Tag Archive for Iran Nuclear Program

| August 16, 2012
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Michael Oren: Israel Would Strike Iran if only to Gain a Few Years

Michael Oren says Iran’s nuclear program is progressing in the growth of enriched uranium & in efforts to protect its operations in underground facilities beyond the reach of “bunker buster” bombs.

By Tony Capaccio and Nicole Gaouette

 

Israel would be willing to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, even if doing so only delayed its ability to produce nuclear weapons for a few years, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren said.

 

“One, two, three, four years are a long time in the Middle East — look what’s happened in the last year” in terms of political change, Oren said today at a Bloomberg Government breakfast in Washington.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| August 12, 2012
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Bravado or No? Iran claims the ability to attach nuclear warheads on missiles

A new U.S. Report: Iran has made “substantial & surprising” progress • White House spokesman: “We would know if and when Iran made … a breakout move toward acquiring a weapon”

By Shlomo Cesana, Yoni Hirsch, News Agencies & Israel Hayom Satff

 

The rift between Israel and the U.S. has grown as the two countries remain at odds over the timetable for a possible military strike against Iran’s nuclear program. The matter has become especially pressing with the release of a purported new U.S. National Intelligence Estimate report, presented to U.S. President Barack Obama last week, which states that Iran has made “substantial and surprising” progress and boosted its efforts to attach a nuclear warhead to ballistic missiles.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| August 6, 2012
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Iranian TV airs confessions in the assassinations of scientists

14 suspects in  the murder of Iranian nuclear scientists confess to the killings on state television; say they were trained at a Tel Aviv facility

By Associated Press

 

Iranian state television on Sunday broadcast purported confessions by more than a dozen suspects in connection with the killing of five nuclear scientists since 2010.

Car of killed Iranian scientist

The broadcast showed some of the suspects re-enacting the assassinations in different districts of the capital Tehran. The 14 suspects shown on TV included eight men and six women.

The TV showed pictures from a military garrison it said was a training camp outside Tel Aviv in Israel. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| August 1, 2012
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PM: Time is running out to resolve Iran’s standoff peacefully.

Panetta suggests that the US is prepared to use military force. Says: “we have options that we are prepared to implement to ensure” Iran doesn’t obtain a nuclear weapon.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that time was running out to resolve the conflict with Iran over its nuclear program peacefully.

Netanyahu made his remarks at the opening of his meeting with visiting US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.

Leon Panetta and Binyamin Netanyahu. - Photo: Moshe Milner/GPO

Leon Panetta and Binyamin Netanyahu. – Photo: Moshe Milner/GPO

The prime minister said that Iran believed that the international community was not actually serious or committed in trying to stop it from obtaining nuclear weapons.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| August 1, 2012
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Prime Minister & Defense Minister tell Panetta: Israel has the right to defend itself

Panetta arrives in Israel for quick visit to discuss the Israeli-American disagreements over whether to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.

By Amos Hare

 

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta arrived in Israel last night for a brief visit that will focus on the American-Israeli dispute over whether to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak plan to stress that Israel reserves the right to defend itself, and to make its own decision on whether to attack.

Another major topic of discussion will be efforts to prevent Syria’s chemical weapons from reaching Lebanon.

Iran's heavy water nuclear facilities near the central city of Arak

Iran’s heavy water nuclear facilities near the central city of Arak – Photo by AP /ISNA,Hamid Foroutan

A senior government official told Haaretz that even if Jerusalem attacks Iran over Washington’s objections, he doesn’t think the United States will turn its back on Israel. Continue Reading »

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| July 22, 2012
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Iran claims arrest of networks behind scientist assassinations

Islamic Republic’s intelligence minister says two cells inside & outside country involved in training killers have been shut down.

By REUTERS, JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Iran has arrested some of those responsible for assassinations of its nuclear scientists, state media reported on Sunday, in a continued hunt for those it says are working to sabotage its nuclear program.

Intelligence minister Heydar Moslehi said Iran had shut down two networks inside and outside the country he said were involved in training the killers, Fars News Agency reported.

Iranian nuclear scientist assassination [file] - Photo: REUTERS

Iranian nuclear scientist assassination [file] – Photo: REUTERS

At least four scientists associated with Iran’s nuclear disputed nuclear works have been slain since 2010 and a fifth – Fereydoun Abbasi Davani, now the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization – was wounded.

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| July 13, 2012
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Israeli book leaves Iranian leaders atwitter

New book exploring alleged Israeli connection to hits on Iranian nuclear scientist is causing a stir in Tehran; but other in Iran’s media question information’s validity

By Ynet

 

An new book penned by two Israeli journalists and focusing on Israel’s alleged link to the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists, is all the rage among Iran‘s top political echelon, the New York Times reported Friday.

Scene of a hit on Iranian scientist (Archvies)

According to a report, the book – “Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel’s Secret Wars,” by Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman, has “set off a buzz” among the regime, the Iranian Opposition and the Islamic Republic’s media. Continue Reading »

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| July 13, 2012
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Iran’s Central Demand in its Negotiations

Iran did not come with clean hands when it demanded that its right to enrich uranium be recognized.

By Dore Gold

The main theme raised by Iranian negotiators during the talks with the P5+1 in Moscow last month was their claim that they have a legal right to enrich uranium under the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. David Ignatius, The Washington Post’s commentator for Middle Eastern affairs, obtained a copy of the Power Point that the Iranians used in the negotiations and he noticed that this argument appeared in the first third of the 48 page Iranian document. Ignatius understood through his contacts that for the Iranians any diplomatic compromise must include the West conceding to this Iranian demand. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| June 14, 2012
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Iran: We caught ring of assassins hired by Israeli network

Announcement in Iranian media marks 2nd wave of arrests of alleged assassins accused of killing nuclear scientists; Tehran says it is committed to bring to justice “terrorists” who “martyred scientists in cold blood.”

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

Iranian security forces on Thursday announced the arrest of a ring of assassins which it says were responsible for the recent killings of nuclear scientists, Iranian media reported. Police also sought to directly tie the suspects to Israel, alleging that they were “hired by an Israeli spy network,” according to state news agency IRNA.

Iranian nuclear scientist assassination - Photo: REUTERS

Iranian nuclear scientist assassination - Photo: REUTERS

Tehran has in the past accused Israel of being behind the killings of several of its nuclear scientists.

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| June 7, 2012
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‘Iran clearly developing nuclear weapons program’

FM tells Knesset Foreign Affairs, Defense C’tee that hyperactive chatter of former officials on Tehran damaging to Israel.

Iran is undoubtedly working on a nuclear program for military purposes, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Wednesday.

“We know that they are attempting to enrich uranium over 20 percent. There is no doubt that this is a nuclear military plan, Liberman said. It is obvious to all that Iran is trying to hide proof of its nuclear program, but we can see proof in satellite photos.”

Interior of Bushehr nuclear plant

Interior of Bushehr nuclear plant - Photo: REUTERS/Stringer Iran

According to Liberman, Iran is prepared to pay a price for nuclear weapons, and sanctions will not stop their aspirations.

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| June 1, 2012
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Report: Obama secretly ordered cyber attacks on Iran’s nuclear program

According to New York Times report, Stuxnet worm was part of joint U.S.-Israel effort to sabotage computers that control Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities.

Shortly after being inaugurated, U.S. President Barack Obama secretly ordered sophisticated attacks on the computer systems that control Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities, the New York Times reported.

U.S. President Barack Obama

U.S. President Barack Obama.

According to the report, Obama decided to expand attacks that had begun during the George W. Bush administration.

The report said that the Stuxnet worm, the existence of which became public in 2010, was developed by the United States and Israel as part of a joint effort to sabotage the Iranian nuclear program. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| May 29, 2012
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Report: Iran sought to strike Jewish, U.S. targets in Azerbaijan

Plot linked to Iran was part of shadow war between Iran and West, unnamed officials tell Washington Post; Iran apparently suspended attempts ahead of current round of nuclear talks with six world powers.

Iran has been implicated in a foiled plot to attack foreign and Jewish targets in Azerbaijan, according to a report published by the Washington Post on Monday.

Car bomb New Delhi

An injured person is carried from a burning car belonging to the Israeli Embassy as it is in flames after an explosion, in New Delhi, India - Photo by AP

The report quotes unnamed “U.S. and Middle Eastern security officials” who cited a six-page official report containing details of the investigation. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| May 29, 2012
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‘Flame virus aims to gather intelligence’

Tehran admits being targeted by what could be most sophisticated malware yet; computer experts say only country capable of developing such complex virus

 

Iranian authorities have admitted that malicious software dubbed Flame has attacked it, and instructed to run an urgent inspection of all computer systems in the country.

While no one knows who is behind “the most sophisticated virus of all times,” the bottom line, computer experts say, is that only a state could have developed such a complex virus.

Illustration Photo: Shutterstock

(Illustration) Photo: Shutterstock

Flame can gather data files, remotely change settings on computers, turn on PC microphones to record conversations, take screen shots and log instant messaging chats. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags:
| May 28, 2012
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New computer virus hits Iran, West Bank in unprecedented cyberattack

Internet security firm Kaspersky calls ‘Flame’ bug the ‘most sophisticated cyber-weapon yet unleashed,’ hints it may have been created by makers of Stuxnet worm.

Internet security company Kaspersky Lab announced on Monday that it had uncovered a ‘cyber-espionage worm’ designed to collect and delete sensitive information, primarily in Middle Eastern countries.

 

A man walks by computer network servers in California.

A man walks by computer network servers in California. - Photo by Bloomberg

Kaspersky called the malware, named “Flame,” the “most sophisticated cyber-weapon yet unleashed.” It said the bug had infected computers in Iran, the West Bank, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Kaspersky Lab

A map of countries affected by Flame bug.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags:
| May 22, 2012
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U.S. Senate unanimously approves tougher sanctions on Iran

Sanctions are meant to strip Tehran of revenue by shutting down financial deals with Iran’s powerful state oil and tanker enterprises.

The U.S. Senate unanimously approved on Monday a package of new economic sanctions on Iran’s oil sector just days ahead of a meeting in Baghdad between major world powers and Tehran.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visits Iran's Fuel Manufacturing Plant

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visits Iran's Fuel Manufacturing Plant, a new facility producing uranium fuel for a planned heavy-water nuclear reactor, outside Isfahan, Iran. - Photo by AP

The West suspects Iran is working to build a nuclear bomb and the sanctions are meant to strip Tehran of revenue by shutting down financial deals with Iran’s powerful state oil and tanker enterprises. Continue Reading »

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