Spanning(en) rond Iran

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Israel to deploy battery of rocket interceptors; Iran stages land military exercises

Monday, 20 February 2012

The decision to site an Iron Dome battery at Tel Aviv comes amid heightened regional tensions and speculation about a possible Israeli attack targeting Iran's controversial nuclear program. (File photo)

By Al Arabiya with Agencies

The Israeli military will on Monday deploy a battery of rocket interceptors from its "Iron Dome" system in the Tel Aviv region, a military spokesman said on Sunday, as Iran began land military exercise to upgrade its capabilities to defend the country against possible external threats.

"Iron Dome is being incorporated into the heart of the Israeli military. As part of this process, the system is deployed in different sites and will be in the Gush Dan region (of Tel Aviv) in the coming days," he said in a statement that clarified the deployment would begin on Monday.

This deployment "is part of the annual training plan for this system," he added, according to AFP.

The decision to site an Iron Dome battery at Tel Aviv comes amid heightened regional tensions and speculation about a possible Israeli attack targeting Iran's controversial nuclear program.

Two Iranian warships also entered the Mediterranean at the weekend, and were within striking distance of Israel.

Israel has denied that a decision has been taken to launch a pre-emptive strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.

The first battery of the unique multi-million-dollar Iron Dome system was deployed last March 27 outside the southern desert city of Beersheva, after it was hit by Grad rockets fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

On April 4, the system was also deployed around the southern port city of Ashkelon.

Rocket interception system

The first of its kind in the world and still at the experimental stage, it is not yet able to provide complete protection, but it has successfully brought down several rockets fired from Gaza.

Designed to intercept rockets and artillery shells fired from a range of between four and 70 kilometers (three and 45 miles), Iron Dome is part of an ambitious multi-layered defense program to protect Israeli towns and cities.

Two other systems make up the program -- the Arrow long-range ballistic missile defense system and the so-called David's Sling, or Magic Wand, system, intended to counter medium-range missiles.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard, meanwhile, said it has begun a two-day land military exercise to upgrade its capabilities to defend the country against possible external threats, according to The Associated Press.

Commander of the Guard's ground forces Mohammad Pakpour said on comments posted on the force's website sepahnews.com that the maneuvers dubbed Valfajr, or Dawn, began Sunday outside the city of Yazd in central Iran.

The Guard is Iran's most powerful military unit.

The exercises are the latest in a series of maneuvers held amid escalating tensions between Iran and the West over Iran's nuclear program.

The U.S. and Israel have not ruled out military strikes against Iran's program, which they say aims at developing weapons technology. Iran says the program is for peaceful purposes.

IAEA team heads to Iran

Iran, meanwhile, will host a high-level team from the U.N. nuclear watchdog on Monday as part of efforts to defuse dire international tensions over its atomic activities through dialogue.

But other words being spoken in Israel, the United States and Britain -- and Iran's defiant moves to boost its nuclear activities -- underlined the prospect of possible Israeli military action against the Islamic republic.

Iran also signaled on Sunday that it is ready to hit back hard at sanctions threatening its economy, by announcing it has halted its limited oil sales to France and Britain.

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said his country was keen to quickly resume mooted talks with world powers, once a place and date were agreed.

The last talks collapsed in Istanbul in January 2011, but Tehran has responded positively to an EU offer to look at reviving them.

"We are looking for a mechanism for a solution for the nuclear issue in a way that it is win-win for both sides," Salehi said.

But he added that Iran remained prepared for a "worst-case scenario."

British Foreign Secretary William Hague warned on the BBC on Sunday: "I don't think the wise thing at this moment is for Israel to launch a military attack on Iran."

Israeli calculations will take into account a Wednesday announcement by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Iranian scientists are boosting uranium enrichment by adding 3,000 more centrifuges to a facility at Natanz.

Iran also appeared to be about to install thousands of new centrifuges in another, heavily fortified enrichment facility near Qom, a diplomat accredited to the U.N. nuclear watchdog told the BBC.

Iran says the enrichment is part of a purely peaceful civilian nuclear program.

Not optimistic

Mark Fitzpatrick of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies told AFP he was not optimistic.

He said this was "because I think any honest answers to the IAEA's questions would confirm that Iran had been involved in weapons-related development work and Iran wouldn't want to admit that for fear of being penalized."

A top U.S. security official met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday amid rising concerns over Iran and ahead of a trip by the Israeli premier to Washington.

Public radio said he and U.S. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon had a two-hour meeting that focused on "regional threats," despite Netanyahu's office refusing to confirm any meeting or to comment, according to AFP.

The White House had said Donilon would discuss a range of issues with senior Israeli officials, including Syria, and an Israeli official had said he would meet Netanyahu on Sunday afternoon.

In recent weeks, there has been feverish speculation that Israel was getting closer to mounting a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear program, though Israel has denied reaching such a decision.

Tensions between Iran and Israel also have been simmering with Iranian warships entering the Mediterranean in a show of "might," a move Israel said it would closely monitor.

Netanyahu said at Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting that on the agenda was a review by defense officials of the state of Israel's civil defense readiness.

"This is part of continuous action we have been taking in recent years in order to prepare Israel for the new age," he said. "An age of threats to the Israeli home front." He did not elaborate.

On Sunday night, Netanyahu spoke to a conference of the presidents of Jewish American organizations, and said Israel faced "four threats."

"The first is nuclear, the second is missiles with many thousands aimed at Israel and its cities, the third is cyber-attacks, the fourth is border infiltration not only by terrorists, but by mainly foreigners who threaten the Jewish nature of our small state."

Destabilizing

Israeli media on Sunday quoted a CNN interview with the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, warning that an Israeli military strike on Iran would be "destabilizing."

"It's not prudent at this point to decide to attack Iran," the Jerusalem Post quoted him as saying in a transcript of the interview.

"The U.S. government is confident that the Israelis understand our concerns," it quoted Dempsey as saying.

"A strike at this time would be destabilizing and wouldn't achieve (Israel's) long-term objectives."

Israel's former national security adviser Uzi Dayan called Dempsey's choice of words significant.

"I would emphasize Martin Dempsey's use of the phrase 'at this point'," he told public radio, pointing to Iran's latest offer to resume stalled nuclear talks with the five permanent U.N. Security Council members -- the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain -- plus Germany.

Israel is widely believed to be the sole nuclear-armed power in the Middle East, albeit undeclared.

Donilon's visit comes ahead of a trip in early March by Netanyahu to Washington for talks with U.S. President Barack Obama which are likely to focus on Iran and stalled peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators.

Top-selling Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot said on Sunday that U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper would visit Israel later in the week for talks with defense and intelligence officials.

Both Clapper and Donilon "plan to deliver a calming message, that even if talks are resumed with Iran, this will not be at the expense of the sanctions, which will continue to mount unless Iran puts an immediate halt to its nuclear program and allows serious supervision," the paper said.

It added that Defense Minister Ehud Barak would make a preparatory trip to Washington ahead of Netanyahu.

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/02/20/195773.html

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Congress subtly pushing US towards Iran war: Report

US Senator Joe Lieberman

Sun Feb 19, 2012 6:6PM GMT

To deny Iran the 'capability' would almost surely require a war between the United States and Iran, a course that some neocons have been quietly desiring for at least the past decade."

Robert Parry, award-winning investigative journalist

The US Congress has officially moved Washington closer to a military confrontation with Tehran by introducing a resolution that subtly shifts the "red line" policy regarding Iran's nuclear program, a columnist says.

"Sen. Joe Lieberman is leading a group of nearly one-third of the US Senate urging that the red line on war with Iran be shifted from building a nuclear weapon to the vague notion of Iran having the "capability" to build one," Robert Parry wrote on consortiumnews.com on Saturday.

The award-winning investigative journalist and author added that the distinction between Iran's alleged "pursuit of a nuclear weapon" to its alleged "pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability" is a subtle but "important" one.

"The distinction is important because a 'capability' can mean almost anything, since peaceful nuclear research also can be applicable to bomb building."

In a statement published last Thursday on his website, Lieberman announced that 32 senators - both Republicans and Democrats - have banded together to introduce a resolution urging action to prevent Iran from pushing "forward in its pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability."

"By rejecting any policy that would rely on containment of a nuclear-weapons capable Iran, this bi-partisan resolution sends a clear message to Iran's rulers that the United States will stop them from acquiring nuclear weapons capability," the statement continued.

This new shift in Washington's line on the Iranian nuclear program comes as recent comments by US and Israeli military leaders indicate that Mossad and the CIA both agree that Iran has "not" decided to build a nuclear bomb.

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta admitted in an interview on January 8 that despite progress in its nuclear program, Iran has yet to build a nuclear bomb.

Later on January 18, the Israeli daily Ha'aretz published a report indicating that Tel Aviv is seeking Washington's assessment on Iran.

"Israel believes Iran itself has not yet decided whether to make a nuclear bomb, according to intelligence assessment to be presented later this week to US Joint Chiefs of Staff Dempsey," Ha'aretz wrote.

The United States, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Iran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program and have used this pretext to impose international and unilateral sanctions on the Islamic Republic and to call for a military strike against Tehran.

Iran has repeatedly refuted Western allegations, arguing that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

"To deny Iran the 'capability' would almost surely require a war between the United States and Iran, a course that some neocons have been quietly desiring for at least the past decade," Parry concluded.

http://presstv.com/detail/227532.html

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

U.S., Britain Urge Israel Not To Attack Iran

By The Associated Press
Feb 19, 2012, 1:01 PM

JERUSALEM — The U.S. and Britain on Sunday urged Israel not to attack Iran's nuclear program as the White House's national security adviser arrived in the region, reflecting growing international jitters that the Israelis are poised to strike.

In their warnings, both the U.S. joint chiefs of staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, and British Foreign Minister William Hague said an Israeli attack on Iran would have grave consequences for the entire region and urged Israel to give international sanctions against Iran more time to work. Dempsey said an Israeli attack is "not prudent," and Hague said it would not be "a wise thing."

Both Israel and the West believe Iran is trying to develop a nuclear bomb – a charge Tehran denies. But differences have emerged in how to respond to the perceived threat.

The U.S. and the European Union have both imposed harsh new sanctions targeting Iran's oil sector, the lifeline of the Iranian economy. With the sanctions just beginning to bite, they have expressed optimism that Iran can be persuaded to curb its nuclear ambitions.

On Sunday, Iran's Oil Ministry said it has halted oil shipments to Britain and France in an apparent pre-emptive blow against the European Union. The semiofficial Mehr news agency said the National Iranian Oil Company has sent letters to some European refineries with an ultimatum to either sign long-term contracts of two to five years or be cut off. The 27-nation EU accounts for about 18 percent of Iran's oil exports.

Israel has welcomed the sanctions. But it has pointedly refused to rule out military action and in recent weeks sent signals that its patience is running thin.

Israel believes a nuclear-armed Iran would be a threat to its very existence, citing Iran's support for Arab militant groups, its sophisticated arsenal of missiles capable of reaching Israel and its leaders' calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Last week, Israel accused Iran of being behind a string of attempted attacks on Israeli diplomats in India, Georgia and Thailand.

There is precedent for Israeli action. In 1981, the Israeli air force destroyed an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor. And in 2007, Israeli warplanes are believed to have destroyed a target that foreign experts think was an unfinished nuclear reactor in Syria.

Experts, however, have questioned how much an Israeli operation would accomplish. With Iran's nuclear installations scattered and buried deep underground, it is believed that an Iranian strike would set back, but not destroy, Iran's nuclear program.

There are also concerns Iran could fire missiles at Israel, get its local proxies Hezbollah and Hamas to launch rockets into the Jewish state, and cause global oil prices to spike by striking targets in the Gulf.

In an interview broadcast on CNN Sunday, Dempsey said Israel has the capability to strike Iran and delay the Iranians "probably for a couple of years. But some of the targets are probably beyond their reach."

He expressed concern that an Israeli attack could spark reprisals against U.S. targets in the Gulf or Afghanistan, where American forces are based.

"That's the question with which we all wrestle. And the reason that we think that it's not prudent at this point to decide to attack Iran," Dempsey said.

Describing Iran as a "rational actor," Dempsey said he believed that the international sanctions on Iran are beginning to have an effect. "For that reason, I think, that we think the current path we're on is the most prudent path at this point."

The arrival of White House National Security Adviser Tom Donilon was the latest in a series of high-level meetings between Israel and the U.S. Last month, Dempsey visited Israel, and next month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to visit the White House.

Donilon was set to meet with Netanyahu late Sunday, and with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday before leaving.

Asked whether he believed Israel could be deterred from striking, Dempsey said: "I'm confident that they understand our concerns, that a strike at this time would be destabilizing and wouldn't achieve their long-term objectives. But, I mean, I also understand that Israel has national interests that are unique to them."

Hague delivered a similar message in Britain. Speaking to the BBC, he said Britain was focused on pressuring Iran through diplomatic means.

"I don't think a wise thing at this moment is for Israel to launch a military attack on Iran," he said. "I think Israel like everyone else in the world should be giving a real chance to the approach we have adopted on very serious economic sanctions and economic pressure and the readiness to negotiate with Iran."

In a sign that the diplomatic pressure might be working, Iran's foreign minister said Sunday that a new round of talks with six world powers on the nuclear program will be held in Istanbul, Turkey. Ali Akbar Salehi didn't give any timing for the talks.

The last round of talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany were held in Istanbul in January 2011 but ended in failure.

http://www.wbur.org/2012/02/19/israel-iran-2

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Iran, Russia naval presence in Syrian ports message to US: MP

19 - A senior Iranian lawmaker says the presence of Iranian and Russian naval forces in Syria's coastal waters is a clear warning to the US to refrain from any possible military adventurism.

"The United States should take Iran's warning about [refraining from any possible] military intervention in Syria seriously," Hossein Ebrahimi, deputy chairman of Iran Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said Sunday.

He added that in the event of a US strategic mistake in Syria, Washington may receive a crushing response from Iran, Syria and a few other countries.

On Sunday, January 8, a large Russian navy flotilla led by an aircraft carrier arrived at the Syrian port of Tartus in the Mediterranean Sea for a six-day port call, to show Moscow's solidarity with Damascus.

Two Iranian Navy ships also docked in the Syrian port of Tartus on Friday, February 17, to train Syrian naval forces under an agreement signed between Tehran and Damascus one year ago.

"Syrians are against any form of foreign intervention in their country, but the United States by arming opposition groups is trying to harm the [anti-Israeli] axis of resistance in the region [in order to] affect Islamic Awakening in regional countries," Ebrahimi added. /-

http://www.iranwpd.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=3110:iran-russia-naval-presence-in-syrian-ports-message-to-us-mp&Itemid=65

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

zo 19 feb 2012, 15:24 Geen Iraanse olie naar Britten en Fransen

TEHERAN -  Iran levert geen olie meer aan Groot-Brittannië en Frankrijk. Dat heeft het ministerie van Olie in Teheran zondag bekendgemaakt. Veel effect zal het besluit niet hebben: Frankrijk importeerde nauwelijks olie uit Iran, Groot-Brittannië helemaal niet.

De exportstop is waarschijnlijk vooral een waarschuwing aan grotere importeurs van Iraanse olie, zoals Italië en Griekenland. De Europese Unie wil de komende maanden de grenzen sluiten voor olie uit Iran. Europa vreest dat het Iraanse bewind in het geheim werkt aan een atoombom.


http://www.telegraaf.nl/dft/11551374/__Geen_Iraanse_olie_naar_Britten_en_Fransen__.html?tl=mostread-DFT

[Lex]

'Aanval op Iran voorbarig'

De hoogste militair in het Amerikaanse leger waarschuwt tegen een aanval op Iran. De economische sancties van het Westen beginnen te werken en daarom ,,vind ik het voorbarig om te beslissen dat de tijd voor de militaire optie is gekomen''. Dat zegt generaal Martin Dempsey in een interview dat nieuwszender CNN zondag uitzendt.

Dempsey laat ook weten dat het Westen zich beter moet voorbereiden op eventueel ingrijpen. ,,Dan gaat het nu vooral om een betere defensieve voorbereiding'', aldus de bevelhebber.

De Verenigde Staten, Europa en Israël vrezen dat Iran in het geheim een atoombom bouwt. Israël zinspeelt daarom op een aanval, Europa werkt aan strengere sancties. Iran zegt dat zijn nucleaire programma alleen vreedzame doelen heeft, zoals het opwekken van kernenergie.

© ANP
19 februari 2012, 15:49

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

De situatie lijkt zich  te beperken tot verbaal  "geweld" als je het mij vraagt. Niemand is ook zo te zien bereid de eerste steen te werpen.

Iedereen? Bij Israel weet ik het niet zo zeker (zie ook alle Amerikaanse inspanningen om Israael van die eerste steen af te houden)

[Ros]

De situatie lijkt zich  te beperken tot verbaal  "geweld" als je het mij vraagt. Niemand is ook zo te zien bereid de eerste steen te werpen.

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Iran Threatens 'Crushing Response' If Attacked

Iran heats up tensions and warns Israel of a "crushing response to Israel's slightest move." US jawbones against a pre-emptive strike.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
First Publish: 2/19/2012, 11:36 AM

Iran has threatened a "crushing response to Israel's slightest move" as the United States raises the volume against a pre-emptive strike. Iran also has announced new war games for next month.

The Ahmadinejad regime chose its ambassador to Lebanon, Qazanfar Roknabadi, to deliver a message on Saturday that "Iran will not start a possible war with the Zionist regime but will deliver a decisive response to any aggression by the regime." As usual, he refrained from using the term "Israel."

Regardless of Israel's intentions, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps is planning new war games next month in a desert area in the central part of the country.

Commander of the IRGC Ground Forces, Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour, said on Saturday that the drill will implement "modern defensive tactics,...taking advantage of advanced indigenous military equipment," the state-run Fars News Agency reported.

Iran's media, most of it government controlled, played up advice by General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff,  that it would be unwise to attack Iran now.

"It's not prudent at this point to decide to attack Iran," Dempsey told CNN on Saturday. "I think it would be premature to exclusively decide that the time for a military option was upon us. A strike at this time would be destabilizing and wouldn't achieve their (the Israelis') long-term objectives. I wouldn't suggest, sitting here today, that we've persuaded them that our view is the correct view and that they are acting in an ill-advised fashion."

The Obama administration has been jaw-boning in the media against a military strike, claiming that harsh sanctions against Iran are working and that Israel should wait. the dilemma for Israel is that most military and intelligence officials warn that postponing military action will close the "window of opportunity" as Iran continues to race ahead towards nuclear capability, especially at its underground nuclear facilities.

The BBC reported Sunday that Iran appears to be preparing to speed up production of enriched uranium, a key ingredient of a nuclear weapon. It announced last week it has installed an additional 3,000 centrifuges in its underground nuclear plant near the city of Qom.

The Obama administration is increasing pressure on Israel by sending U.S. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon to Jerusalem for talks with government and military officials.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/152902

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Chamoun says "wants war on Iran"

February 19, 2012   

National Liberal Party leader MP Dori Chamoun said on Sunday that he "wants a war on Iran," and that he is not "afraid" of such a war.

"Everything has limits, and [Western powers] will not allow Iran to possess the atomic bomb," Chamoun told the Voice of Lebanon (93.3) radio station according to the National News Agency.

Tensions between Iran and Israel have been risen with Iranian warships entering the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal in a show of "might", a move Israel said it would closely monitor.

On Wednesday, Iran said it had installed another 3,000 centrifuges to increase its uranium enrichment capabilities and was stepping up exploration and processing of uranium yellowcake.

Israel also blamed a recent wave of attacks targeting Israeli diplomats on agents of Tehran, allegations Iran denies.

http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=366494

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Is war with Iran inevitable?

Posted: Sunday, February 19, 2012 5:00 am | Updated: 4:21 pm, Fri Feb 17, 2012.

By SANDER DIAMOND

Oil-rich and with a population of 67 million spread over an area the size of Alaska, Iran aspires to be an atomic power and the leader of the Islamic world, a goal that Washington and Israel have promised to block with force if necessary. Washington and Tel-Aviv have told Iran that it cannot cross two red lines. First, if Tehran closes the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world's oil flows, we will use our military to keep the sea lanes open. The fleet is already in place. Second, if Iran fabricates an atomic bomb, we have threatened to employ "bunker busting," deep penetration bombs to destroy its underground reactors.

While the exact timetable may still be up in the air, it has been reported that Israel is planning a spring attack, since it believes that Iran is just months away from realizing its goal. What we do know is that Israel has acquired four of the most advanced conventional submarines armed with cruise missiles from Germany and has drone aircraft the size of Boeing 737s. Israel's prime minister has said over and over that Iran poses an "existential threat." Steeled by a post-Holocaust mentality and an obsession for security, Tel-Aviv is not going to wait for the missiles to arrive. Israel has little faith in sanctions and far less in appeasement, believing Hitler could have been stopped at Munich in 1938 through timely action.

http://www.fltimes.com/opinion/columnists/columnist_one/article_8ea02860-59ac-11e1-82af-001871e3ce6c.html

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Isreal 'Unwise' To Launch Military Strike On Iran, Says William Hague

First Posted: 19/02/2012 10:13 Updated: 19/02/2012 10:13

William Hauge has said it would be a mistake for Israel to launch a military strike against Iran in an attempt to destroy its alleged nuclear weapons programme.

Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marrr programme on Sunday morning, the foreign secretary said Israel should put its efforts into making sure there were effective sanctions against Tehran.

"I don't think the wise thing for Israel to do is launch a military attack," he said.

There are growing fears that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will not be deterred by sanctions, the preferred route of the US and Britain to pressure the regime into abandoning its nuclear weapons programme.

Israel is rumoured to be planning military strikes within months. Ahmadinejad claimed this week that Iran had loaded its first domestically-made fuel rod into a nuclear reactor.

Hague said that Israel had not shown the British government any plans for an attack on Iran but acknowledged there had been some discussion by Israeli politicians in public about the possibility of a strike.

"They are not sharing any plans with us, they are not asking us to join in any plans, we are not calling for any military action against Iran," he said.

He added: "Our approach is 100% diplomatic and economics focused."

However he said that "no one wants Iran to have nuclear weapons" and said Britain did not take "any option off the table".

Hague warned there would be only two outcomes for Iran if they developed a nuclear bomb, either "they will be attacked and there will be a war, or there will be a Cold War".

He also said that Tehran had recently "increased its willingness" for "utterly illegal activities" including terrorist acts around the world. However he said he had no specific information that it intended to target the London Olympics.

On Saturday Hague warned that Iran's nuclear ambitions could plunge the world into "a new Cold War" with the Middle East.

He predicted a nuclear arms race among rival Middle Eastern states that would carry the dangers without the safety mechanisms of the old rivalry between the West and the USSR.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, he a warned there was a "crisis coming down the tracks" that could result in "disaster" for world affairs.

"(The Iranians) are clearly continuing their nuclear weapons programme," Hague said.

"If they obtain nuclear weapons capability, then I think other nations across the Middle East will want to develop nuclear weapons.

"And so, the most serious round of nuclear proliferation since nuclear weapons were invented would have begun with all the destabilising effects in the Middle East. And the threat of a new Cold War in the Middle East without necessarily all the safety mechanisms. That would be a disaster in world affairs."

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/02/19/isreal-unwise-to-launch-military-strike-on-iran_n_1287284.html

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Ik sta er volledig omgekeerd in. Dat ze als de sodemieter daar de boel kapot gooien (sorry, een grote oorlog is natuurlijk nooit iets om voor te zijn) om daarna de prijzen in te laten storten. Hoe sneller het gedaan is hoe sneller we naar een normaler niveau gaan. Als Iran de kans blijft houden om de spanningen te laten bestaan of zelfs met regelmaat op te voeren zitten we over 5 jaar nog met dit probleem en zelfs erger. Een oorlog is in mijn ogen al bijna niet meer te voorkomen door de continue escalatie en de dreiging de straat af te sluiten.

Het lijkt in een rap tempo richting confrontatie te gaan, het "praat" scenario heeft alleen zin als resultaten behaald worden.

Tot nu lijkt het praat scenario alleen in het "voordeel" van Iran te werken, ze kopen immers tijd, tijd die wordt gebruikt om de wereld met een nog groter probleem op te zadelen.

Zachte heelmeesters maken stinkende wonden, wat mij betreft maken "we" er een einde aan, liever gisteren dan vandaag.

[Tanker]

Ik ben ook voor grof geweld en z.s.m. graag, dit pappen en nathouden beleid leidt tot niets. Iran heeft maling aan de wereld, en sancties sorteren geen effect..... Misschien is er wel een kans voor een regime change in de chaos na grootschalige aanvallen..... Misschien moeten ze vast contact zoeken met de oppositie....

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

BBC: Iran bouwt nucleaire fabriek bij Qom

zondag 19 februari 2012 | 07:28 | Laatst bijgewerkt op: zondag 19 februari 2012 | 09:18

LONDEN - Iran is van plan om een ondergrondse nucleaire fabriek te bouwen vlakbij de stad Qom. Dat heeft een diplomaat vrijdag tegen televisiezender BBC gezegd.

Het land zou voorbereidingen treffen voor de installatie van duizenden nieuwe uraniumcentrifuges op de locatie in het noorden van Iran. Uranium kan gebruikt worden om kernenergie en atoomwapens te maken.

Centrifuges
Woensdag maakte president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad op de staatstelevisie bekend dat Iran 3000 nieuwe centrifuges in gebruik heeft genomen voor het verrijken van uranium. Daarmee komt het totaal op 9000 centrifuges.

http://www.brabantsdagblad.nl/nieuws/algemeen/buitenland/10498507/BBC-Iran-bouwt-nucleaire-fabriek-bij-Qom.ece