do so," the annual report to Congress states. A U.S. official involved in countering weapons proliferation said the Iranians are "keeping the door open to the possibility of building a nuclear weapon."

Hundreds of powerful US “bunker-buster” bombs are being shipped from California to the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for a possible attack on Iran. The Sunday Herald can reveal that the US government signed a contract in January to transport 10 ammunition containers to the island. According to a cargo manifest from the US navy, this included 387 “Blu” bombs used for blasting hardened or underground structures. Experts say that they are being put in place for an assault on Iran’s controversial nuclear facilities. There has long been speculation that the US military is...

Western efforts to halt Iranian nuclear weapons work continue to fail. Russia and China block any efforts in the UN to impose severe (banking and oil) sanctions that would cripple the Iranian economy. The Iranian government has kept its restive population under control, using its secret police and paramilitary forces to shut down any public protest or serious disruption. In the past year, the government has sped up its crackdown on the media, arresting nearly a hundred journalists and shutting down over a dozen media outlets. Hundreds of outspoken government opponents have been arrested since the demonstrations last June, and...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today used the annual celebration of the anniversary of Iran’s Islamic revolution to announce that Iran has become a “nuclear state.� Although the bombastic dictator has made this claim before, his exultant announcement came shortly after Iran had announced that it would enrich uranium to the 20 percent level that it claims it needs to fuel a research reactor that is scheduled to run out of fuel later this year. Ahmadinejad proclaimed: “I want to announce with a loud voice here that the first package of 20 percent fuel was produced and provided to the scientists.�...

Statements out of Washington and other Western capitals suggest a shift from engagement to confrontation with Iran over its nuclear programme. "What we are going to be working on over the next several weeks is developing a significant regime of sanctions that will indicate to them how isolated they are from the international community as a whole," President Barack Obama told journalists earlier this week. The president sounded not unlike his predecessor George W Bush, who worked for years to contain Iran, a sign that Mr Obama's policy to engage with the Islamic Republic has failed. The question now is...

Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. WITH Iran having notified the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency on Monday that any day now it will begin enriching its stockpile of uranium in order to power a medical reactor, we should admit that Washington’s approach to countering the Islamic Republic is leading nowhere. What’s needed, however, may be less of a change of plan than a change in how we view the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran. Believe it or not, there are some potential benefits to the United States should Iran build a bomb. (I’m speaking for myself here, and in no...

Iran will make the political decision to enrich uranium to military-grade levels once it has accumulated enough fissionable material for a small arsenal of three to four nuclear devices, according to latest intelligence assessments. Iran, according to the recent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report, has already accumulated 1.8 tons of uranium enriched to four percent. Iran has announced plans to begin enriching uranium to 20% levels for use as fuel in a research reactor it has in Teheran, which is expected to exhaust its present stock within the year. Although material for the fissile core of a nuclear warhead...

Mottaki says 'Zionist regime is in its weakest position' following Goldstone Report, Lebanon and Gaza wars, but warns entire region 'must be prepared for crazy operations against us' Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Monday referred to Israel as "a mad nation led by insane people". In an interview to the al-Jazeera network, Mottaki said that the Islamic Republic was not taking the Jewish state's threats to launch a military attack on its nuclear facilities seriously, but stressed that Tehran must be prepared for an Israeli attack. According to the Iranian minister, "The Zionist regime in the region is in...

An Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear program will neither completely stop Teheran’s nuclear march, nor bring down the ayatollahs’ regime, according to former Swiss ambassador to Iran Tim Guldimann. Speaking to The Jerusalem Post on the sidelines of this week’s Herzliya Conference, Guldimann, who knows the Iranian way of thinking well, expressed – as a personal opinion – his deep concern about the military option against Iran. Guldimann was Swiss ambassador to Iran and Afghanistan from 1999 to 2004. As ambassador to Teheran, Guldimann – now senior adviser and head of the Middle East Project at the Center for Humanitarian...

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran said on Tuesday it was ready to send its uranium abroad for further enrichment as requested by the U.N. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced the decision in an interview with state Iranian television. He said Iran will have "no problem" giving the West its low-enriched uranium and taking it back several months later when it is enriched by 20 percent. The decision could signal a major shift in the Iranian position on the issue.

The Obama administration says the internal unrest in Iran and signs of unexpected delays in their nuclear program make the Iranian government especially vulnerable to swift and serious sanctions, the New York Times reported on Sunday. An administration official said current circumstances "give us a window to impose the first sanctions that may make the Iranians think the nuclear program isn't worth the price tag." Despite the political unrest, Iran's political and military leaders are remaining steadfast in their determination to develop nuclear weapons, advisers to U.S. President Barack Obama said. But the unrest coupled with the Iranian government's internal...

John Kerry lost the Secretary of State sweepstakes to Hillary Clinton, but that hasn't lowered his diplomatic ambitions. The Journal reported Thursday that the Senate Foreign Relations Chairman is mulling a trip to Iran, and with the blessing of the Obama Administration. If the mullahs had any sense, they'd send him a government plane. Beset by almost daily demonstrations by a democratic opposition that has been growing despite beatings and arrests since the stolen June election, Mr. Kerry would arrive from Washington to show the Iranian people that at least someone still favors the regime. He would be the most...

Iran recently conducted another successful test of its long range (2,000+ kilometers) solid fuel ballistic missile (the Sejil II). Apparently, Iran plans to build hundreds of Sejil IIs, and even longer range missiles, over the next six years. There are apparently also plans to build up the supply of mobile launchers for many of these, to make them even more difficult for anyone to spot, and destroy. Solid fuel missiles can be launched without preparation. This is critical, as the liquid fueled missiles take hours to prepare for launch, and spy satellites pass over Iran frequently enough to spot this....

In the face of mounting international pressure to suspend its nuclear activity, Iran flexed its muscles on Wednesday and test-fired its most advanced ballistic missile, capable of hitting Israel and parts of Europe. The missile tested, according to Iranian reports, was an upgraded version of the Sajjil 2, a sophisticated ballistic missile that has a range of close to 2,000 kilometers, can carry a nuclear warhead and is powered by a solid-fuel propellant which gives it greater accuracy and range. With solid fuel, the missile can be stored in underground silos, making it more difficult to detect before launch. "This...

December 16, 2009: Iran has successfully tested today an 'optimized' version of the solid-fuel Sejjil-2 ballistic missile. The recent test builds on the first successful launch conducted in May 2009 (below). Iran has tested several combinations of propellant compounds to achieve reliable operation. Iranian sources indicate that the current missile has been configured to carry different warheads and uses stealth attributes ('anti-radar material coating'). The use of solid propellant dramatically reduces pre-launch preparations, enabling the missile to be fired immediately after being erected by the mobile launcher. The Iranians claim the solid-powered Sejill-2 is faster during the powered ascent as...

When massive numbers of Iranians took to the streets following the sham election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June, the regime hoped to quash the protests with intimidation and force. It has failed. The latest evidence of the democratic movement's force? Student Day earlier this month. The roots of Student Day go back to Dec. 7, 1953, when Iranian students protested the coup that ousted Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh. The Shah's regime responded by attacking Tehran's Polytechnic University, murdering three students. Every year since, Iranian students have observed "16 Azar" (Dec. 7) to commemorate the three students killed by the Shah....

A statement in support of the Iranian people and signed by a number of officers and commanders of the Iranian army was released on December 10. December 12, 2009 - by Afshin Ellian Leading commentators and diplomats have been pondering for quite some time why the Iranian leader is not prepared to act against the revolution in a major way. The “China model” could be applied, a brutal, fast, and extremely violent strike against the opposition. According to conventional wisdom, tyrants will use all means to eliminate their opponents. So why haven’t the mullahs adopted Chinese methods? Tanks and soldiers...