The U.N. nuclear watchdog, which is investigating whether Iran carried out work related to developing a nuclear bomb, said on Sunday its chief had visited a sensitive military site during a trip to the country.
Environmental samples have been taken at a sensitive military site in Iran, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Monday, citing “significant progress” in its investigation of Tehran’s past activities. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Yukiya Amano said he and the head of the agency’s Department of Safeguards, which carries out inspections, visited a building at the Parchin site on Sunday that the agency had previously only observed by satellite.
The IAEA is due to provide an assessment of “possible military dimensions” of Iran’s nuclear program by the end of the year. That report is a vital confidence-building aspect of Iran’s landmark deal with six major powers reached in July, under which restrictions will be placed on Tehran’s atomic energy activities in exchange for a lifting of sanctions.The IAEA has drawn criticism over a confidential arrangement with Iran governing how inspections are done at Parchin. Critics of the international powers’ deal with Iran have argued that the accord on inspections limits the IAEA’s ability to investigate and gives Iran too much influence in the collection of samples.
United States officials have issued a stern warning to North Korea because of their threats to the U.S. and the world over their nuclear capabilities.
The day after North Korea said they have turned up their nuclear reactor at Yongbyon to full production, U.S. officials said the North Korean government should focus on “fulfilling its international obligations.”
“We will work with our partners in the context of the six-party talks to try to return North Korea to a posture of fulfilling those commitments that they have made,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
“We will repeat our call that North Korea should refrain from the irresponsible provocations that aggravate regional tension and should focus instead on fulfilling its international obligations and commitments.”
Earnest added that the world will not allow North Korea to become a nuclear state.
Analysts say that it’s likely Kim Jong-Un is looking at the way Iran was able to parlay their nuclear program into a financial windfall and removal of sanctions and is trying to position his nation to gain a similar bonus.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told those attending the Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony that the world has not learned the lessons of the Holocaust.
Netanyahu used the current situation with Iran and nuclear negotiations as an example of the world not learning lessons regarding appeasement of tyrannical regimes.
“Appeasing tyrannical regimes will only increase their aggression and is an approach that is liable to drag the world into larger wars,” he said. “The bad deal with Iran signals that the lessons of the Holocaust have not been learned.”
The prime minister continued to say that even if the rest of the world bows down before Iran, Israel will stand alone.
“Even if we are forced to stand alone against Iran we will not fear. In every circumstance we will preserve our right and our ability to defend ourselves,” he added.
Netanyahu said that the world needs to protect the values of freedom and tolerance to ensure that humanity can be free.
A French government fact sheet on the Iranian nuclear deal, not meant for public view but leaked to the Times of Israel, shows that Iran could be able to quickly generate material needed for a nuclear bomb.
The deal allows Iran use of the IR-2 and IR-4 centrifuges, which can rapidly create highly enriched uranium that is needed for nuclear weapons.
In addition, the deal allows Iran to continue their research and development on the IR-4, IR-5, IR-6 and IR-8 centrifuges. The IR-8 centrifuge could enrich uranium at 20 times the speed of the current IR-1 centrifuges. The document released by American officials did not specify this fact.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been assailed by American officials after he said the deal was “very bad” for Israel and paves the way for Iran to create a nuclear bomb. The French document appears to back up the claims of Netanyahu that were criticized by American officials.
This is the second time documents have conflicted with the American “fact sheets” on the Iranian deal.
Israeli analysts noticed differences between the American and Iranian fact sheets just days after the announced deal. Ehud Ya’ari of Israel’s Channel 2 News noticed that while the U.S. says restrictions on enrichment last 15 years, Iranians say it’s only 10. The Iranians also said that they can continue R&D on centrifuges, which the French document confirms, and the American documents say is not permitted.
Israeli officials responded to an interview by President Obama claiming he supports Israel by saying his platitudes are irrelevant if Iran gets a nuclear weapon.
Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz told Israel’s Channel 2 that while President Obama’s claim it would be a “fundamental failure” of his presidency if Israel is weakened is “pleasant-sounding”, “no assistance and no backing will help if Iran acquires nuclear weapons.”
Steinitz, a colleague of Netanyahu, released a government fact sheet outlining 10 differences in the deal between Israel and American views. Among the questions were what would happen to Iran’s stockpiled enriched uranium and why the lifting of sanctions was not connected to changes in Iranian behavior.
The document concludes “the alternative to this framework is a better deal, one that will significantly dismantle Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, bring about a cessation of its aggression in the region and terrorist activities around the world, as well as end its efforts to destroy Israel. The framework deal does not block Iran’s path to the bomb. By removing the sanctions and lifting the main restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in about a decade, this framework paves Iran’s path to a bomb. The result will be a dramatic increase in the risks of nuclear proliferation and an increase in the chances of a terrible war.”
U.S. officials dismissed the Israeli fact sheet and statements regarding the deal. Obama advisor Ben Rhodes said the deal “is the best deal that can emerge from these negotiations” and refused to even consider adding the clause the Iran affirms Israel’s right to exist.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu told CNN that while he respects the president, the deal is a threat to the Israeli people.
“I trust the president is doing what he thinks is good for the United States. But I think we can have a legitimate difference of opinion on this,” Netanyahu said.
President Obama admitted Tuesday to NPR, without acknowledging Israeli’s claims from the beginning about this fact, that at the end of the deal Iran would have an “almost zero” breakout time to a nuclear bomb.
The highest-ranking member of the Iranian government says that western leaders are “stupid” if they think that Iran will do anything to curb their nuclear missile weapons program.
“They expect us to limit our missile program while they constantly threaten Iran with military action,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Iran’s state-owned news agency. “This is a stupid, idiotic expectation. The revolutionary guards should definitely carry out their program and not be satisfied with the current level. They should mass produce.”
Khamenei also said that western countries were working to bring the Iranian people to their knees with a list of sanctions but that they would never be able to stop Iran.
The “Supreme Leader” also said that he wants political leaders to find ways to end sanctions against Iran without giving up any of the country’s nuclear program.
No western nations are currently threatening military action against Iran.
The head of Iran’s atomic energy organization confirmed long spread rumors that Russia will help the nation build a nuclear reactor.
Akbar Salehi, head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, announced Tuesday that he hopes to see the construction of the country’s second nuclear power station start in 2014 and that it will be lead “by the Russians.”
The plant is one of 34 potential new nuclear sites identified by the Iranian government.
Experts point out that Iran’s building of a new nuclear power plant would allow them more access to plutonium which can be used to fuel a nuclear weapon. Iran also continues to enrich uranium, another nuclear powered fuel.
The White House has asked Congress to not pass a new round of sanctions against Iran for the expansion of their nuclear program. House members said that because Iran has not slowed down their nuclear program the Congress should not slow down increasing sanctions.
Just days after reports that the country is about a month away from having enough material for a nuclear weapon, Iran has announced they are opening 34 new nuclear sites.
Iranian leaders, despite initial attempts at appearing to give ground at talks aimed at ending their nuclear program, boldly said they will build enough nuclear plants to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity by 2020.
“We are considering construction of power plants along the coasts of the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea as well as the Central parts of Iran, but priority is given to the Persian Gulf coasts because we want to pave the way for water desalination facilities to supply drinking water for the Southern provinces of Iran,” said Iran Atomic Energy Organization head Ali Akbar Salehi.
Salehi also implied that those negotiating with western nations to end Iran’s nuclear program do not really have that authority.
Russia reportedly will be helping Iran build some of the reactors.
An estimate from one of America’s top nuclear experts says that Iran is about one month away from having a functional nuclear bomb.
The announcement came as the White House invited Senate staffers to a briefing asking them to delay sanctions against Iran for their refusal to end their nuclear program. Also, Iran has blocked international inspectors from suspected nuclear facilities in violation of agreements the nation has signed.
The Institute for Science and International Security said that the “breakout times”, or the time it takes to enrich uranium to weapons grade, is shortening every day in Iran. Iran’s stockpile of highly-enriched uranium has almost doubled in a year and the nation has built 7,000 more centrifuges in the last year to enrich the nuclear material.
The White House asked for all sanctions to be delayed until after a scheduled negotiation session in Geneva next month.
United Nations inspectors have previously found evidence of a weapons program in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty despite Iran’s claim they are only enriching uranium for nuclear power.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has told NBC that his country will not produce nuclear weapons.
“We have never sought or pursued a nuclear bomb and we are not going to do so,” Rouhani said in an interview. Continue reading →
