 WELL into a January 3 New York Times report on the US administration's increasingly worried internal discussions about Iran, there came a couple of paragraphs that warranted closer scrutiny: "[Barack] Obama's top advisers say they no longer believe the key finding of a much disputed National Intelligence Estimate about Iran, published a year before resident George W. Bush left office, which said that Iranian scientists ended all work on designing a nuclear warhead in late 2003. "After reviewing new documents that have leaked out of Iran and debriefing defectors lured to the West, Mr Obama's advisers say they believe the work on weapons design is continuing on a smaller scale - the same assessment reached by Britain, France, Germany and Israel." Leaving to one side the alarming possibility that any of Obama's people ever did believe the preposterous arguments of that National Intelligence Estimate, one must wonder what sort of scale is implied by "smaller". That ostensibly reassuring usage might, in fact, be accurate. The new documents alluded to in the article were published in The Times of London last December, and have been extensively reviewed by numerous authorities, none of whom has chosen to challenge their authenticity. And the documents do, in point of fact, throw light on something smaller scale.
To be precise, they show the internal memoranda of the dictatorship as they bear on the crucial question of a neutron initiator. Small as this device may be, it is the technical expression used for the trigger mechanism of a workable nuclear weapon.
The critical element of the trigger is uranium deuteride or UD3. And uranium deuteride has no other purpose. To quote David Albright, the president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington: "Although Iran might claim that this work is for civil purposes, there is no civil application. This is a very strong indicator of weapons work." Remember the other long-concealed enrichment site at Natanz and also the heavy-water plant at Arak. And remember, too, that this is not information that derives from possibly self-interested defectors or bickering intelligence services - even the most cautious spokesmen from the International Atomic Energy Agency have been confident enough to make public criticisms of Iran's self-evident duplicity. The signature of the Ahmadinejad-Khamenei despotism on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, as well as its supposed adherence to a whole thesaurus of agreements with the UN and the European Union, has long been shown to be as cynical and worthless as its claims to have held a free election.
The regime's Revolutionary Guards, now engaged in still another bloody battle with unarmed Iranian civilians, are emerging as the proprietors of the secret nuclear arsenal. The enemy is in plain view. I encourage you to view the Iranian documents for yourselves: The Times of London subjected them to considerable expertise before publishing them and is confident of their provenance. I quote here from an excellent summary by the newspaper's diplomatic correspondent Catherine Philp: "UD3, when used in a neutron initiator, emits a stream of neutrons that ignite the core of a bomb, either weapons-grade uranium or plutonium. The stream of neutrons is released using high explosives to compress a core of solid UD3, creating fusion." But this in turn presents a difficulty for the surreptitious bomb-makers, because the testing of such a trigger could not be explained away as a detonation of a conventional high-explosive weapon. In other words, it would allow monitors to detect the traces of UD3. The whole interest of the newly leaked documents lies precisely in the way in which a further level of cheating is therefore so carefully discussed. A smaller scale of test, according to the regime's scientists, could be attempted using titanium deuteride instead. By this means, a useful flow of neutrons could still be produced but without the incriminating trace elements. The apparent idea, according to one quoted expert, was "to test the match without burning it". The chance that this is not a militaristic and messianic design intended to harden the carapace of the dictatorship and help extend its powers of regional blackmail seem ridiculously close to zero. Iran has had numberless offers from the West to help it acquire the faculties of peaceful nuclear energy and reduce its wasteful use of oil and gas. If it would permit the most elementary transparency, it could also be enabled to purchase uranium at far less cost on the open market, as other nations do. But the mullahs prefer to risk isolation and sanctions in order to construct off-the-record sites and to conduct deception operations that would be almost pathetically crude if they were not so self-evidently sinister. (It also disdains to hide its real intentions from its clients and surrogates: at a Hezbollah rally in Beirut last year, I was impressed to see that the brand new poster of the Party of God is a mushroom cloud; officials from the Iranian embassy were openly on the podium at this uplifting event.) How fascinating it is to sit at home and watch while this menace is permitted to reach the point of no return. Almost as gripping, in fact, as following the jaunty itineraries of suicide-murderers as they calmly buy their one-way tickets, in cash, on airplanes bound for our cities.
The similarity between these two passive experiences is quite riveting as well: in both instances, we lavish billions of dollars on intelligence agencies that cannot make sense of elementary forensic evidence; that coddle and excuse our enemies and treat us like criminals when we ourselves try to travel; that meanwhile leave us unprotected under open skies; and that run a full-employment bureaucracy from which it seems nobody can be, or ever has been, fired. Christopher Hitchens is a columnist for Vanity Fair and the online Slate magazine, where this column originally appeared. He is the Roger S. Mertz media fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, California. The Australian 
 The Obama administration believes domestic unrest and signs of unexpected trouble in Iran's nuclear program make the country's leaders particularly vulnerable to strong and immediate new sanctions. As US President Barack Obama faces pressure to back up his year-end ultimatum for diplomatic progress with Iran, reports yesterday said strong and immediate new sanctions would initiate the latest phase in a strategy to force Iran to comply with UN demands to halt production of nuclear fuel. The sanctions proposal comes as the administration has completed a fresh review of Iran's nuclear progress. Mr Obama's strategists believe Iran's top political and military leaders were distracted in recent months by turmoil in the streets and political infighting, and that their drive to produce nuclear fuel appears to have faltered, officials told The New York Times. The White House wants to focus the new sanctions on the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps believed to run the nuclear weapons effort. Although repeated rounds of sanctions over many years have not dissuaded Iran from pursuing nuclear technology, a US administration official involved in the Iran policy said the hope was that the current troubles "give us a window to impose the first sanctions that may make the Iranians think the nuclear program isn't worth the price tag", the paper noted. The Obama administration officials said they believed Iran's bomb-development effort was seriously derailed by the exposure three months ago of the country's secret enrichment plant under construction near the holy city of Qom. Exposure of the site deprived Iran of its best chance of covertly producing the highly enriched uranium needed to make fuel for nuclear weapons. As well, international nuclear inspectors report that at Iran's plant in Natanz, where thousands of centrifuges spin to enrich uranium for nuclear fuel, the number of the machines operating has dropped by 20 per cent since the northern summer, a decline that nuclear experts attribute to technical problems. Others, including some European officials, believe the problems may have been accentuated by a series of covert efforts by the West to undermine Iran's program, including sabotage on its imported equipment and infrastructure. These factors have led the Obama administration's policymakers to lengthen their estimate of how long it would take Iran to accomplish what nuclear experts call "covert breakout" -- the ability to secretly produce a workable weapon. "For now, the Iranians don't have a credible breakout option, and we don't think they will have one for at least 18 months, maybe two or three years," the paper quotes one senior administration official as saying. The administration has told allies that the longer time frame would allow the sanctions to have an effect before Iran could develop to the full its nuclear ability. The Australian
 The script has already been written. The Iranian government is closely following a plotline in its quest to become the next nuclear weapons-armed state.
And like most cliché thriller movies, the twists are predictable and yet a gullible bunch continues to fall for it. The first part of the script calls for developing the building blocks for a nuclear weapon while claiming such work is for a domestic nuclear energy program, completely in line with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Most of Iran’s work here can be done legally, although in an effort to speed up the process, the regime has been working on the “trigger” for nuclear explosions and long-range ballistic missiles, and constructing covert enrichment facilities, like the one in Qom that can house only 3,000 centrifuges — far from the 50,000 needed for energy but good enough for building the fuel for a bomb. Heck, they’re even permitted to build implosion devices minus the fissile core and are studying the use of EMP strikes that can disable the American power grid instantly with few fingerprints being left behind.
Working in this way allows for minimal incriminating traces to be found, giving countries like Russia and China maximum room to delay and demand higher levels of proof before supporting any meaningful reprisal. The words of Iranian officials expose this thinly concealed strategy. In his book Countdown to Crisis, Ken Timmerman quotes Homayoun Vahdati, a scientific advisor to then-President Rafsanjani, as saying on January 27, 1992, “We should like to acquire the technical know-how and the industrial facilities required to manufacture nuclear weapons, just in case we need them.
This does not mean that we currently want to build them or that we have changed our defense strategy to include a nuclear program.” More at Pajamas Media
 Introduction: Since the fraudulent June 12th Presidential elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), an increasingly emboldened opposition, the green movement, has arisen to demand the overthrow of the IRI. The green movement refuses to desist from launching massive street protests in Tehran, Qom, Isfahan and other major Iranian cities. All this is occurring despite violence wreaked upon thousands of valiant regime opponents by the ruling Mullahs and President Ahmadinejad.
As of this writing more than 15 have been killed in clashes with Iranian security services including the nephew of reformist Presidential candidate Mir Mohammad Mousavi, former IRI Prime Minister. Moreover several dissident leaders have been jailed. Something major is brewing in Iran - possibly revolution. As the year was closing, first a crescendo of massive protests occurred at Students Day events. Then tens of thousands used the occasion of the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri to demonstrate their determination to end the rule of the Supreme Ruling Council head, Ayatollah Khamanei, and his puppet President Ahmadinejad. The final bloody weekend of 2009 witnessed the faltering IRI regime undertaking unprecedented security measures to pre-empt public mourning and observances of the Shi’a Ashura holy day. Police, revolutionary guard and the Basiji para-military forces blanketed Tehran in a vain attempt to stifle public gatherings. They failed. Massive throngs of people from all classes in Tehran and other major cities defied bans in spite of warnings that violators would be dealt with mercilessly.
As a Der Spiegel article reported these protesters were shouting: “We will fight, we will die, we will reconquer our country.” There were graphic video images sent via the internet of protesters engaged in street battles with Basiji forces. Now there are reports that elements of the Iranian Military may have sided with the opposition in support of a secular republic. Jane Jamison in the American Thinker noted in a report, “Iranian Military moves in support the people’s revolution”: It is difficult to verify, but factions in the Iranian military may be breaking rank to join the people’s cause. A group calling itself the National Iranian Armed Resistance Forces (NIRU) posted a news release on an Iranian protest website at the end of the day’s violence. We, a number of Officers, Soldiers and personnel of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, hereby declare our readiness for rise to the armed defense of our nation against the forces of the criminal, illegitimate transgressing and occupying current Government of Iran, and hereby inform our brothers and sisters serving with the armed security forces of Iran, invite them to join us, request their support and ask them to provide cover for us in this moral & national act. A special request for support & cooperation goes to our brothers of the Military Police. The NIRU says it intends to secure Iranian radio and television stations, the Parliament, and the courts, will hold local elections and referendums within 3 months and new presidential elections within 9 months and will dissolve the murderous “Basij” plainclothes police and establish a new national police force. Protection and firepower from even a few factions of the military could signal a critical momentum change for the Iranian people, who by law cannot own weapons. All this occurred despite the visible tyranny imposed by Basij para-military, Revolutionary Guards, and regime secret police arresting, beating and torturing opposition student and opposition political leaders. All this amidst vain attempts to prevent the news of this emerging Iranian revolution reaching the world by cell phone and the internet. Some observers have even suggested that the apocalyptic version of Shia Islam espoused by the ruling Mullahs, might ultimately be consigned to the dustbin of history if such a revolution occurred. Amir Taheri, expatriate Iranian journalist, in a Wall Street Journal column, “Iran’s Democracy Moment,” has pronounced the democracy movement a possible “hinge moment” in Iranian history reflecting the increasing demand by opposition protesters for replacement of the oppressive theocracy with a democratic secular republic.
This development comes at a time when the ruling Mullahs are desperate to retain control in a truculent nation where many clearly despise Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamanei and President Ahmadinejad. These unexpected developments throw into confusion the responses of the Obama Administration in Washington and that of other international players regarding how to deter the Mullahs from their inexorable quest for the ultimate apocalyptic weapon of choice- a nuclear bomb and the missiles for delivering it. In the face of evident rebellion by Iranians against the Mullahs, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, Sen. John Kerry, was seeking clearance from the White House to travel as an emissary to Tehran to confer with the IRI regime that could be in the throes of dissolution. This was an incredible affront to the opposition movement leaders in Iran and supporters of Iranian regime change in America, Europe and Israel. Ehud Barak, Israel’s Minister of Defense in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government announced daunting prospects of a possible unilateral military option against the IRI’s nuclear facilities. In a Jerusalem Post report when he said: . . . that the recently revealed nuclear facility at Qom was “built over a number of years, located in a reinforced underground bunker and immune to standard bombs.” Barak further noted the indifference of the West in assisting Iran’s beleaguered people, when he went on to say: “It is not pleasant to see the response of the free world to the activities there, to the trampling of citizens by the regime.” More at CFP
 Can a deceased ayatollah offer in death what no one alive seems to be able to provide: a single, unifying figure for Iran's opposition? That's the central question that emerges from the weekend death of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a towering figure in the history of Iran's revolutionary government. At the time of his death, he was perhaps the most credible face of the country's persistent opposition movement. The role Ayatollah Montazeri will play in death will come into clearer focus during the next two weeks. His admirers began to vent their sorrow Monday in funeral processions, at the outset of a 10-day religious holiday that figures to produce more public shows of opposition. Ayatollah Montazeri was a religious leader of considerable import -- indeed, he once was designated to become the nation's supreme religious leader -- but in the past six months was most noteworthy as the senior religious leader most openly sympathetic with the opposition movement that sprang up in Tehran's streets after June's disputed presidential election.
Yet at 87 years of age, in poor health, and restricted to the holy city of Qom, he was never likely to become the active leader of a movement opposing the regime of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Indeed, one of the most serious shortcomings of the opposition movement, despite its resilience in the face of concerted government attempts to squelch it, has been the absence of a catalytic personality to serve as its heart and soul.
The logical leader should be Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the presidential candidate who appeared to be robbed of his chance at victory in that June election. But he is too reserved and cautious by nature, and too vulnerable to pressure from the government, to have really stepped into that role. Mehdi Karroubi, former speaker of the Iranian parliament, and Mohammad Khatami, the former Iranian president, both also have become champions of the reform movement. Yet they also are equally exposed to government pressure. In death, though, Ayatollah Montazeri will be immune from government pressure and intimidation. His withering criticisms of the regime are on the record, and can't be compromised. It isn't unusual for revolutionary and counter-revolutionary figures to provide inspiration from the grave. Indeed, the Iranian opposition already has, to some extent, one such figure, albeit of far less stature: Neda Agha-Soltan, the 26-year-old woman whose death at the hands of government agents trying to suppress a street protest was captured on video and galvanized government foes in and out of Iran. History offers other examples. Newspaper publisher Pedro Chamorro, murdered by enforcers for Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1978, became the rallying figure for the Nicaraguan revolution in following years -- and, ultimately, the galvanizing figure for the counter-revolution that followed. Similarly, both the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro and the counter-revolutionaries that resisted him rallied around a deceased Cuban nationalist, Jos[eacute] Marti. The potential role for Ayatollah Montazeri as an opposition icon lies not just in his vocal dissents in the latter months of his life, but in the outsized role he played in his country's history over the past quarter-century. It's a role that may not be immediately apparent to those who don't follow Iranian politics closely. More at WSJ
 These events have been reported to World Threats. Dec. 20 - In Qom after the death of Ayatollah Montazeri a large crowd went towards his home. An unannounced curfew was being implemented and SSF, RGC and Bassiji were deployed in the entire city. Dec. 20 - Residents of Tehran were informed of the death of Montazeri at 1230. People were paying condolences to each other in the streets, buses and public places. After 1500 Tehran became uneasy especially in the south. Helicopters were seen patrolling the city. People told each other they should rush to Qom before the regime closes the highway. An eyewitness said that the traffic was very heavy. SSF and plainclothes officers were stationed on the highway due to an accident between two trucks. The highway was closed and people were told they should go back to Tehran or take another route. Dec. 20 - A large crowd gathered in Mohsine Square at 22:30 and chanted “death to the dictator”. They were dispersed by security forces. Dec. 21 - In Isfehan people are moving in groups towards Bagh Meli to commemorate Montazeri. The agents stood by afraid to start a rebellion by arresting anyone. Dec. 21 - In Qom a huge crowd has gathered at Montazeri’s funeral. They chant: Montazeri is a true cleric, death to Supreme Leadership, death to dictator. The funeral ended at 1030. Some pro-state slogans were chanted using loudspeakers but the crowd silenced them. Among the slogans the people are chanting are: Montazeri is not death. It is the state that is death. Iranian will die but will not surrender to oppression. This month is the month of blood. Sayeed Ali (Khamenei) is overthrown. Death to the principle of Supreme Leadership. Dec. 21- In Isfehan people are moving in groups of 500 or 1000 on different streets towards the National Park. The mosques are filled with mourners. Almost all the people in Najaf Abad are mourning the death of Ayatollah Montazeri. All shops and schools are closed. Qom - Clashes Dec. 21 - At 0930 the body of ayatollah Montazeri was taken from his home and slowly moved through thousands of people to reach Massoumeh’s Shrine. People chanted “There is no God except Allah”, “it’s mourning day today. The enchanted Montazeri is mourned at”, “death to the dictator”, and “Montazeri your path will be followed if bullets take all of us” as they marched to the shrine. Clashes took place between the regime’s forces and the people. After the burial the shrine’s doors were blocked due to the huge crowd. At 1230 the crowd participating in Montazeri’s funeral was larger than the crowd gathered to protest the June 15th election. When Khamenei’s statement was read the people booed and chanted death to the dictator. The regime’s forces attacked the crowd with stones. There may be a mourning ceremony in Azam Mosque after dark. The Seventh day of Montazeri’s death coincides with Ashura. Dec. 21 - At noon students of Abaspour University held a ceremony in the university’s amphitheater. They are sharply criticizing the regime. Students of Sharif University staged a gathering at 11:30 to mourn the death of Montazeri. Security forces are currently stationed at the entrances to the university to keep the students from protesting in the streets. Eyewitnesses have said that the Qom-Tehran Highway is very crowded. Security forces have stopped hundreds of buses on the highway to prevent the people from attending Montazeri’s funeral in Qom. Three films of Montazeri’s funeral in Qom are available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SyBkdRjRVE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbbKRZSITBA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnZeds0kxsw
Analysis. I highlighted the reference to the seventh day celebrations of Montazeri’s death and the celebrations of the death of Hussein as I expect that the two occurring together will be no end of trouble for the regime.
I suspect that if pressured enough on Ashura, the people of Iran will engage in serious revolutionary actions. Could be interesting. World threats
 Iran revealed its nuclear facility near the holy city of Qom in late September after a British agent exposed its true purpose to the West, Ynet learned Tuesday. American, British and Israeli satellites had documented construction works at the uranium enrichment site for years, but the West only learned of its true purpose from an MI-6 agent who was exposed by Iran. Information proved by another Western intelligence agency coincided with the agent's findings. A report issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran had told the UN nuclear watchdog that it had begun building the plant within a bunker beneath a mountain near Qom in 2007, but the IAEA had evidence the project had begun in 2002. The Islamic Republic said it decided to report the existence of the plant due to its commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran told the Vienna-based agency that the site, which is guarded by heavy anti-aircraft weaponry, wouldn't be operational for 18 months and that no centrifuges have been installed in it as of yet. The White House responded to the development by urging Iran's complete and immediate cooperation with the IAEA. "After hiding this site from the international community for years, full transparency is essential, and it is time for Iran to play by the rules like everyone else," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said in late September. US President Barack Obama said at the time that evidence of Iran's building the underground plant "continues a disturbing pattern of Iranian evasion" that jeopardizes global nonproliferation. Ynet
 CONFIDENTIAL intelligence documents show that Iran is working on testing a key final component of a nuclear bomb. The notes, from Iran's most sensitive military nuclear project, describe a four-year plan to test a neutron initiator, the component of a nuclear bomb that triggers an explosion.
Foreign intelligence agencies date them to early 2007, four years after Iran was thought to have suspended its weapons program. An Asian intelligence source last week confirmed that his country also believed that weapons work was being carried out as recently as 2007 -- specifically, work on a neutron initiator. The technical document describes the use of a neutron source, uranium deuteride, which independent experts confirm has no possible civilian or military use other than in a nuclear weapon. Uranium deuteride is the material used in Pakistan's bomb, from where Iran obtained its blueprint. The documents have been seen by intelligence agencies from several Western countries. A senior source at the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed they had been passed to the UN's nuclear watchdog. A British Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokeswoman said yesterday: "We do not comment on intelligence, but our concerns about Iran's nuclear program are clear. Obviously this document, if authentic, raises serious questions about Iran's intentions." Responding to the findings, an Israeli government spokesperson said: "Israel is increasingly concerned about the state of the Iranian nuclear program and the real intentions that may lie behind it." The revelation coincides with growing international concern about Iran's nuclear program. Tehran insists it wants to build a civilian nuclear industry to generate power, but critics suspect the regime is intent on diverting technology to build an atomic bomb. In September, Iran was forced to admit that it was constructing a secret uranium enrichment facility near the city of Qom. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad then claimed that he wanted to build 10 such sites. At the weekend Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran needed up to 15 nuclear power plants to meet its energy needs, despite the country's huge oil and gas reserves. Publication of the nuclear documents will increase pressure for tougher UN sanctions against Iran, which are due to be discussed this week. But the latest leaks in a long series of allegations against Iran will also be seized on by hawks in Israel and the US, who support a pre-emptive strike against Iranian nuclear facilities before the country can build its first warhead. Mark Fitzpatrick, senior fellow for non-proliferation at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, said: "The most shattering conclusion is that, if this was an effort that began in 2007, it could be a casus belli (justification for acts of war). If Iran is working on weapons, it means there is no diplomatic solution." The Times newspaper obtained the documents, which were written in Farsi, and had them translated into English -- and had the translation separately verified by two Farsi speakers. While much of the language is technical, it is clear the Iranians are intent on concealing their nuclear military work behind legitimate civilian research. The fallout could be explosive, especially in Washington, where it is likely to invite questions about President Barack Obama's groundbreaking outreach to Iran. The papers provide the first evidence that suggests Iran pursued weapons studies after 2003 and may actively be doing so today. A 2007 US National Intelligence Estimate concluded that weapons work was suspended in 2003 and officials said with "moderate confidence" that it had not resumed by mid-2007. Britain, Germany and France, however, believe that weapons work had resumed by then. Mr Fitzpatrick said: "Is this the smoking gun? That's the question people should be asking. It looks like the smoking gun. This is smoking uranium." The Australian
 After all, no one's actually tried to stop them yet. As elementary psychology observes, behavior that gets rewarded gets repeated. "Iran authorizes 10 new nuke plants, state media say," from CNN, November 29: (CNN) -- Iran's Cabinet has authorized the construction of another 10 uranium enrichment plants, its state news agency announced Sunday, further defying international calls to halt its production of nuclear fuel. The Iranian Cabinet approved existing plans for five more facilities similar to its current plant at Natanz and ordered planning for five more to begin, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported. The dispatch quoted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying that the new plants will be used to produce fuel for civilian nuclear power stations. The move comes two days after the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, passed a resolution demanding that Iran stop construction on a previously secret nuclear facility at Qom. The proximity to Qom is significant on more than one level: first, it reflects Ahmadinejad's obsession with the return of the Mahdi according to the Shi'ite tradition. But also, if Western powers were to attack the nuclear site, any collateral damage would be trumpeted as an act of brazen "Islamophobia" and used to drum up outrage and calls for revenge from Iran and the broader Islamic world. The IAEA also repeated calls for Iran to stop its uranium enrichment program. The agency said it would not comment on Sunday's announcement. Iran has said its uranium enrichment program is aimed at producing fuel for civilian power plants. But the United States and other countries have accused Tehran of working toward a nuclear bomb, and the IAEA's Friday resolution stated that Iran's refusal to comply with international demands "does not contribute to the building of confidence." Nor does the IAEA's track record of minimal, largely symbolic action. Thanks to JihadWatch
 The UN nuclear watchdog's governing body has voted overwhelmingly to censure Iran for developing a uranium enrichment site in secret, and has demanded it freeze the project immediately. The resolution, the first against Tehran in almost four years, was passed by a 25-3 margin, with six abstentions, by the 35-nation governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. The move received rare Russian and Chinese backing but it was unclear whether the measure would translate into support from Beijing and Moscow for further sanctions that Western leaders may push for if Iran does not begin to dispel concerns about its nuclear ambitions soon. Most developing nations on the IAEA board opposed the resolution, which was sponsored by Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and the United States, saying it would be provocative and counterproductive. The resolution criticises Iran for defying a UN Security Council ban on uranium enrichment. It also rebukes Tehran for secretly building a uranium enrichment facility near the city of Qom. Supporters of the resolution were provoked by the revelation in September of the site, which Iran had been building for at least two years. The discovery of the site has fuelled suspicions among Western states that Iran could be building other covert facilities dedicated to the making of nuclear weapons. The resolution notes that the IAEA cannot confirm that Tehran's nuclear programme is exclusively geared towards peaceful uses and expresses "serious concern" that Iran may be hiding a military nuclear program. Iran, which says its nuclear activity is for peaceful purposes, had warned before the vote that passing the resolution would undermine its relations with the IAEA. The measure also signalled that IAEA members hare losing patience with Iran's reluctance to fully accept an IAEA-brokered plan to provide it with fuel for a nuclear medicine reactor, in exchange for enriched uranium that could be turned into bomb material if further refined. On Thursday, Mohamed ElBaradei, the director-general of the IAEA, said an investigation into whether Iran was seeking to build nuclear weapons had reached "a dead end". More at Al Jazeera
 BERLIN -- Mohamed ElBaradei, the departing chief of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency, said Iran's continued refusal to accept tighter scrutiny of its nuclear activities would likely force the international community to impose new sanctions. Though he described sanctions as a "grievous violation of human rights" that "affect the weak" and "do not solve problems," Mr. ElBaradei said Iran's continued intransigence regarding its nuclear program would likely lead world powers to increase their pressure on Iran. "The ball is in Iran's court," Mr. ElBaradei said in a brief interview after delivering a speech on his 12-year tenure as the International Atomic Energy Agency's Director General. Mr. ElBaradei, who is set to retire from the agency at the end of November, said he still hoped Iran's leadership would accept a plan to address concerns about its nuclear activities but acknowledged that it was "a fleeting opportunity." He urged the international community to continue to engage with Iran, saying that "small steps and negotiations" are necessary to achieve results. "We can threaten to use force, but this is a bridge to nowhere," Mr. ElBaradei said. Diplomats familiar with the talks say Western powers will wait until the end of the year for Tehran to accept a deal brokered with Iran this fall that would require the country to ship some of its uranium stockpile abroad for reprocessing into fuel for a medical-research reactor. Mr. ElBaradei's remarks came as top officials from the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- the U.S., U.K., France, Russia and China -- plus Germany, met in Brussels to discuss the standoff with Iran. The group issued a statement expressing disappointment that Iran had failed to respond to proposals aimed at calming worries about its nuclear ambitions. They urged Iran "to engage seriously with us in dialogue and negotiations." The six said they viewed Iran's failure to notify the IAEA about the existence of an underground uranium enrichment facility near the holy city of Qom as a breach of Iran's safeguards agreement with the agency and "in defiance of several UN resolutions." The officials said they would meet again soon to decide about next steps. International criticism of Iran's nuclear program escalated in September after the existence of the Qom facility came to light. President Obama has said the facility appears to be designed to produce fuel for a secret military program. Mr. Obama has called for a two-track policy of negotiations backed by the possibility of sanctions, should the talks fail to lead to an agreement that would restore confidence in the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program. At the U.N. Friday, Iran drew criticism for how it handled the aftermath of the country's disputed presidential election. The General Assembly's human-rights committee passed a resolution condemning Tehran's violent response to protests against the results of the June balloting as "serious ongoing and recurring human-rights violations." Mohammad Khazaee, Iran's ambassador to the U.N., called the Canadian-sponsored resolution "politically charged and motivated." WSJ
 The U.N. says that satellite photos show that Iran began constructing the recently-disclosed nuclear site at Qom in 2002. Iran maintains that construction began in 2007 in response to U.S. threats. The Los Angeles Times explains the significance of this lie: “The discrepancy in dates is a significant measure of Iran’s sincerity. Iran has long argued that because its parliament refused to ratify the Additional Protocol to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, it doesn’t have to disclose new sites to international inspectors until six months before introducing nuclear material to them, a point strenuously disputed by the West and departing IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei. But from December 2003 to February 2006, Iran was adhering to the Additional Protocol, obliging it to declare new sites immediately.” The IAEA says that they are concerned that Iran may have other hidden sites, and that Iran needs to clarify its explanation about the purpose, design and chronology of the site–which in diplomatic terms means, “Stop hiding the truth.” The UN also has questions about stocks of plutonium: “In addition, inspectors found 600 barrels of heavy water at a nuclear facility in Esfahan. The plutonium in the spent fuel of heavy-water nuclear reactors can be used for nuclear bombs.
The IAEA asked Iran this month for information on the barrels’ origin, since Iran’s heavy-water production plant near Arak is apparently not operating.” World Threats
 The United Nations nuclear agency announced that Iran will start up its once-secret nuclear facility outside the holy city of Qom in 2011. Iranian technicians have moved highly sophisticated technical equipment into the uranium enrichment site in preparation for starting it up, the nuclear watchdog reported Monday. The IAEA report offered no estimate of the new plant's capabilities but a senior international official familiar with the agency's work in Iran said that it appeared designed to produce about a ton of enriched uranium a year. That would be enough for a nuclear warhead but too little to fuel the nearly finished plant at the southern port of Bushehr and other civilian reactors Iran is planning to bring on line in the coming years. The IAEA also noted that Iran's enrichment at the Natanz site — revealed by dissidents in 2002 and under agency monitoring — was stagnating, with output remaining at mid-2009 levels. The report did not offer a reason. But the official suggested that nuclear experts previously working at Natanz could now be preoccupied with putting the finishing touches on the newly discovered site, called Fordo. As early as three years ago, Iranian officials had announced that immediate plans for the Natanz site were to install about 8,000 enriching centrifuges, and Monday's report suggested that Tehran had reached that goal Read more at Foxnews
 Iran's recently revealed uranium enrichment hall is a highly fortified underground space that appears too small to house a civilian nuclear program, but large enough to serve for military activities, diplomats told The Associated Press on Thursday. Iran began building the facility near the holy city of Qom seven years ago, and after bouts of fitful construction could finish the project in a year, the diplomats said. Both the construction timeline and the size of the facility — inspected last month by the International Atomic Energy Agency — are significant in helping shed light on Tehran's true nuclear intentions. Iran says it wants to enrich only to make atomic fuel for energy production, but the West fears it could retool its program to churn out fissile warhead material. One of the diplomats — a senior official from a European nation — said Thursday that the enrichment hall is too small to house the tens of thousands of centrifuges needed for peaceful industrial nuclear enrichment, but is the right size to contain the few thousand advanced machines that could generate the amount of weapons-grade uranium needed to make nuclear warheads. The pauses in construction may reflect Tehran's determination to keep its activities secret as far back as 2002, when Iran's clandestine nuclear program was revealed. Citing satellite imagery, the diplomats said Iran started building the plant in 2002, paused for two years in 2004 — the same year it suspended enrichment on an international demand — and resumed construction in 2006, when enrichment was also restarted. Since then, Iran has defied three sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions aimed at forcing it to again freeze uranium enrichment. All of the diplomats have access to information compiled by the IAEA, and demanded anonymity in exchange for discussing confidential matters with the AP. Iran informed the IAEA only in September that it was building the facility near Qom, leading the U.S., British and French leaders to denounce Tehran for keeping its existence secret. IAEA inspectors visited the plant last month. Iran says it fulfilled its legal obligations over when it revealed the plant's construction, though IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei has said Tehran was "outside the law" and should have informed his agency when the decision to construct was made. Read more,,,, Source: FoxNews
 UN inspectors found "nothing to be worried about" in a first look at a previously secret uranium enrichment site in Iran last month, the International Atomic Energy chief said in remarks published on Thursday. Mohamed ElBaradei also told the New York Times that he was examining possible compromises to unblock a draft nuclear cooperation deal between Iran and three major powers that has foundered over Iranian objections. The nuclear site, which Iran revealed in September three years after diplomats said Western spies first detected it, added to Western fears of covert Iranian efforts to develop atom bombs. Iran says it is enriching uranium only for electricity. ElBaradei was quoted in a New York Times interview as saying his inspectors' initial findings at the fortified site beneath a desert mountain near the Shi'ite holy city of Qom were "nothing to be worried about". "The idea was to use it as a bunker under the mountain to protect things," ElBaradei, alluding to Tehran's references to the site as a fallback for its nuclear program in case its larger Natanz enrichment plant were bombed by a foe like Israel. "It's a hole in a mountain," he said. The IAEA has declined to comment on whether the inspectors came across anything surprising or were able to obtain all the documentation and on-site access they had wanted at the remote spot about 160 km (100 miles) south of Tehran. Details are expected to be included in the next IAEA report on Iran's disputed nuclear activity due in mid-November. The inspectors' goal was to compare engineering designs to be provided by Iran with the actual look of the facility, interview scientists and other employees, and take soil samples to check for any traces of activity oriented to making bombs.
 A team from the UN's nuclear watchdog has inspected a controversial Iranian uranium enrichment plant near the town of Qom. The four inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited the facility on Sunday, Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency said. "The inspectors ... visited the facility in central Iran. They are expected to visit the site again," it said. Iran's disclosure of the Qom plant's existence on September 21 sparked a wave of global outrage. Iran has already been enriching uranium - the most controversial aspect of its nuclear project - for several years at another plant in the central city of Natanz, in defiance of three sets of UN sanctions. Uranium enrichment is the focus of Western concern that Iran's ultimate aim is to manufacture a nuclear weapon, a charge strongly denied by Tehran. Enriched uranium produces fuel for civilian reactors, but in highly extended form can also make the fissile core of an atomic bomb. On Saturday, Mehr quoted an unnamed Vienna-based official as saying that the IAEA inspectors would "compare the information given by Iran [about the Qom plant] with the facility during their visit." Hossein Ebrahimi, an Iranian legislator, said the IAEA inspection "shows that Iranian nuclear activities are peaceful and transparent". The inspection comes as Barack Obama, the US president, Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, and France's Nicolas Sarkozy pledged support for a separate deal to end the crisis over Iran's uranium enrichment drive. The White House said the three "affirmed their full support" for a UN-brokered deal under which Tehran's existing stock of low-enriched uranium (LEU) would be sent abroad. Nazanine Moshiri, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Tehran, the Iranian capital, said the UN inspectors had only three days to do their job. "They say they are going to use all technical tools available to them to assess whether there has been any recent activity at the plant. The Iranians, of course, deny this. They say that enriching has not started yet," she said.
"But what we understand is that [the] inspectors will be taking environmental swaps at the plant - trying to assess whether there is any military dimension at all.
"And that's really key - to try to prove that Iran's intentions are peaceful or whether the plant was going to be used for military purposes.
"The Iranians say they're going to fill the plant with the latest kind of centrifuges, which will only be able to produce low-enriched uranium. That's what the inspectors will have to assess and report back to Mohamed ElBaradei [head of the IAEA] in November." Tehran missed a Friday deadline for responding to the UN deal about uranium, saying it would give its answer next week. State TV has said Iran would prefer to buy uranium for a reactor that makes medical isotopes, rather than send its own stock abroad for enrichment. Ali Larijani, Iran's parliament speaker, said on Saturday that Western powers are trying to "cheat" Iran through deal. "They are saying we will give you the 20 per cent [enriched uranium] fuel for the Tehran reactor only if you give us your enriched uranium," he told Iran's ISNA news agency.
"I see no links between providing the fuel for the Tehran reactor and sending Iran's low enriched uranium abroad." Source: Al Jazeera (English)
 UNITED NATIONS — Israel is concerned that Iran will use the current climate of international goodwill as a cover to pursue its goal of becoming a nuclear power, an Israeli minister said Friday. Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom made the comment on the day that Iran announced it was still studying a U.N.-drafted plan to ship much of its uranium to Russia and France for further enrichment, a move seen as a way to delay the country's ability to build a nuclear weapon.
Iran's envoy to the U.N. nuclear agency said the government will respond to the offer next week. Shalom, who is also the minister for regional development, said he discussed Iran's nuclear ambitions with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during a discussion that also included Israeli-Palestinian peace prospects and Lebanon. "I told the secretary-general that we were very concerned that Iran will use the goodwill of the international community to continue to develop their real intentions — and it is toward nuclear power on the one end but on the other end to try to change the types of the regimes within the Middle East," he said. The six world powers trying to ensure that Iran's nuclear program remains peaceful held talks earlier this month with Iranian diplomats, despite a spike in tensions over September's revelations by Iran that it had been secretly building a new uranium enrichment plant near the holy city of Qom. The meeting — and tentative agreement on the plan to ship out much of Iran's low-enriched uranium — indicated a willingness on both sides to talk. But Israel, which has been threatened with annihilation by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is clearly unhappy. "We believe that Iran will never abandon their dream to become a nuclear power," Shalom said. "They hide their real intentions in the past, and they will do it in the future." He singled out the recent disclosure about the nuclear facility at Qom. Read more here,,,, Source: FoxNews
 US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton departed for Europe late Friday on a five day trip in which Iran, Afghanistan and arms control are expected to be subjects of discussion.
The trip will take her to Switzerland, Britain, Ireland and Russia. During her visit to Moscow, Clinton plans to press for a strong commitment from Russia for tough new sanctions against Iran. US officials said Iran will be at or near the top of Clinton's agenda when she meets Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday. Russia and China have long balked at imposing new sanctions on Iran if it fails to come clean about its suspect nuclear program, but Medvedev hinted the Russian position might be shifting after Teheran disclosed a previously secret uranium enrichment site near the holy city of Qom. But US officials believe it will be a hard sell to convince the Russians on fresh penalties since Iran agreed to allow UN inspectors to visit the Qom site and has agreed, in principle, to send most of its low-enriched uranium to Russia for reprocessing. Iran agreed to allow inspections of the Qom site following talks last week between Iran's chief nuclear negotiator and diplomats from the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. The Iranians were given time to decide whether to accept a package of incentives in exchange for Iran's compliance with international demands to suspend its uranium enrichment or face new sanctions. The Obama administration is anxious not to let up on the pressure and Clinton will be looking for Russian expressions of support for sanctions and other penalties should Iran continue to refuse by the end of the year, the officials said. "Iran has not bought an indefinite delay and we want them to know that," said one official, who like the others spoke on condition of anonymity to preview Clinton's talks. Read more here,,,, Source: JPost
 IRAN has accused the US of involvement in the disappearance of one of its nuclear scientists, amid speculation about his possible role in unmasking Tehran's nuclear plant near Qom. Shahram Amiri disappeared in Saudi Arabia in May during a pilgrimage to Mecca, prompting speculation he had defected to the West. His family have not heard from him since. Iran's Foreign Minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, said yesterday Tehran had proof of Washington's involvement in Dr Amiri's disappearance. "We have found documents that prove US interference with the Iranian pilgrim Shahram Amiri in Saudi Arabia," Mr Mottaki said. "We hold Saudi Arabia responsible and consider the US to be involved in his arrest." Dr Amiri is the second person involved in Iran's nuclear program to have disappeared while abroad in the past two years. The first was Ali Reza Asghari, a deputy defence minister and leader of the Revolutionary Guards, who vanished in Turkey two years ago. Saudi Arabia and Turkey are two of the US's strongest allies in the region and the most outspoken on a possible Iranian military nuclear program. Mr Mottaki lodged a complaint with the UN Secretary-General last month about four missing Iranians he claimed were being held in US custody. Dr Amiri and Mr Asghari were among them. Speculation surrounding Dr Amiri's disappearance has heightened since Iran's public disclosure last month of a previously secret uranium enrichment plant near the holy city of Qom, with questions being asked about the nature of his nuclear work. Dr Amiri worked as a nuclear physics researcher at Malek-e-Ashtar University, a research institute associated with the Iranian military. His family have said he researched the medical uses of nuclear technology, a project that links him to the research reactor for which Tehran is seeking a foreign supply of enriched uranium. The Iranian Student News Agency yesterday reported rumours that Dr Amiri worked for Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, while Jahan News, a conservative Iranian news website, reported Saudi officials as claiming he had sought political asylum there. Others have pointed to the timing of the disappearance and subsequent revelations about Qom. When US President Barack Obama announced the discovery of the Qom site last month, he referred to the emergence of fresh information in the first half of the year. "Earlier this year, we developed information that gave us confidence the facility was a uranium enrichment plant," Mr Obama said. The Iranians had declared the plant to the International Atomic Energy Agency days before, he said, after realising its cover had been blown. US and British officials have attributed their knowledge of the Qom plant to technical data, satellite surveillance and intelligence operations. Source: The Australian
 The defection of General Ali Asgari in 2007 took everyone in Iran by surprise. He was a former Deputy Defense Minister and a senior member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC). After completing a trip to Syria, he crossed by land to Turkey and defected to the West. Some believe that his defection was handled by the CIA. This angered Iranian authorities greatly, as such defections are political, and—more importantly—an intelligence blow. And now there are more stories circulating about two other mystery defectors. The first is Shahram Amiri, who has gone missing in Saudi Arabia. According to the Sharq Al Wasat newspaper, he was a nuclear scientist who worked at the recently exposed nuclear site in Qom.
He took refuge in Saudi Arabia after a recent pilgrimage to the country in July this year. According to the article, no connection has been made between his disappearance and the recent discovery of the nuclear site in Qom. Meanwhile, the spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, Hassan Ghashghavi, called on Saudi Authorities to help find Mr. Amiri. Ghashghavi denied that Amiri worked at Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, referring to him instead as a 'civil servant.'
However, suspicions were raised due to the attention given by Iranian authorities to Amiri's case. Every year, thousands of Iranians travel to Saudi Arabia. There are many cases of missing persons and Iranian Foreign Ministry does not address most of them. In fact, many people in Iran complain about the poor job the Foreign Ministry does in protecting their interests in Saudi Arabia. In this case, it is possible that after the Sharq Al Wasat report it felt compelled to act. However, the possibility that Amiri was more than a Civil Servant cannot be ruled out either. Read more here,,,, Source: RealClearWorld
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WELL into a January 3 New York Times report on the US administration's increasingly worried internal discussions about Iran, there came a couple of paragraphs that warranted closer scrutiny: "[Barack] Obama's top advisers say they no longer believe the key finding of a much disputed National Intelligence Estimate about Iran, published a year before resident George W. Bush left office, which said that Iranian scientists ended all work on designing a nuclear warhead in late 2003. 
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