'Germany believes Iran could have nuclear bomb within 6 months'

[scandal 951]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1100387.html

Last update - 15:32 15/07/2009

'Germany believes Iran could have nuclear bomb within 6 months'

By Assaf Uni, Haaretz Correspondent, and News Agencies

Tags: Germany, Israel News, Iran

Iran is capable of assembling an atomic bomb within six months, German intelligence analysts told the German weekly newsmagazine Stern.

"If they want to, they will be able to set off a uranium bomb within six months," an analyst with Germany's intelligence service, Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), told the magazine.

German intelligence officials told Stern believe Iran has "mastered" every stage of uranium enrichment and that they have activated enough centrifuges to produce sufficient quantities of weapons-grade uranium for at least one atomic bomb.

"Nobody would have thought this possible some years ago," an intelligence official told Stern.

The UN Security Council has imposed three sets of sanctions on Tehran for defying its demands to suspend uranium enrichment.

Some analysts say Iran may be close to having the required material for producing a bomb, but most say the weaponization process would then take one to two years due to technical and political hurdles.

"Weaponizing" enrichment would not escape the notice of UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), unless it was done at a secret location.

Until now there have been no indications of any such covert diversion, a point made by the IAEA's incoming director-general shortly after his election earlier this month.

Current IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei has said it is his "gut feeling" that Iran is seeking at least the capability to build nuclear weapons, in order to protect itself from perceived regional and U.S. threats.

Libyan leader: Peaceful nuclear program should be encouraged

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi says Iran should be encouraged to pursue its nuclear program as long as it is for peaceful purposes.

Gadhafi was addressing Wednesday's opening session of a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik. The 118-nation group includes Iran.

He said it is "unjust" to stop Iran from enriching uranium for peaceful purposes, but that it must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.

The United States and Israel say Iran is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charge, saying its program is for generating power.

Libya in 2003 abandoned its own program to develop nuclear and chemical weapons.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

I think Israel will take them out before this happens.

[scandal 951]

I think Israel will take them out before this happens.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1100627.html

Defense official: Israel readying for attack on Iran

By Amos Harel, Anshel Pfeffer and Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondents and Haaretz Service

Tags: Iran, Israel news, Red Sea

Israel's recent deployment of warships across the Red Sea should be seen as serious preparation for an attack on Iran, an Israeli defense official told the Times of London on Thursday.

"This is preparation that should be taken seriously. Israel is investing time in preparing itself for the complexity of an attack on Iran. These maneuvers are a message to Iran that Israel will follow up on its threats," the official was quoted as saying.

Earlier this week, two Israel Navy gunboats openly sailed through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea.

The ships that passed through the Suez Canal on Tuesday were two Sa'ar 5 gunboats, the Hanit and the Eilat. This follows a similar incident in late June, when an Israeli Dolphin-class submarine passed through the canal, later returning the same way.

The move, apparently coordinated with Egypt, is seen as a warning message to Middle Eastern radicals, first and foremost Iran.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit confirmed the crossings and said that Cairo's agreements with Jerusalem permit Israeli military ships to transit the canal. He declined to speculate on whether the voyage was meant as a warning to Iran or anyone else.

While Israeli naval ships have gone through Suez before, the last such occurrence was at least a year ago.

An Israeli diplomat told the Times that Israel's has been bolstering its ties with certain Arab nations just as wary of the Iranian nuclear threat. In particular, the diplomat cited a "shared mutual distrust of Iran" between Israel and Egypt.

Though neither side says so publicly, there is ongoing security coordination between Israel and Egypt, which could be expanded if necessary in the future.

Israel has an interest in a naval presence in the Red Sea for two reasons: the effort to halt arms smuggling from Iran to the Gaza Strip - which, according to international media reports, mainly takes place by sea from Iran to Sudan, and then overland via Egypt, and the effort to bolster its deterrence against Iran in the event of a direct conflict breaking out.

[Der Bücherwurm 1]

You know, if westerners weren't so greedy for oil and had included oil exports in the sanctions against Iran then the Islamic Regime would probably have collapsed by now. The sanctions placed upon Iran have only hurt the people and made their life more difficult and has only allowed the black-market and over-inflated prices to flourish. Since the Regime controls and pockets the oil revenue, sanctions upon Iranian oil exports would have been a direct blow to the govt. If only sympathy for the Iranians fed up with the Regime mattered more to the west than our lust for oil then the regime might have collapsed by now and we wouldn't have to worry so much about a nuclear Iran.

Edited July 17, 2009 by DieNörglerin

[Ban Hammer 12,901]

then let germany and france deal with it.

[almaty 19]

then let germany and france deal with it.

spot on brother charles..let those piss and moan nations do something besides whine