Report: Saudis To Buy Pakistani A-Bomb if Iran Goes Nuclear

Americans and Israelis aren't the only ones at risk if the Iranians get their nukes.

The story comes from The Clarion Project.

Report: Saudis To Buy Pakistani A-Bomb if Iran Goes Nuclear


For a long time, when the Saudis talked about a “nuclear free zone” in the Middle East, it was understood they meant that Israel should be forced to admit it had a nuclear weapons capability and then be disarmed.

These days, though, while some of the language still sounds the same, as in the following statement from the Saudi Arabian Embassy in London, the real fear involves Iran far more than it does Israel.

Citing Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal, the embassy statement of November 7, 2013 emphasized that

Saudi Arabia is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has signed a comprehensive safegurards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency and has consistently supported the establishment of a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone in the Middle East.

What apparently prompted this statement from the Saudis was a BBC report of the previous day that laid out in fairly stark language the prospects for nuclear proliferation in Saudi Arabia. Mark Urban, the BBC’s diplomatic and defense editor, wrote that

Saudi Arabia has invested in Pakistani nuclear weapons projects, and believes it could obtain atomic bombs at will …

According to the same BBC report, a month earlier, in October 2013, Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, told a conference in Sweden that if Iran were allowed to go nuclear,

…the Saudis will not wait one month. They already paid for the bomb; they will go to Pakistan and bring what they need to bring.

All of this is taking place against the backdrop of talks in Geneva over Iran’s nuclear weapons program. While talks broke off on November 9 with no agreement, they are scheduled to resume on November 20.

At issue is the Iranian ability to achieve nuclear breakout and construct a bomb—and efforts by the so-called P-5 + 1 powers (the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council—France, Russia, UK, U.S., plus Germany) to forestall that eventuality.

A new report issued by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) on October 24, 2013 estimated that Iran might need as little as one month to enrich enough uranium to the Weapons Grade level needed to make one nuclear weapon.

Most analysts watching the current highly unstable security situation in the Middle East expect that once Iran demonstrates a nuclear weapons status, whatever remaining hold the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) may have over regional signatories (which include Iran and Saudi Arabia but not Israel) will disintegrate.

The intra-Islamic sectarian struggle between Shi’ite and Sunni forces playing out most savagely in Iraq and Syria would enter an ominous new phase, with Sunni powers such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and perhaps others moving openly to seek a nuclear weapons capability of their own.

Word that the Saudis were talking to the Pakistanis about nukes began circulating at least a decade ago. Washington Times journalist Arnaud de Borchgrave reported in 2003 about a secret agreement reached between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to provide the Saudis with nuclear weapons technology in return for cheap oil.

According to de Borchgrave, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal (who’s held that position since 1975) was one of an entourage of 200 who accompanied Crown Prince Abdullah bin Azziz (now King) on an October 2003 state visit to Islamabad to conclude the pact.

Even then, observers attributed the Saudi initiative to concern about the Iranians’ nuclear weapons program, which had been outed for the first time by the Iranian opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the year before.

In a 2011 report, de Borchgrave cited Prince Faisal al-Turki, former head of Saudi intelligence as well as a former Saudi ambassador to the U.S., who warned that the Saudis were considering a nuclear option of their own:

If our efforts, and the efforts of the world community, fail to convince Israel to shed its weapons of mass destruction and to prevent Iran from obtaining similar weapons, we must as a duty to our country and people, look into all options we are given, including obtaining these weapons ourselves.

De Borchgrave added that Saudi discussions with the Pakistanis already had moved in that direction in 2006, when Saudi King Abdullah flew into Islamabad to talk about the sale of several nuclear warheads to the Kingdom. According to de Borchgrave, the Saudis were even then “skeptical about U.S. power and the direction of its foreign policy.”

By 2013, the erosion of U.S. resolve to stand by its traditional regional allies coupled with a demonstrated willingness to provide material support (financing, intelligence, a NATO bombing campaign and weapons) instead to jihadist groups like al-Qa’eda and the Muslim Brotherhood from Egypt and Libya to Syria was ringing alarm bells across the region.

From the Saudi perspective, the Obama administration’s haste to pull support from Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, favoritism towards the jihadist Brotherhood, withdrawal of military aid after the July 2013 coup by the Egyptian generals, failure to mount a military strike against the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, and finally, Obama’s naïve outreach to Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, and readiness to offer deep concessions in nuclear negotiations, all spelled disaster.

Such deepening concerns about U.S. reliability as an ally and about Iran’s advancing capabilities reportedly are what lie behind the surprising Saudi decision in October 2013 to turn down a much-coveted seat on the UN Security Council (UNSC), for which it had lobbied long and hard.

As Jed Babbin noted in his trenchant October 28, 2013 piece at American Spectator, “Soured Saudis Sulk Out,” given the Saudis’ decades-long support for jihadist operations both stealthy and violent against the U.S., it’s a bit of a stretch to consider them allies at all, but their attention-grabbing declaration about distancing their foreign policy from the U.S. still is testament to a drastically diminished American ability to project power and influence or shape events in the region.

It’s also worth considering Babbin’s suggestion that the Saudis may not have wanted to be placed in a position to vote on a future UNSC resolution against Iran. The Saudi fear of Iranian retaliation, absent U.S. support, is palpable.

As during much of Islamic history, the Sunni-Shi’ite rivalry currently again defines Middle East dynamics and has turned the entire region into a tinderbox. Despite the overwhelming numerical advantage that Sunnis enjoy over their Shi’ite sectarian cousins (about 85% to 15% globally) and the House of Saud’s control over the key Muslim centers in Mecca and Medina, should their ancient Shi’ite Persian enemies achieve nuclear weapons status, that would be a game changer. The balance of power in the Persian Gulf would shift away from the Saudis, and smaller sheikhdoms could and probably would begin to make accommodations to the new strong horse. The fact that both Saudis and Iranians have, at times, supported the same Islamic terrorists (such as al-Qaeda) only adds another layer of complexity to an already tenuous situation.

It is difficult to overstate the danger of events spinning out of control in the absence of the traditional U.S. leadership role, for so long a stabilizing force in the Middle East. Uncertainty about U.S. intentions—towards erstwhile allies like Egypt, Israel and the Saudi Kingdom as well as towards its apparent new friends among al-Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood and Iranian mullahs—has many in the region and well beyond on edge.

Moves by frightened regional actors to arrange for their own defense are strongly likely to include nuclear proliferation that won’t be limited to the Saudis, but could very well include other powers such as Egypt and Turkey. Destabilization across a broad swath of the Middle East would reverberate far beyond the region with detrimental consequences for U.S. and international security alike.

Iran's Ahmadinejad Comes Up With Brilliant Idea...Canceling the Sanctions On Iran Would Be "Helpful"

I've said it before...that all Mahmoud Ahmadinejad needs is a big red nose, some huge shoes and a horn and he'll be at home on the world stage.

Well, the MiniMe of demented world leaders (by the way, have you noticed that the two Presidents in the world that we have the most trouble with are both bordering on "little people" in height?) has come out and said now that if the West were to lift the sanctions on Iran, it would improve the negotiations process regarding Iran's nuclear ambitions.

From the report at Breitbart:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says lifting sanctions imposed on Iran would help achieve progress in nuclear talks currently under way in Geneva.
State television quoted him on Tuesday saying "canceling the mistakes you made" would "definitely be helpful," referring to several rounds of U.N. sanctions.

Ahmadinejad spoke to a crowd in the Iranian city of Arak.

Iranian negotiators and representatives of the six world powers met in Geneva Tuesday for a second day of talks over U.N. Security Council demands that Tehran curb its nuclear activities.

The U.S. and its allies fear Iran is using its nuclear program as a cover for developing weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

I'm sure if the West just did away with those sanctions, the Iranians would, in good faith, halt all construction of their nuke facilities and destroy all capabilities towards weapons that they have reached to this point. The scariest part of all of this is that the U.S. President will probably suggest that we take him up on the offer.

Iran says canceling sanctions 'helpful' to talks



TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says lifting sanctions imposed on Iran would help achieve progress in nuclear talks currently under way in Geneva.
State television quoted him on Tuesday saying "canceling the mistakes you made" would "definitely be helpful," referring to several rounds of U.N. sanctions.

Ahmadinejad spoke to a crowd in the Iranian city of Arak.

Iranian negotiators and representatives of the six world powers met in Geneva Tuesday for a second day of talks over U.N. Security Council demands that Tehran curb its nuclear activities.

The U.S. and its allies fear Iran is using its nuclear program as a cover for developing weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

GENEVA (AP)—Talks between Iran and six world powers are going into a second day with no sign of progress on U.N. Security Council demands that Tehran curb its nuclear activities.

An official at the negotiations said the first meeting Monday gave little reason to presume that Iran would relent and address the demands. That would dash hopes of a renewed meeting in the new year.

Delegates from Iran, the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany are meeting Tuesday at a conference center in Geneva.

Tehran insists its nuclear program is only designed to provide more power for its growing population. Yet as Iran builds up its capacity, neither Israel nor the U.S. are ruling out military action if Tehran fails to heed U.N. Security Council demands.

Is It Really Possible That Hugo Chavez Is Going To Have Nukes?

The opening line of the article here at Family Security Matters goes way beyond "sobering"... it states:

If something isn't done to prevent it, we'll likely be facing an emerging nuclear threat from President Hugo Chavez's Venezuela sometime in the next 10 years.

Now, if that doesn't send a chill down your spine, I don't know what will. But the article does address what some probably just have laughed off as some grand plans by a quircky dictator in Venezuela. Well, the fact of the matter is that this nutcase to our South, namely Hugo Chavez, has extremely close ties with every misfit nuclear power or nuclear wannabe in the world and I don't think there's an American alive who doesn't know of Chavez' hatred of America.

From the article:

Just two weeks ago, on one of several stops of his grand tour abroad, Chavez alighted in Russia (on his ninth visit there) to sign an agreement for the building of two 1,200-megawatt nuclear reactors and a research reactor back home, according to Russian sources.
As the most popular purveyor of proliferation problems (e.g., building North Korea's and now Iran's first nuclear reactors), Russia is a perfect place to start your nuclear program.
Of course, Chavez insists he's only looking to achieve energy independence. But anyone who looks at Venezuela's vast oil wealth is understandably skeptical that peaceful power generation is his real motive.
Consider some other stops on Chavez's seven-country whistle-stop tour. In Iran, he visited his "brother" Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Some experts fear Caracas and Tehran may already have some small-scale nuclear projects underway. Plus, the two regimes are reportedly working on the mapping and mining of Venezuela's uranium deposits, possibly the world's largest.
This would certainly benefit Iran, whose nuke program is laboring under punitive sanctions that are meant to inhibit access to supporting materials and technology.
Clearly, getting its hands on uranium won't be a problem for Caracas. But it might trade the raw material for Iranian uranium-enrichment technology -- technology that Venezuela is widely thought to have solicited from neighboring (nuclear) Brazil and Argentina. (They refused.)

As you can see, it looks like Chavez is trying to go the route of Iran in saying he needs nuclear reactors for energy - just a need of his people for running their A/C , yanno. And why shouldn't he try this approach....hell, it's worked like a charm for the Iranians.

The Iranians will have nukes within two years and Barack Hussein Obama and European leaders will STILL be sitting their with their thumbs up their asses.

But if you want to find a nut job even more off their rocker than Ahmadinejad and the whack job mullahs....just look at Chavez. With this madman having nukes, the likes of Columbia would be nothing but a smoldering, molten block of land. I've said several times that I didn't think Chavez was going to survive the economic and social collapse of his country - I only hope it happens a hell of a lot quicker now.

El Loco's Nuke Push


If something isn't done to prevent it, we'll likely be facing an emerging nuclear threat from President Hugo Chavez's Venezuela sometime in the next 10 years.
He vows that "nothing will stop us" from bringing "nuclear power" to Venezuela. Unfortunately, "nuclear power" is now a common coverup term for a nuclear-weapons program, such as we're seeing in Iran.
After five years of talking up his atomic aspirations without making much headway, the anti-American Chavez is finally getting somewhere.
Just two weeks ago, on one of several stops of his grand tour abroad, Chavez alighted in Russia (on his ninth visit there) to sign an agreement for the building of two 1,200-megawatt nuclear reactors and a research reactor back home, according to Russian sources.
As the most popular purveyor of proliferation problems (e.g., building North Korea's and now Iran's first nuclear reactors), Russia is a perfect place to start your nuclear program.
Of course, Chavez insists he's only looking to achieve energy independence. But anyone who looks at Venezuela's vast oil wealth is understandably skeptical that peaceful power generation is his real motive.
Consider some other stops on Chavez's seven-country whistle-stop tour. In Iran, he visited his "brother" Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Some experts fear Caracas and Tehran may already have some small-scale nuclear projects underway. Plus, the two regimes are reportedly working on the mapping and mining of Venezuela's uranium deposits, possibly the world's largest.
This would certainly benefit Iran, whose nuke program is laboring under punitive sanctions that are meant to inhibit access to supporting materials and technology.
Clearly, getting its hands on uranium won't be a problem for Caracas. But it might trade the raw material for Iranian uranium-enrichment technology -- technology that Venezuela is widely thought to have solicited from neighboring (nuclear) Brazil and Argentina. (They refused.)
Down the road, the concern is that Iran will also share with Venezuela the military dimensions of its nuclear program, such as ballistic-missile and nuke-warhead systems and technology.
The scenario has all the trappings of an over-the-horizon Cuban Missile Crisis.
Chavez also popped into Libya to see Moammar Khadafy, who had his own nuclear aspirations until a few years ago. Libya's program was helped by Pakistan's proliferator extraordinaire, A.Q. Kahn, and may still have some expertise to share.
He stopped in Syria, too, which had been (and may still be) receiving nuclear assistance from North Korea. (Israel destroyed a nuclear reactor being built by North Korea in Syria in a 2007 raid.)
Chavez didn't visit North Korea on this tour, but he plainly wants to go -- he reportedly canceled a trip to see "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il earlier this year, after some opposition from the Venezuelan parliament.
But it's not just the possibility that we'll see a nuclear threat emanating from Venezuela in the years to come that should concern us; others in the region will feel the need to react, too. Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, for one, already has, reportedly saying this week that a Venezuelan nuclear program poses a serious threat to Latin American security.
Not all Chavez's neighbors have the resources -- but big powers like Brazil and Argentina, which had bomb programs in the '70s and '80s, might pursue nukes again. (Similarly, a number of Arab states are hedging against Iran's nuke-quest with their own new nuclear programs.)
What was President Obama's reaction to Chavez's Russian deal? "Our attitude is that Venezuela has rights to peacefully develop nuclear power . . . We have no incentive nor interest in increasing friction between Venezuela and the US, but we do think Venezuela needs to act responsibly."
Talk about the triumph of hope over experience.
It's clear: We're in the early stages of a potentially big problem. Being in denial or waiting to get tough, as we did with the Iranian nuclear program, likely would have the same ineffectual results.
Like an aggressive disease, a nuke program under Chavez would only get worse with time unless steps to deal with it are taken early on. The time to start is now.

CIA Director Panetta: Iran Has Enough Uranium For Two Nukes, Sanctions Won't Work

Typical brilliant coordination of policy once again in the Obama administration as Barack Hussein Obama's own CIA Director, Leon Panetta, has described how sanctions against Iran won't work yet his boss, continues down that path as the solution.

Here's some of what Panetta told ABC from the report at The Jerusalem Post:

CIA Director Leon Panetta said Sunday that Iran probably has enough low-enriched uranium for two nuclear weapons, but that it likely would take two years to build the bombs.Panetta told ABC television's "This Week" that he is doubtful that recent UN penalties will put an end to Iran's nuclear ambitions.
He said the penalties could help to weaken Tehran's government by creating serious economic problems. But he added, "Will it deter them from their ambitions with regards to nuclear capability? Probably not."Panetta commented that there is "some debate" as to whether Iran will proceed with the bomb.

So, finally...the CIA of the United States of America finally admits that U.N. and Western sanctions against Iran won't work, aren't working and won't EVER work - meanwhile Obama and the rest of them have given the Iranians another year and a half to complete their entry into Armageddon.

And look at that last line from Panetta - "some debate" about whether Iran will proceed with nuclear bombs? Are you bloody serious? Let me ask you all this...are you comfortable with a CIA Director, the man with his fingers on the best intelligence in the world, who isn't sure if the Iranians, the directing force behind 30% of islamic terror in this world, will move forward with nuclear weapons?

You know, I've objected to several U.S. Presidents in my lifetime - especially Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton but I never asked this question once about them: "Does this President actually feel he has any responsibility to protect the American people?" Not once did I ask that of Bill Clinton, who I detested...but I do ask it now of Obama.

Panetta: Iran has uranium for 2 bombs


CIA Director Leon Panetta said Sunday that Iran probably has enough low-enriched uranium for two nuclear weapons, but that it likely would take two years to build the bombs.

Panetta told ABC television's "This Week" that he is doubtful that recent UN penalties will put an end to Iran's nuclear ambitions.

He said the penalties could help to weaken Tehran's government by creating serious economic problems. But he added, "Will it deter them from their ambitions with regards to nuclear capability? Probably not."

Panetta commented that there is "some debate" as to whether Iran will proceed with the bomb.

Asked about a potential Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, Panetta said he thinks Israel is giving the US room on the diplomatic and political fronts.

CIA director Leon Panetta also spoke Sunday about North Korea and said that he doesn't think the skirmishes involving North Korea will lead to a military confrontation on the Korean peninsula.

International investigators concluded last month that North Korea torpedoed a South Korean warship near the Korean sea border. North Korea has denied the allegation and warned any punishment would trigger war.

Panetta told ABC television's "This Week" that for many years, "we've been going through these kinds of provocations and skirmishes with a rogue regime."
Panetta said that in the end, "they always back away from the brink and I think they'll do that now."

He said the attack could be related to who might succeed North Korean leader Kim Jong Il — possibly his youngest son.

Strike # 72 ...Iran Laughs At Obama and the World Again, Rejects U.N. Uranium Proposal

I'm asking myself right now why I'm even putting this piece of shit story up as I called it weeks ago...little baby MiracleWorker, Barack Hussein Obama, got all of his blind followers on the Left all excited weeks ago when he got behind the proposal for the Iranians to ship their uranium out of their country for enrichment so all they would get back would be harmless rods compatible with running a nuclear power plant and once again, Ahmadinejad and the mullahs of Iran tell Obama and the U.N. to go stick it up their ass.

I'm serious, I'd bomb Iran just because they piss me off. I've gotten to the point that I'm suggesting we bomb every inch of Iran OTHER than the nuclear facilities - I have this vision of not a single building standing in the entire country of Iran except for the nuclear silos. Let them keep their nuclear plants...but turn the rest of the country into smoldering glass sledge.

Perhaps the President needs a clue: Barry, the chances of you getting some sort of concession from the Iranians on their nuclear weapons development are about the same as the people of America getting a glimpse at your actual birth certificate, your college academic records and your true relationship with Bill Ayers.

Here's the latest example of inbred Persians going one up on the President of the United States of America, from Breitbart:

Iran rejects deal on sending uranium abroad

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran will not ship its low-enriched uranium out of the country for processing, its foreign minister said Wednesday, once again rejecting a U.N. plan aimed at thwarting any attempt by Tehran to make nuclear weapons.
Instead, Foreign Minister Manochehr Mottaki countered with a proposal certain to fall short of Western demands.
The United Nations last month offered a deal to take 70 percent of Iran's low-enriched uranium to reduce its stockpile of material that could be enriched to a higher level, and possibly be used to make nuclear weapons.

That uranium would be returned about a year later as refined fuel rods, which can power reactors but cannot be readily turned into weapons-grade material. Iran maintains its nuclear protgram is only for the peaceful purpose of generating energy.
"We will definitely not send our 3.5-percent enriched uranium out of the country," Mottaki told the semiofficial ISNA news agency. But he added: "That means a simultaneous fuel swap could be considered inside Iran."
The counterproposal was an indication of Iran's unwillingness to trust the West with its fuel for the time needed to transform it into the more harmless fuel rods.
Mottaki said that Iranian experts were looking at the modified proposal to determine what amounts of uranium should be exchanged for fuel rods.
However it remained unclear what would happen with Iran's uranium, if it would be shipped out of the country as part of the trade or remain inside Iran.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Ian C. Kelly said the U.S. was waiting for Iran to submit its formal response to the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA.
"What was said today doesn't inspire our confidence" that Iran will accept the proposal that was tentatively agreed to in Geneva.
President Barack Obama said during a visit to China on Tuesday that there would be repercussions if Iran rejected the latest plan.
The idea of Tehran shipping uranium for further enrichment was first raised at a landmark meeting with the U.S. and other world powers at the beginning of October in Geneva. At the time, Iran also agreed to inspections after the disclosure of a once-secret uranium enrichment facility plant known as Fordo, near the holy city of Qom.
Kelly said the U.S. was still consulting with its negotiating partners on a way forward. At some point, he said, the focus would turn to ways of increasing sanctions pressure on Iran, adding, "We're not quite at that point now. But time is short."
Under the U.N. proposal, Iran would export its uranium, which is enriched at less than 5 percent—enough to produce fuel to burn in plants. Enriching uranium to much higher levels can produce weapons-grade material.
In exchange, the Iranian uranium would be further enriched in Russia and then be sent to France. Once there, it would be converted into fuel rods, which would be returned to Iran.
The amount of uranium that would be exported by Iran under the U.N. plan, about 1.2 tons (1,100 kilograms), represents about 70 percent of its stockpile. It would have been sent to Russia in one batch by the end of the year, easing concerns the material would be used for a weapon.
Around 2,200 pounds of low-enriched uranium is needed to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a single nuclear warhead, according to experts. Iran is believed to have well over that amount of low-enriched uranium in its stockpiles.
Mottaki's proposal indicated that Iran was open to further negotiation when he dismissed a comment by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that the U.N. plan was its only choice.
"Diplomacy is not all or nothing. Mrs. Clinton's comments that Iran must accept only this proposal is not diplomatic," he said.
The U.S. and its allies see the export process as buying time to reach a compromise with Iran by depriving it of the amount of uranium needed to potentially make a nuclear bomb. Western powers believe Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, or at least the ability to produce them on short notice.
IAEA inspectors visited Fordo last month.
The heavily fortified and bunker-like uranium enrichment facility has further heightened Western suspicions about the extent and intent of Iran's nuclear program.
Ali Asghar Soltanieh, chief Iranian delegate to the IAEA, said that Fordo looked the way it was because uranium enrichment will "not be stopped by military attack—that is the political message of this site."
He added that "the important message is ... enrichment in Iran will continue at any price."
Iran says the facility was fortified to protect it against any possible attack by the U.S. or Israel.
Officials say the plant won't be operational for another 18 months and would produce uranium enrichment levels up to 5 percent, suitable only for peaceful purposes. Weapons-grade material is more than 90 percent enriched.

Reality Sets In On United Nations and Obama...Ahmadinejad Pwnd Them AGAIN

I told you all this was going to happen, remember? Yep...right here I told you.

From the report at Breitbart:

The mood is grim behind the scenes at the headquarters of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, with diplomats expressing dismay at Iran's response to a Western proposal to defuse the standoff over its nuclear program.
Publicly at least, world powers insist the deal is not dead, saying that Tehran may still swing around and accept an offer meant to hamper any ability to make a nuclear warhead while providing it with fuel for its research reactor.

But diplomats familiar with the issue—some from countries directly involved in drawing up the plan—say Tehran's reaction is so far off the mark that they are skeptical the initiative can be salvaged.
And if the deal dies, it could kill off even more significant outreach toward Iran.

So here we are again...Obama reaches out to Iran, they shit all over his shoes. I'm beginning to believe that our new President is a masochist.

Analysis: Iran enrichment deal up in air

VIENNA (AP) - The mood is grim behind the scenes at the headquarters of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, with diplomats expressing dismay at Iran's response to a Western proposal to defuse the standoff over its nuclear program.
Publicly at least, world powers insist the deal is not dead, saying that Tehran may still swing around and accept an offer meant to hamper any ability to make a nuclear warhead while providing it with fuel for its research reactor.

The International Atomic Energy Agency is describing Iran's reply Thursday to the plan as an "initial response." The U.S. State Department says it is still awaiting a "formal response from Iran."
And Iran's official IRNA news agency on Friday cited an unidentified official as saying that Iran's response Thursday was only its view on the deal—and not a definitive answer—as it prepares for a new round of talks.
But diplomats familiar with the issue—some from countries directly involved in drawing up the plan—say Tehran's reaction is so far off the mark that they are skeptical the initiative can be salvaged.
And if the deal dies, it could kill off even more significant outreach toward Iran.
An Oct. 1 meeting between Iran and five world powers, including Washington, was heralded as a tangible reflection of the new U.S. policy of talking with America's enemies. Senior U.S. and Iranian negotiators met one on one separately, and follow-up negotiations were tentatively agreed on—but only if the Islamic Republic signs on to the enrichment plan.
Now, instead of planning for new negotiations, talk has turned to a fourth set of U.N. Security Council sanctions to punish Tehran's nuclear defiance, with British officials saying Friday the council may consider additional penalties early next year. Asked about sanctions, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs replied: "The president's time is not unlimited."
The offer seems simple. With Iran needing fuel for its research reactor, Russia would take most of the Islamic Republic's low-enriched uranium and enrich it to the higher level needed to fuel the reactor. France would then turn this material into fuel rods for the Iranian facility.
A win-win deal—at least on the surface. Iran would get the fuel it needed for the reactor. And the world could breathe easier after Iran shipped out most of its low-enriched uranium because it would no longer have enough to turn into nuclear warhead material—at least not for the year or so that it would need to replenish its stockpile.
It is relatively simple to turn fuel-grade uranium into weapons-grade material—and the West fears that Tehran could decide to do just that. Iran says it is not interested in nuclear arms and wants only to create fuel for a planned network of reactors.
But any such network is decades away, meaning Iran has no immediate use for the enriched uranium it has accumulated. That makes its reluctance to ship it out in one shipment and then wait until it is returned in research reactor fuel form all the more vexing. For some, it increases suspicions that Tehran may indeed have other plans for the stockpile.
Details of Iran's response to the draft deal drawn up by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei have not been made public. But diplomats familiar with its details say Thursday's Iranian counteroffers are meant to ensure that it gets to keep most of its enriched uranium.
Since its clandestine enrichment program was revealed seven years ago, Iran has amassed more than 3,300 pounds (1.500 kilograms) of low-enriched uranium at its cavernous underground facility at Natanz.
The ElBaradei plan would commit Iran to turn over more than 2,600 pounds (1,200 kilograms) of low-enriched uranium—more than the commonly accepted amount needed to produce weapons-grade material. If that happens, Iran would not be able to replenish its stockpile to levels that would again yield enough enriched uranium for further enrichment into weapons-grade material for about a year.
Instead, Tehran is demanding what diplomats accredited to the IAEA describe as the "slice and dice" or the "dribs and drabs" approach—shipping out a small amount, waiting until it comes back in the form of fuel rods and then exporting the next small batch. Other diplomats say Iran has also offered to enrich what it has to the level needed for the research reactor domestically under IAEA supervision.
But both of these approaches are rejected by the U.S. and their allies. The first would leave Tehran with enough material to turn into the fissile core of a nuclear warhead. The second would actually empower it to get part way there because the process of turning out weapons grade uranium becomes simpler with each higher stage of enrichment.
While suggesting that it was prepared to discuss the ElBaradei plan further, the IRNA report Friday said it would not ship out most of its uranium and then wait for a return shipment of fuel rods, describing that stance as a "red line" that would not be abandoned.
The wording left open whether Tehran was willing to send most of its enriched stockpile abroad if it immediately got fuel rods in return—it would have to wait for up to a year for the material it now possesses to be turned into such rods.
But—considering what diplomats say Iran demanded in Thursday's response—the IRNA dispatch is more likely reinforcing the demand that Tehran be allowed to ship out a small batch, wait for it to be turned into fuel rods, and then ship out the next amount.
One of the diplomats—who like others interviewed demanded anonymity because his information was confidential—said he had partial sympathy for Tehran's reluctance to give up its "crown jewels." Iran's enrichment program—and the stockpile of material it has amassed with it—are key pieces of leverage in any talks with the U.S.
Still, for the West, Iran's call for more talks is disheartening.
Less than a month ago, Western participants of the Oct. talks—the first negotiations between Iran and six world powers in more than a year—came out that meeting ebullient with what they thought was Iranian agreement in principle to the enrichment deal. But talks in Vienna last week dashed Western hopes that they would cement agreement.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds told the European Union's rotating presidency, expressed the frustration felt by the West.
"It's the same old tricks," he told the AP: "A back-and-forth for further talks."

Obama Administration Sets Itself Up For ANOTHER Humiliation At The Hands of Iran

This is like sitting at a railroad crossing and watching a train coming and an oncoming pickup truck that doesn't see the train or flashing warning lights. Once again, Barack Hussein Obama has set up his naive, amateurish ass for a humiliating whooping at the hands of the Iranians as the Obama administration anxiously awaits Iran's response to farming their uranium out to Russia for enrichment.

The way I see it, this gonna end in one of two ways: 1. The Iranians will keep putting off this decisions for days and days, until the Obama administration is clearly on the edge of their seats, drooling over the possibility of a positive decision by the Iranians and the mullahmisfits will then simply say that they have every right to enrich their own uranium. 2. The Iranians will agree to farm out their uranium to Russia - they'll send 25% of the their uranium to Russia and they'll keep 75% of it and do their own thing with it.

The fact that the Iranians have never negotiated in good faith in their entire history is of no concern to Barack Hussein Obama, apparently. And that pesky matter of how Iranian munitions and training were killing U.S. troops in Iraq while the Iranians denied it doesn't seem to come on Obama's radar screen either.

Iranians are liars. They are murdering cowards. They are evil incarnate. And yet, this clown of a President we have treats them like a willing partner in negotiation - now I know why Barack Hussein Obama got out of the legal profession.

Here's the story from Breitbart:

U.S. hopeful Iran will agree to enrichment deal despite delay+


WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (AP) - (Kyodo)—The United States remains hopeful that Iran will agree to a nuclear fuel reprocessing deal that would reduce Iran's potential to develop nuclear weapons after Iran failed to respond by the deadline set by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the State Department said Friday.
"We hope that they will next week provide a positive response," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters. "Obviously we would have preferred to have had a response today."
"We approach this with a sense of urgency. The international community has been waiting a long time for Iran to address some of our real concerns about their intentions," he said.
After missing the Friday deadline that IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei had set after a draft proposal was agreed to on Wednesday, Iran told the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief "that it is considering the proposal in depth and in a favorable light, but it needs time until the middle of next week to provide a response," an IAEA statement said.
However, Iranian press reported that Tehran would like to purchase higher-enriched uranium rather than send their supply of low-enriched uranium to Russia for reprocessing.
The United States, France and Russia have officially endorsed the nuclear fuel deal.
The United States indicated that while it was prepared to wait a few days for Iran's response, it would not wait forever.
"We take it as a positive sign that they've agreed in principle to taking a couple of significant steps -- opening up the Qom facility and then working out a procedure for having their low-enriched uranium reprocessed in another country." Kelly said. "And at the same time, our patience is not limitless."
Tehran revealed that it had a previously undisclosed uranium enrichment facility near the city of Qom in late September, which sparked renewed international concern about Iran's nuclear program.
The inspections of the Qom facility are expected to take place on Sunday, Kelly said.

Oh Great...Now Chavez Wants His Own Nuclear Weapons

At some point in time, the American people are simply going to have to form a human ring around the White House and demand of this rookie, socialist President that he keep his oath to protect the American people. We have sat idly by while this fool that "leads" our country has allowed tyrannical leaders to not only move towards acquiring the means to endanger America but he has encouraged them.

The latest nutjob world leader to explore nuclear capabilities is the madman from Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. No one in their right mind would even trust Hugo Chavez in a room of 20 people while he has access to a steak knife...imagine this loon with nuclear weapons.

Here's the story from Yahoo News:

Venezuela seeking uranium with Iran's help

PORLAMAR, Venezuela – Iran is helping to detect uranium deposits in Venezuela and initial evaluations suggest reserves are significant, President Hugo Chavez's government said Friday.
Mining Minister Rodolfo Sanz said Iran has been assisting Venezuela with geophysical survey flights and geochemical analysis of the deposits, and that evaluations "indicate the existence of uranium in western parts of the country and in Santa Elena de Uairen," in southeastern Bolivar state.
"We could have important reserves of uranium," Sanz told reporters upon arrival on Venezuela's Margarita Island for a weekend Africa-South America summit. He added that efforts to certify the reserves could begin within the next three years.
The announcement came as revelations that Iran has secretly been building a uranium-enrichment plant provoke concerns among countries including the U.S., Russia, France, Britain, Germany and China.
On Friday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev urged Iran in a statement to prove it is not seeking to develop atomic weapons, saying the undeclared construction of an enrichment facility flies in the face of U.N. Security Council demands for Iran to stop uranium enrichment at its only declared facility.
Iran is under three sets of Security Council sanctions for refusing to freeze enrichment at what had been its single publicly known enrichment plant, which is being monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said recently that U.S. officials also have "concerns" about a possible transfer of nuclear materials between Iran and Venezuela.
But analysts say Iran, which has significant uranium deposits, currently has no need to import uranium, although those deposits may not be enough to sustain its future enrichment goals.
Sanz dismissed suggestions that Venezuela could aid Iran with its nuclear program, saying Venezuela is only aiming to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Chavez has repeatedly said that all countries should end their nuclear-weapons programs, while insisting that Iran and Venezuela have a "sovereign right" to pursue peaceful nuclear ambitions.
Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington said that regardless of whether the uranium exploration efforts lead to nuclear cooperation, they are going to cause "a serious problem in the relationship" between Caracas and Washington.
Chavez's government has "clearly announced they're sort of beginning down this road," Shifter said. "It's going to be very difficult for the U.S. to really pursue any cooperation with Caracas on other issues because this is going to top everything else."
Chavez's project remains in its planning stages and still faces a host of practical hurdles, likely requiring billions of dollars, as well as technology and expertise that Venezuela lacks. Russia has offered to help bridge that gap, and Chavez has announced that the two countries have created an atomic energy commission.
But Sergei Novikov, a spokesman for Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom, has said there are no concrete projects and that any joint work on mining deposits of uranium or the radioactive metal thorium would have to wait until Venezuela decides whether it wants Russian help exploring them and, if so, create a joint venture for the purpose.
Both Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are well-known for their anti-U.S. rhetoric, and have forged ties in everything from finance to factories, provoking concerns in Washington. Iran now manufactures cars, tractors and bicycles in Venezuela.
Earlier this month, Chavez sealed a deal to export 20,000 barrels of gasoline daily to Iran, giving Tehran a cushion if the West carries out threats of fuel sanctions over Iran's nuclear program.

Iran: Oh Yeah, We DO Have a Second Nuke Plant We Kept Secret...But Believe Us, It's Just For Electricity!

It's almost hard to believe that the incompetent and complicit IAEA actually nabbed Iran on the fact that the Iranians have a second nuclear facility that they have been hiding but today, the Iranians decided to reveal the truth before it would be announced by someone like Barack Hussein Obama. From the article at Times Online, this is what the Iranians had to say:

Iran has admitted to running a secret second uranium enrichment plant, pre-empting President Obama who was due to reveal its existence to the world at the G20 summit today.
Tehran has sent a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna confessing that they have concealed the existence of the nuclear facility, which has been under American surveillance for years.

Iranian opposition leaders claimed this week that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was working to build nuclear warheads at two previously unknown weapons factories.

So, this brings us to the obvious question. What happens now? Will Barack Hussein Obama step up to the plate and issue a statement that since the Iranians obviously have been lying from day one about the real reason for their nuclear facilities, they have one month to completely dismantle them, under official supervision, or they will be bombed out of existence by U.S. warplanes? Yeah, right, huh?

I'm sure this will set off a barrage of threats of new sanctions! Oh boy. With the Iranians, it's all about time. Time is the key here. The longer they have, the closer they get to that magic day when they announce...."hey gang, guess what we got? And you can't do a damn thing about it!"

BOMB IRAN NOW.

Iran admits to secret second nuclear plant

Iran has admitted to running a secret second uranium enrichment plant, pre-empting President Obama who was due to reveal its existence to the world at the G20 summit today.
Tehran has sent a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna confessing that they have concealed the existence of the nuclear facility, which has been under American surveillance for years.
Iranian opposition leaders claimed this week that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was working to build nuclear warheads at two previously unknown weapons factories.
Mr Obama decided to publicise the findings after Iran recently discovered that Western intelligence agencies had breached the secrecy surrounding the project, according to The New York Times.

Pressure mounted on Iran yesterday to halt its nuclear programme as world leaders at the United Nations warned of the threat posed by Tehran to a global consensus on disarmament.
Britain indicated at the UN that “far tougher sanctions” must await Iran if it failed to answer international concerns at a pivotal meeting with Western powers next week.
The calls to action came a day after Russia finally conceded that sanctions may be inevitable, after intense lobbying by the Americans.
Iran reacted angrily to the statements, saying the assertion that it was covertly developing nuclear weapons was “totally untrue and without any foundation”.
Earlier this month, however, the UN nuclear watchdog admitted it could not rule out a military dimension and said Western intelligence on an Iranian weapons programme was “compelling”.

Iran Asks World Powers For Enriched Uranium So They Can Blow Us All Up

You know, if you had a child that acted like Iran does, you'd probably be sending the kid to one of those boot camps for unruly children. The absurdity of it all is almost funny...I did say "almost" because afterall, this is all about the most rogue nation on this planet getting the ultimate in weapons.

Bottom line here is this: the Iranians have gotten to the point where they fear absolutely NO repurcussions from the West in their development of nuclear weapons and in one of the ultimate "in your face" acts, have asked the world's top nuclear powers to sell them enriched uranium. Now, they claim they only want the "kinda high enriched" stuff...not the big stuff that nuclear weapons are made from...but seriously, can you believe the gall of these misfits?

I say that the U.S. should step up to the plate here and offer to deliver some nicely enriched uranium directly to Iran....via a B-1 Lancer.

From Boston.com:

Iran to ask for nuclear fuel at talks next week

Iran's president says his country will ask the six world powers at nuclear talks next week for imports of highly enriched uranium -- material that the U.S. fears Tehran wants to use to arm nuclear warheads.

Iran vehemently denies having nuclear weapons aspirations and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told The Associated Press on Tuesday that his country was seeking to buy uranium that is highly enriched -- or near that level -- to fuel a small research reactor.
He also made clear that Iran is seeking uranium that is enriched only to 20 percent -- the threshold for the high-enrichment level but substantially below then 90 percent- plus grade needed for nuclear warheads.
"We are interested in purchasing it, and we'd like to offer that as an issue to expand discussions on the table for the next meeting," he told the AP on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
That request could put the U.S. and its five negotiating partners in a bind at the Oct. 1 talks in Geneva. Until now, Iran has produced only low-enriched uranium, but it could use refusal of its request as a pretext to start producing high-enriched material.
Ahead of the negotiations, the foreign ministers of the six nations -- the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany -- were meeting Wednesday on the sidelines of the General Assembly to discuss how to get Iran to stop uranium enrichment. Russian news agencies cited an official in the Russian delegation as saying Moscow does not rule out new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.
U.N. sanctions on Iran are meant to prohibit exports of sensitive nuclear material and technology. The international community is unlikely to give Iran enriched uranium closer to weapons-grade level at a time when it wants Tehran to stop enrichment.
In the enrichment process, uranium oxide is processed into uranium hexafluoride, which then is spun to varying degrees of enrichment, with low-enriched uranium used for nuclear fuel and upper-end high-enriched uranium used for nuclear weapons.
Security Council refusal to waive the sanctions could give Tehran a plausible reason to turn to its own facilities and produce high-enriched uranium.
Since Iran's program was discovered seven years ago, it has put thousands of centrifuges online to churn out enriched uranium. But the International Atomic Energy Agency says the more than a ton of enriched material it has amassed is all below the 5 percent level and well below the 20 percent highly enriched mark.
Still Iran's accumulation of well over 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of low-enriched uranium gives it more than enough material to produce enough weapons-grade uranium through further enrichment for one nuclear weapon.
Ahmadinejad, who has ruled out any compromise on enrichment at the Geneva talks, touched on the issue of enrichment levels in his comments to the AP, saying Iran was enriching only "to the grade of 3 1/2 percent ... basically for our power plants."

Is Israel Getting Ready To Attack Iran?

By Findalis



According to The Times the answer is YES.

The Israeli military is preparing itself to launch a massive aerial assault on Iran's nuclear facilities within days of being given the go-ahead by its new government.

Among the steps taken to ready Israeli forces for what would be a risky raid requiring pinpoint aerial strikes are the acquisition of three Airborne Warning and Control (AWAC) aircraft and regional missions to simulate the attack.

Two nationwide civil defence drills will help to prepare the public for the retaliation that Israel could face.

“Israel wants to know that if its forces were given the green light they could strike at Iran in a matter of days, even hours. They are making preparations on every level for this eventuality. The message to Iran is that the threat is not just words,” one senior defence official told The Times.

The distance from Israel to at least one of the sites is more than 870 miles, a distance that the Israeli force practised covering in a training exercise last year that involved F15 and F16 jets, helicopters and refuelling tankers.

The possible Israeli strike on Iran has drawn comparisons to its attack on the Osirak nuclear facility near Baghdad in 1981. That strike, which destroyed the facility in under 100 seconds, was completed without Israeli losses and checked Iraqi ambitions for a nuclear weapons programme.

“We would not make the threat [against Iran] without the force to back it. There has been a recent move, a number of on-the-ground preparations, that indicate Israel's willingness to act,” said another official from Israel's intelligence community.

He added that it was unlikely that Israel would carry out the attack without receiving at least tacit approval from America, which has struck a more reconciliatory tone in dealing with Iran under its new administration.

An Israeli attack on Iran would entail flying over Jordanian and Iraqi airspace, where US forces have a strong presence.

Read the full story here.

What is strange about this is that Israeli news sources are totally silent on this. Not even a hint of any thing.

The Obama administration has already nixed this idea. There will be no go ahead from them. So if Israel does attack it not only will go it totally alone, but quite possibly have to attack American planes as well. (That would get Iran very friendly with the US).

That would give Obama justification to attack Israel and quite possibly get the War Powers Act he would need.

I'm betting that Netanyahu will try this, but not until after Obama's scheduled visit in June.

And I'm betting that not only will Israel do this, but somehow they'll come out of this smelling like roses.