Iran Super Thread- Merged

[a_majoor]

Interesting report, if true. I suspect that if this has happened, there was some help in arranging an industrial accident:

http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=301198

Iran denies mystery explosion at Fordow facility
By YAAKOV LAPPIN01/28/2013 02:04

A report claiming that a mysterious blast rocked the Fordow uranium enrichment facility in Iran last week made headlines in Israel on Sunday, but remained unverified.

An Iranian official on Sunday night denied the reports, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

Related:
IAEA: Iran nuclear row must be solved peacefully
Barak: US has 'surgical operation' plan against Iran
The deputy head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Seyyed Shamseddin Barbroudi was quoted by the IRNA as dismissing the report.

According to the report, penned by former Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Reza Kahlili, for the WND.com website, the explosion “destroyed much of the installation and trapped about 240 personnel deep underground.”

Kahlili, who says he turned CIA agent in the 1980s and 90s, cited a “source in the security forces protecting Fordow” as saying that the blast occurred last Monday at Fordow, which is located deep inside a mountain to protect it from aerial attack.

“The blast shook facilities within a radius of three miles. Security forces have enforced a no-traffic radius of 15 miles, and the Tehran- Qom highway was shut down for several hours after the blast,” the report added.

The existence of the Fordow enrichment plant was kept secret by Iran, until it was discovered by Western intelligence in 2009, and the question of how long it had been in operation remains unanswered.

Emily Landau, director of the Arms Control and Regional Security Project at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies, noted on Sunday that Iran is enriching uranium to 20 percent at Fordow, “and it raises concerns because it is buried deep in a mountain.”

She added, “There have been many references to the fact that Israel doesn’t have strong enough bombs to penetrate it from the air, but the US MOP [massive ordnance penetrator] is reported to be able to penetrate it.”

Landau added that reports surfaced six months ago saying that the MOP is operational.

The shutting down of Fordow is one of the three demands made on Iran by the P5+1 nations during talks with the Islamic Republic.

According to a 2011 IAEA report, Iran is testing detonators for nuclear blasts at its secret base in Parchin, and has refused to allow UN inspectors access to the site.

Jpost.com staff contributed to this report.

 

[cupper]

BOOM

Israel: "Hey! What are you kids doing over there?"

Iran: "Nothing!"

:facepalm:

 

[a_majoor]

National post reports in more depth. This makes the situation even murkier, as everyone will now have to think of the effects of a new player in the game (some sides might even want to coopt the IDF as their own air force, for example). Israel must not remain engaged for a prolonged period, so their calculus is even finer. For now I would say Israeli SoF units and Intelligence is on the ground with the Air Force "on call":

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/01/30/israeli-airstrike-hits-truck-convoy-in-syria-that-may-contain-weapons-bound-for-hezbollah-in-lebanon/

Israeli airstrike hits truck convoy in Syria that may contain weapons bound for Hezbollah in Lebanon

Associated Press | Jan 30, 2013 1:07 PM ET | Last Updated: Jan 30, 2013 7:52 PM ET
More from Associated Press

BEIRUT — Israel conducted an airstrike inside Syria overnight near the border with Lebanon, hitting a convoy of trucks, U.S. and regional officials said Wednesday.

The regional officials said Israel had been planning in the days leading up to the airstrike to hit a shipment of weapons bound for the Islamist militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. They said the shipment included sophisticated, Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, which would be strategically “game-changing” in the hands of Hezbollah.

Hezbollah has committed to Israel’s destruction and has gone to war against the Jewish state in the past.

A U.S. official said the strike hit a convoy of trucks.

All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the strike.

The Israeli military declined to comment.

The Syrian government said that the airstrike took place within their territory and that the building hit was a scientific research facility in the Damascus suburbs.

Top Israeli officials have recently expressed worries that if desperate, the regime of President Bashar Assad could pass chemical weapons to Hezbollah or other militant groups. U.S. officials say they are tracking Syria’s chemical weapons and that they still appear to be solidly under regime control.

Among Israeli security officials’ chief fears is that Hezbollah could get its hands on Syrian chemical arms and SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles. If that were to happen, it would change the balance of power in the region and greatly hinder Israel’s ability to conduct air sorties in Lebanon.

Related
Israel ramps up warplane presence over Lebanon amid fears of chemical weapons in Syria
Dozens of bodies found in Aleppo as Israel deploys Iron Dome, warning that Syria is ‘coming apart’
Israel warns it will attack Syria to prevent transfer of chemical weapons to Hezbollah
.
Israel suspects that Damascus obtained a battery of SA-17s from Russia after an alleged Israeli airstrike in 2007 that destroyed an unfinished Syrian nuclear reactor.

Earlier this week, Israel moved a battery of its new “Iron Dome” rocket defence system to the northern city of Haifa, which was battered by Hezbollah rocket fire in the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. The Israeli army called that move “routine.”

The military in Lebanon, which shares borders with both Israel and Syria, said Wednesday that Israeli warplanes have sharply increased their activity over Lebanon in the past week, including at least 12 sorties in less than 24 hours in the country’s south.

A senior Lebanese security official said there were no Israeli airstrikes inside Lebanese territory. Asked whether it could have been along the border on the Syrian side, he said that that could not be confirmed as it was out of his area of operations.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

A Lebanese army statement said the last of the sorties took place at 2 a.m. local time Wednesday. It said four warplanes which flew in over the southernmost coastal town of Naqoura hovered for several hours over villages in southern Lebanon before leaving Lebanese airspace.

It said similar flights by eight other warplanes were conducted Tuesday.

A Lebanese security official said the flights were part of “increased activity” in the past week but did not elaborate. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.

The area of Lebanon where the flights took place borders southern Syria.

Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace are not uncommon and Lebanese authorities routinely lodge complaints at the U.N. against the flights.

Sorry, wrong thread. Can a Mod place this in the Syria thread please?

 

[cupper]

Sorry, wrong thread. Can a Mod place this in the Syria thread please?

Actually, since Hez is a client of Iran, it may just be appropriate.

 

[63 Delta]

Apparently Iran now has a stealth fighter... Looks like a F35 but smaller.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JosSIu8lsks
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f79_1359795485

Would love to hear what the pilots of the forum think about this plane.

 

[a_majoor]

While I am not a pilot, I like to think I am a person of normal intelligence and perception (well, that's what I think anyway  )

Based on a quick look when they showed this on CTV News this morning, it is another elaborate toy, or maybe a hoax.

The position of the cockpit and size of the nose indicates that either no or a very small radar set could be carried.
The air intakes are in an unusual position and would be masked by the airframe in some flight regimes; something the pilot might not approve of.
The various angles do not seem to line up: this is one of the key marks of any "real" stealth airplane, all angles are aligned to control the direction of radar returns.

Anyway, Iran's capability to actually build high tech devices like aircraft is limited, so even if this is a real airplane, they have chosen to channel their resources in other projects, so they "might" be able to hand assemble one or two over a prolonged period of time.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Some bloggers noted the airspeed indicator maxes out at 300kts. No doubt this is more for internal consumption than external, unless their R&D branch wants the western bloggers to correct all their mistakes for them.

 

[57Chevy]

According to this article shared with provisions of The Copyright Act, US Senator John McCain is quoted as saying that
Iran wants to send another monkey into space.
No offence to Mr. abadajimmyhadabadidea. Everone should be able to make and take a joke. (highlights mine)

Iran's President Ahmadinejad offers to go into space
04 Feb BBC News (Middle East)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has volunteered to become the first person sent into space by his country's fledgling space programme.
"I'm ready to be the first Iranian to be sacrificed by the scientists of my country and go into space," he is quoted by state media as saying.

Iran announced last week that it had successfully sent a monkey to space.

Western nations have expressed concern that Iran's space programme is being used to develop long-range missiles.

Such missiles could potentially be used to carry nuclear warheads.

Iran denies it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons and insists its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.

Worms

President Ahmadinejad made his space-travel offer during an address to scientists on Iran's national day of space technology in Tehran, state media report.

It comes a week after Iran said it had successfully sent a monkey to an altitude of some 120 km (75 miles) for a sub-orbital flight. The monkey returned unharmed.

In the US Senator John McCain mocked Mr Ahmadinejad's announcement, using Twitter to compare the Iranian president to the nation's space monkey.

"So Ahmadinejad wants to be first Iranian in space - wasn't he just there last week?" Mr McCain wrote.

The tweet provoked an angry response from many who saw racist overtones in his comparison of the dark-skinned, bearded Mr Ahmadinejad to a monkey.

That prompted Mr McCain to tweet again, saying: "Re: Iran space tweet - lighten up folks, can't everyone take a joke?"

Pictures released by the Iranian presidency website on Monday showed President Ahmadinejad meeting the monkey.

He also unveiled two small satellites "Nahid" and "Zohreh".

In 2010, Iran successfully sent a rat, a turtle and worms into space.

President Ahmadinejad announced in 2011 that the country planned to send a man into space by 2019.

A domestically made satellite was sent into orbit for the first time in 2009.

 

[OldSolduer]

So if Iran sent a monkey into space I would expect PETA to vehemently protest this.

 

[larry Strong]

So if Iran sent a monkey into space I would expect PETA to vehemently protest this.

So........how long do you think those PETA girls would last standing around nekkid in the main square in Tehran?


Larry

 

[57Chevy]

Apparently Iran now has a stealth fighter... Looks like a F35 but smaller.

The size of a toy.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/trending-iranian-jet-turns-toy-000000721.html

 

[a_majoor]

This reads a lot like George Jonas book Vengeance. Scratch another rabid dog:

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/02/12/erol-araf-death-of-a-master-terrorist-how-the-iranian-jackal-was-killed/

Erol Araf: Death of a master terrorist: How the ‘Iranian Jackal’ was killed

Erol Araf, National Post | Feb 12, 2013 12:01 AM ET | Last Updated: Feb 12, 2013 9:14 AM ET
More from National Post

On the fifth anniversary of the assassination of Imad Mughniyah, a.k.a. “The Iranian Jackal,” much new information about the hunt for the terrorist most wanted by Mossad and the FBI has emerged. It’s a story of high-tech surveillance and old-fashioned espionage, and it’s just starting to be truly told now.

Imad Mughniyah was 20 years old when he made his debut on the international terrorist scene in 1983, with a series of spectacular and deadly bombings aimed at Western forces in Lebanon. The 1983 Beirut suicide bombings included those on April 18 at the U.S. Embassy (63 killed); on Oct. 23 at the U.S. Marine barracks (241 killed); and on Oct. 23 at the French paratrooper barracks (58 killed). A litany of bombings, hijackings, kidnappings and assassinations followed, with an ever-increasing body count. A list of the attacks he is believed to have been involved in, directly or in a leadership capacity, reads like an index of late-20th-century terrorism: Car bombings of the Israeli embassy and the Jewish cultural center in Argentina (124 killed) in the early 1990s; the World Trade Center bombing of 1993 (6 killed); the Khobar Towers suicide bombing in Saudi Arabia in 1996 (19 killed); the U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 (223 killed); the 2000 suicide attack on the USS Cole in Aden, Yemen (17 killed).

And perhaps even the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. The 9/11 Commission Report references “a senior Hezbollah operative” shepherding the future hijackers in and out of Iran. Some terrorism experts believe this was almost certainly Mughniyah. Indeed, according to Peter Lance’s book Triple Cross, Osama bin Laden spoke admiringly of Mughniyah’s lethal handiwork and in 1993 met with him in Khartoum, Sudan, to form a working alliance. That historic meeting, according to Lance, was brokered by Ali Mohamed, bin Laden’s master spy and double agent inside the FBI. Kenneth R. Timmerman, in Countdown to Crisis, quotes Major General Amos Malka, a senior Israeli military intelligence official, saying that before Sept. 11, the Israelis had picked up on numerous signs that bin Laden and Mughniyah were planning new operations against Israel and the U.S. “within the next few weeks.”

Even after the Sept. 11 attacks, Western intelligence agencies continued to track Mughniyah with interest. According Ronen Bergman, author of The Secret War with Iran, in 2005 Mossad informed both the CIA and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service that Mughniyah had established a Hezbollah network in Montreal to “prepare for the execution of terrorist attacks should the U.S.A. strike at Iranian nuclear installations.” He surfaced again as the prime Hezbollah strategist in the 2006 Lebanon War. Author and former CIA operative Robert Baer has argued that Mughniyah — tall, slender, well dressed and handsome — was the “most intelligent, most capable operative we have ever run across, including the KGB or anybody else. He enters by one door, exits by another, changes his cars daily, never makes appointments on a telephone, never is predictable. He uses only people that are related to him that he can trust.”

Despite his prolific terrorism career and the keen interest in the West, it was not until June, 2007, that Mossad caught a break. The lead came from his birthplace, Tayr Dibba, a small town in south Lebanon, some 15 miles from Israel. It came from one of the operatives of the Ali al-Jarrah network, operated by Mossad. Al-Jarrah himself had been recruited while serving time in an Israeli prison, and his cousin Ziad Jarrah was the hijacker pilot of United Airlines Flight 93. His terrorist credentials were impeccable, which made him the perfect Israeli agent. Ali and his brother Yusuf photographed Hezbollah supply routes and travelled extensively in the region, collecting information on Hezbollah activities in south Lebanon. All of this information he passed back to Israel, collecting perhaps as much as $500,000 for his services.

It was money well spent. A member of al- Jarrah’s network lived in the same village as some of Mughniyah’s family. The informer reported that the terrorist had been moving around major European cities to avoid detection, and that he had changed his appearance. He also had apparently been sending his family occasional postcards from the cities he was hiding in. It wasn’t much to go on, but Israel still sent in a special unit of undercover agents. Blending in with the locals, they worked to verify the intelligence and tap the phones of Mughniyah’s friends and relatives. Israel also began scrutinizing surgical clinics where Mughniyah might have gone to have his appearance altered.

Israel also paid particular attention to former East German Stasi agents who had maintained contacts with their Palestinian allies even after the fall of communism. When East Germany collapsed, many of its spies packed up whatever sensitive documents they could obtain and then vanished. They used the sensitive information contained in their stolen files to sustain a comfortable living for themselves even long after the end of the Cold War. Israel set about locating them and offering generous payments to anyone with useful information. Before long, a former Stasi agent reached out to a Mossad agent in Berlin: He had the Stasi file on Mughniyah, and it was available for a price. The meeting between Mossad representatives and the ex-Stasi spy took place at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin. A large file containing Mougniyeh’s latest photographs was exchanged for a brief case containing $250,000. Le Carré would have approved.

This was a major coup in the hunt for Mughniyah, but it required a further lucky break to give Israel the information it needed to bring Mughniyah down. As recounted by David Markovsky in his article “The Silent Strike,” published last fall in The New Yorker, in 2007, Israeli agents infiltrated the home of Ibrahim Othman, head of the Syrian Atomic Energy Commission. Once inside, they bugged his computer. While Israel had been looking for information about the Syrian nuclear weapons program (and indeed, in September of 2007, bombed a nascent nuclear reactor inside Syria), access to this computer allowed Israel to compromise other computers inside the supposedly secure networks of Syria’s rulers. Among the information obtained through this operation were details of weapons transfers from Syria to Mughniyah.

These Syrian files, the ex-Stasi documents and the intelligence trickling in from Mossad’s spies in Lebanon began to provide a detailed picture of Mughniyah’s recent locations and activities. Israel was getting closer, and in January of 2008 made a breakthrough — it developed intelligence indicating that Mughniyah was having an affair with a woman in Damascus, and would often spend time with her inside a luxury condo in the Syrian capital. The condo, owned by a cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was put under surveillance. It is believed that Mossad was able to get photos of Mughniyah as he came and went from this condo, and that they matched the Stasi files.

    By the time the bomb went off, most of the Israeli agents had already packed up and left. Their mission was accomplished. They shut down the safe houses, removed any incriminating evidence, and calmly left the country under false IDs, escaping before there was any reason for Syria to suspect their presence.

In early 2008, Mughniyah received an invitation to attend celebrations of the Iranian Revolution at the Iranian Cultural Centre and meet with his Syrian and Iranian contacts. This was scheduled for Feb. 12. Through means yet to be revealed (though perhaps related to Israel’s compromising of the Syrian computer networks), the Mossad found out about this meeting. This meant that they not only knew where he would be, and when, but also, in all likelihood, had up-to-date intelligence on what the target currently looked like.

The exact sequence of what happened next is still a secret. But enough is known, both about this operation and about Mossad’s modus operandi, to make some educated guesses. A team would be prepared, safe houses established and communications arranged. It’s believed that a squad consisting of four members was assigned to the operation. One member was charged with tracking the target while remaining in constant communication with command and the safe houses. Another member was responsible for arranging transportation and logistics inside Damascus. The third member was tasked with “cover” — monitoring potential and emerging threats to the operation and, if necessary, creating a diversion. The last member was the executioner.

Out of the safe houses, agents monitored the Iranian Cultural Centre and every place Mughniyah was believed likely to visit. The Damascus safe house had a large garage for wiring vehicles with remotely controlled explosives and altering their appearance, as well as installing mobile command, control and communication equipment. Fake IDs, changes of clothes and plenty of weapons were stashed there, as well, in case anything went wrong. Days before the assassination, Mossad obtained priority access to a recently launched Israeli satellite. State of the art, it was capable of feeding the strike team real-time intelligence 24 hours a day.

The strike team took up positions outside the Iranian Cultural Centre in Damascus, waiting for Mughniyah. At the same time, a few rented vehicles with remote controlled explosives placed inside headrests were parked, at intervals, along the street. Guests began to arrive at 7:30 p.m., with the Iranian ambassador himself arriving at 8. At 9 p.m., a silver Mitsubishi Pajero turned into the street and parked close to where two strike team members were waiting. For a moment the driver and his passenger sat checking the street. Then the passenger door opened and Imad Mughniyah emerged. He wore a dark suit and his beard had been neatly trimmed. He started to walk up the street, passing one of the cars the Israelis had planted there. It exploded, beheading Mughniyah.

By the time the bomb went off, most of the Israeli agents had already packed up and left. Their mission was accomplished. They shut down the safe houses, removed any incriminating evidence, and calmly left the country under false IDs, escaping before there was any reason for Syria to suspect their presence. The two agents who had been on the street with Mughniyah when the bomb exploded had a harder time getting out — with Syrian security on high alert, especially at the airports, the agents are reported to have crossed into Lebanon and then sailed out into the Mediterranean in inflatable boats, to be rescued by an Israeli submarine hiding beneath the waves.

The risky end to the mission, however, did little to obscure the obvious — it had been a complete success. The team had gotten in and out without detection. And, best of all, one of the most dangerous terrorists of our time had been killed, his body so thoroughly shattered that parts were found dozens of metres away from the bomb site.

“The world is a better place without this man in it,” U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack. “One way or the other he was brought to justice.” Indeed. The man who had lived by the car bomb, died by one, too.

National Post

Erol Araf is a Montreal-based international business development and strategic planning consultant with a life-long interest in cloak and dagger affairs.

 

[a_majoor]

Another "Oh Crap" moment reported by the National Post today. While it wasn't too difficult to expect that the Iranians were exploring the possibility of creating Plutonium for weapons purposes, having confirmation is still unsettling. Perhaps fortunatly, using Plutonium for nuclear weapons is more difficult than using enriched Uranium (and Plutonium is quite toxic as a heavy metal, outside of its nuclear properties), so as long as this consumes time and resources that Iran has in very liited quantities, it also means they are not going to be able to do lots of "other" things.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/02/27/irans-plan-b-for-developing-nuclear-weapons-uncovered-in-satellite-photos/

Iran’s Plan B for developing nuclear weapons uncovered in satellite photos

James Kirkup, David Blair, Holly Watt and Claire Newell, National Post Wire Services | Feb 27, 2013 10:02 AM ET | Last Updated: Feb 27, 2013 10:23 AM ET
More from National Post Wire Services

Iran is developing a second path to a nuclear weapons capability by operating a plant that could produce plutonium, satellite images show for the first time.

The Daily Telegraph [Wednesday] disclosed details of activity at a heavily-guarded Iranian facility from which international inspectors have been barred for 18 months.

The images, taken only days ago, show that Iran has activated the Arak heavy-water production plant.

Heavy water is needed to operate a nuclear reactor that can produce plutonium, which could then be used to make a bomb.

The images show signs of activity at the Arak plant, including a cloud of steam that indicates heavy-water production.

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency have been unable to visit the facility since August 2011 and Iran has refused repeated requests for information about the site, which is 150 miles south-west of the capital, Tehran.

Western governments and the IAEA have held information about activity at Arak for some time.

But today’s exclusive images are the first to put evidence of that activity into the public domain.

The details of Iran’s plutonium programme emerged as the world’s leading nations resumed talks with Tehran aimed at allaying fears over the country’s nuclear ambitions.

The new images also show details of the Fordow complex, which is concealed hundreds of feet beneath a mountain near the holy city of Qom. At talks in Kazakhstan yesterday, world leaders offered to relax sanctions on Iran in exchange for concessions over Fordow, which is heavily protected from aerial attack.

Iran insists that its nuclear facilities are for peaceful use, but Western governments fear that Tehran is seeking a nuclear weapon – or at least the ability to build one.

The striking image of steam over the Arak heavy-water complex is a vivid demonstration that the regime has more than one pathway to a potential nuclear weapon.

Related
‘We’re here to make concrete progress’: Negotiators offer new compromise in Iran nuclear talks
Conrad Black: If Iran gets the bomb
Iran could have enough uranium for a nuclear weapon in three months: Officials
Previously, international talks on Iran’s nuclear programme have focused on the Islamic Republic’s attempts to enrich uranium at plants including Fordow.

But the new images of Arak highlight the progress Iran has made on facilities that could allow it to produce plutonium, potentially giving the country a second option in developing a nuclear weapon.

An Iranian bomb would allow the regime to survive any Western challenge and extend its influence in the Middle East.

Israel fears that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a mortal threat and encourage more attacks on its territory by Hizbollah militants.

Western intelligence agencies have made covert attempts to set back the Iranian nuclear programme through sabotage. Some Israeli politicians want to go further and destroy Iran’s nuclear plants from the air before the country can build a bomb.

Other images of the area around Arak show that numerous anti-aircraft missile and artillery sites protect the plant, more than are deployed around any other known nuclear site in the country.

Numerous anti-aircraft missile and artillery sites protect the plant, more than are deployed around any other known nuclear site in the country
The missile defences are most heavily concentrated to the west of the plant, which would be the most direct line of approach for any aircraft delivering a long-range strike from Israel.

The Arak complex has two parts: the heavy-water plant and a nuclear reactor.

Unlike the heavy-water plant, the reactor has been opened to examination by inspectors from the IAEA. During a visit earlier this month, the inspectors noted that cooling and “moderator circuit” pipes at the reactor were “almost complete”.

Iran has told the IAEA that it will begin operating the reactor at Arak in the first three months of 2014.

The country still lacks the technology to reprocess plutonium and use it for a weapon.

The country still lacks the technology to reprocess plutonium and use it for a weapon
But North Korea has successfully developed that technology, and some analysts speculate that Iran could do the same.

Mark Fitzpatrick, a former US State Department official at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, suggested that Arak could be part of a process that might trigger Western strikes on Iran.

One option for the Iranian regime would be to acquire the necessary reprocessing technology from North Korea, he said.

“By then, the option of a military strike on an operating reactor would present enormous complications because of the radiation that would be spread,” he explained.

“Some think Israel’s red line for military action is before Arak comes online.”

Amid growing concerns about the Iranian nuclear programme, The Daily Telegraph commissioned today’s images from commercial satellite operators. The Arak image was recorded on Feb 9.

The extent of the air defence emplacements around the site make it suspicious
The IAEA, which is responsible for inspecting Iran’s nuclear sites, says that its inspectors are forced to rely on similar satellite images to monitor Arak.

The Telegraph’s images were analysed by Stuart Ray of McKenzie Intelligence Services, a consultancy firm.

He said: “The steam indicates that the heavy-water plant is operational and the extent of the air defence emplacements around the site make it suspicious.”

Based on its own analysis of satellite images, the IAEA has reached a similar conclusion. In a report distributed to its board last week, the agency reported “ongoing construction” at the Arak site and active heavy water production.

According to the Institute for Science and International Security, a US think tank, if the heavy-water plant reaches full capacity, it would produce about 20lb of plutonium a year.

That could be enough for two nuclear warheads if the plutonium was reprocessed.

The Daily Telegraph

 

[57Chevy]

Pres. Jimmy Carter On Ben Affleck's Argo Movie _ The Canadians Were The Real Masterminds
Published on Feb 24, 2013 and shared with provisions of The Copyright Act

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-lqWnN-mVw


related posts #2202, 2203, and 2204 preceeding page

 

[57Chevy]

                                                    Shared with provisions of The Copyright Act

From Iran Election Watch .com >>>>> Potential Canditate series
                              __________________________________________________________________________
From Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
by Golnaz Esfandiari 02 March
Who Will Be Iran's Next President? <<<< link

Wanted: A few good men to run for Iranian president. Candidates must have strong management skills and commitment to Islamic and revolutionary values. Applicants who are unwaveringly loyal and fully obedient to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, exhibit strong anti-Western leanings, and can present a documented history of hard-line political and religious views will receive preference. All entries will be vetted by the Guardians Council. Oppositionists need not apply.

These are among the traits and qualifications expected of candidates who plan to run in Iran's June 14 presidential election, according to Iran observers and comments coming from within the supreme leader's inner circle.

In November, the supreme leader's representative in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Hojatoleslam Ali Saeedi, listed management skills and revolutionary and Islamic values as prerequisites for "suitable and competent" candidates.

Iran observers have narrowed the list further, saying the contest will essentially be waged among traditionalists and the new guard within the conservative camp. Reformists or figures close to outgoing President Mahmud Ahmadinejad are given virtually no chance to win, if they choose to throw their hats into the ring at all.

As Washington D.C.-based political analyst Ali Afshari put its, the Islamic regime is looking for a more civilized Ahmadinejad -- that is, in the mold of the current president before he began challenging the supreme leader.

There is a long way to go before a comprehensive and official candidates list can be compiled -- none is yet confirmed -- but names are already being floated. Eventually, according to Habibollah Asgarolad, secretary-general of Iran's Islamic Coalition Party, there will be 40 potential candidates, with 25 from the conservative camp.

So, knowing the qualifications expected and the likely introduction of electoral reforms that could weed out many potential candidates, who is poised to contend? Here's a rundown.

.....at link

 

[tamouh]

a side news on Iran, they blocked VPN access to the outside world:

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/10/iran-blocks-vpn-filters-internet/

Iran's struggle with the unfiltered internet is well documented -- the nation has spent years fending off cyber attacks, blocking access and potentially fencing its own intranet off from the outside world. Sites like YouTube and Facebook can often only be accessed by using a VPN, bypassing the country's internet filter. Sadly, Iranian users may have to get their Harlem shake fix elsewhere: Iran is putting the lid on "illegal" VPN access. "Within the last few days illegal VPN ports in the country have been blocked," explained Ramezanali Sobhani-Fard, Iran's head of information and communications technology committee. "Only legal and registered VPNs can from now on be used."......
......

 

[a_majoor]

Back in the Cold War, Radio America and Radio Free Europe were transmitted from the Free World and beamed across the Iron Curtain. I believe there were also efforts made to smuggle and distribute radios pre tuned to these stations in various areas, especially where the local authorities tried to block the signals.

I can imagine powerful WiFi routers  and other technologies being set up in international spaces to provide some internet access, and of course the US can recruit hordes of hackers to find or place holes in the Iranian system (just like the "Great Firewall of China" gets pierced).

In the end, these sorts of efforts are self defeating, knowledge and information are not only power but also the currency of the modern economy. The USSR tried to censor and control information (even photocopiers were kept under lock and key) a generation ago, and the throttling of information made an already brittle and inflexible system even more unable to compete with the West. The State may try to prop up some areas, but this form of censorship and information management will cause many parts of the economy to start seizing up.

 

[a_majoor]

A lesson in economics as learned on vacation in Iran. Many interesting observations about life for ordinary Iranians and the people who live and work inthe Gulf region. Long article (follow link) but two exerpts here:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/04/my-hyperinflation-vacation/309263/

NEWS YOU CAN USE: “For years, I have been advising my cash-poor friends: the secret to an ultracheap international holiday is a Google News search for the words runaway inflation,” Graeme Wood writes in the Atlantic:

    The place listed in the dateline of any recent articles including that phrase should be your destination. En route to your home airport, visit the bank and withdraw U.S. dollars in crisp hundreds and fifties. At your beleaguered landing place, the local currency’s value will be melting away like a snowman in July. Your greenbacks will remain pleasantly solid. Everyone at your destination—hoteliers, restaurant staff, tour guides—will covet them and cut you deals. For you, luxuries will suddenly become affordable. Until your return flight (assuming you make it back safely, and are not robbed by an increasingly desperate local mob), you will experience the dismal science at its most cheery.

And note this:

    Inflation happens for many reasons, but hyperinflation scenarios are nearly always the same: a government fails to harvest enough revenue to pay its bills—usually because a war has drained its treasury, or its poor fiscal policies have tanked the economy—so it prints money to make up the difference. “The central bank is just producing a lot more money than people want to hold,” Hanke says. “They’re spending much more money than they’re raising in taxes, and they can’t get credit from the private sector. At that point, you’re off to the races.” Monetary supply outstrips demand, and the wild irresponsibility of the government scares everyone away from saving cash. Instead, people buy whatever they can get, immediately, and prices rise accordingly. Anyone caught with cash loses everything.

    And anyone who has hard currency—the kind that doesn’t evanesce expensively, like smoke from a Cohiba—is sitting pretty.

 

[CougarKing]

Meet Iran’s “Carrier Killer”: The Khalij Fars

Interestingly, the Fateh-110 is also the basis for Iran’s most potent anti-ship ballistic missile, Khalij Fars (Persian Gulf). According to Iranian media outlets, “the supersonic projectile, which carries a 650-kilogram warhead, is immune to interception and features high-precision systems.”

The anti-ship variant of the missile was first tested in early 2011, and coincided with Iran announcing the completion of a long-range, passive radar covering a 1,100km-radius. Later that year Iran announced that the missile had entered mass production. In tests since that time Iran has said the missile registered a 100 percent success rate in hitting ship-like platforms positioned in the Persian Gulf.

Iran has long been interested in fielding anti-ship ballistic missiles, having fielded less sophisticated anti-ship missiles based on Chinese designs since at least the early 1990s, according to a 2011 report by the Royal United Services Institute.

Khalij Fars makes a number of improvements on these earlier ASMs, including a longer range, uses solid fuel (which only some of the past ASMs did), and, perhaps most importantly, uses a mid-course inertial guidance (INS) for improved accuracy while in-flight. Still, some naval analysts have doubted its ability to hit non-stationary targets.

Iran has not been bashful about declaring the purpose of the missile— to frustrate the U.S. Navy’s ability to operate close to Iran’s shores in the Persian Gulf. As Iran’s Deputy Defense Minister General, Majid Bokayee explained last month: “We managed to employ the ballistic missiles which had previously been designed and produced for ground-to-ground missions for targeting enemy ships, and then we witnessed the U.S. naval fleets' retreat in the Persian Gulf after the first test on the missile.”

More...

 

[tomahawk6]

You forgot to mention their new stealth aircraft. ;D
With regard to the so called carrier killer,there have been no tests of the missile.Like many new wonder weapons of Iranian make,you have to wonder if they are even real.

Looks like a mock up,as the pilot is too big for the aircraft.

or the new stealth drone