Powell Says Iran Is Pursuing Bomb

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

Hopefully his info this time is better than the stuff he presented to the UN for Iraq. If what the other groups in this article say are true....


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1802&ncid=1802&e=1&u=/washpost/20041118/ts_washpost/a57465_2004nov17
Thu Nov 18, 7:44 AM ET

By Robin Wright and Keith B. Richburg, Washington Post Foreign Service

SANTIAGO, Chile, Nov. 17 -- The United States has intelligence that Iran is working to adapt missiles to deliver a nuclear weapon, further evidence that the Islamic republic is determined to acquire a nuclear bomb, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said Wednesday.

Separately, an Iranian opposition exile group charged in Paris that Iran is enriching uranium at a secret military facility unknown to U.N. weapons inspectors. Iran has denied seeking to build nuclear weapons.

"I have seen some information that would suggest that they have been actively working on delivery systems. . . . You don't have a weapon until you put it in something that can deliver a weapon," Powell told reporters traveling with him to Chile for an Asia-Pacific economic summit. "I'm not talking about uranium or fissile material or the warhead; I'm talking about what one does with a warhead."

Powell's comments came just three days after an agreement between Iran and three European countries -- Britain, France and Germany -- designed to limit Tehran's ability to divert its peaceful nuclear energy program for military use. The primary focus of the deal, accepted by Iran on Sunday and due to go into effect Nov. 22, is a stipulation that Iran indefinitely suspend its uranium enrichment program.

The issue of adapting a missile is separate from the question of enriching uranium for use in a weapon.

"I'm talking about information that says they not only have these missiles, but I am aware of information that suggests that they were working hard as to how to put the two together," Powell said, referring to the process of matching warheads to missiles. He spoke to reporters during a refueling stop in Manaus, Brazil.

"There is no doubt in my mind -- and it's fairly straightforward from what we've been saying for years -- that they have been interested in a nuclear weapon that has utility, meaning that it is something they would be able to deliver, not just something that sits there," Powell said.

Iran has long been known to have a missile program, while denying that it was seeking a nuclear bomb. Powell seemed to be suggesting that efforts not previously disclosed were underway to arm missiles with nuclear warheads.

Joseph Cirincione, director of the Non-Proliferation Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Powell's remarks indicated that Iran was trying to master the difficult technology of reducing the size of a nuclear warhead to fit on a ballistic missile.

"Powell appears to be saying the Iranians are working very hard on this capability," Cirincione said. He said Powell's comments were striking because the International Atomic Energy Agency said this week that it had not seen any information that Iran had conducted weapons-related work.

In a 32-page report, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei wrote that "all the declared nuclear material in Iran has been accounted for, and therefore such material is not diverted to prohibited activities," such as weapons programs. But ElBaradei said that he could not rule out the possibility that Iran was conducting a clandestine nuclear weapons program.

Powell also told reporters that the United States had not decided what action to take following Sunday's agreement. The Bush administration had insisted that Iran's past violations warranted taking the matter to the U.N. Security Council.

Powell said the United States would monitor verification efforts "with necessary and deserved caution because for 20 years the Iranians have been trying to hide things from the international community."

Meanwhile, in Paris, the exile group charged that Iran was still enriching uranium and would continue to do so despite the pledge made Sunday to European foreign ministers. The group, the National Council for Resistance in Iran, or NCRI, also claimed that Iran received blueprints for a Chinese-made bomb in the mid-1990s from the global nuclear technology network led by the Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. The Khan network sold the same type of bomb blueprint to Libya, which has since renounced its nuclear ambitions.

Mohammad Mohaddessin, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Paris-based NCRI, told reporters at a news conference that the Khan network delivered to the Iranians a small quantity of highly enriched uranium that could be used in making a bomb. But he said the amount was probably too small for use in a weapon.

The NCRI is the political wing of the People's Mujahedeen organization, which the State Department has labeled a terrorist organization. The NCRI helped expose Iran's nuclear ambitions in 2002 by disclosing the location of the government's secret uranium enrichment facility at Natanz. But many of its subsequent assertions about the program have proven inaccurate.

On Wednesday, Mohaddessin used satellite photos to pinpoint what he said was the new facility, inside a 60-acre complex in the northeast part of Tehran known as the Center for the Development of Advanced Defense Technology. The group said that the site also houses Iranian chemical and biological weapons programs and that uranium enrichment began there a year and a half ago, to replace a nearby facility that was dismantled in March ahead of a visit by a U.N. inspections team.

The group gave no evidence for its claims, but Mohaddessin said, "Our sources were 100 percent sure about their intelligence." He and other group members said the NCRI relies on human sources, including scientists and other people working in the facilities and locals who might live near the facilities and see suspicious activities.

The IAEA, the U.N. nuclear monitoring body, had no immediate comment on the claims but said it took all such reports seriously.

The agency has no information to support the NCRI claims, according to Western diplomats with knowledge of the U.N. body's investigations of Iran.

Some diplomats and arms control experts privately discounted the Iranian group's latest claim, saying it appeared designed to undermine the deal that the Tehran government signed with Britain, France and Germany. In Tehran on Wednesday, Iranian officials said they considered the enrichment suspension temporary and contingent upon a favorable decision at the IAEA meeting next week and on quick progress in talks next month on long-term guarantees that Iran can apply nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Richburg reported from Paris. Staff writers Glenn Kessler and Dafna Linzer in Washington contributed to this report.

_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[nacmacfeegle 0]

"The United States has intelligence ......"

"an Iranian opposition exile group charged in Paris that Iran is enriching uranium "

"I'm talking about information that says they not only have these missiles,"

"There is no doubt in my mind "

"IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei wrote that "all the declared nuclear material in Iran has been accounted for,"

"The group gave no evidence for its claims"


Deja Vu anyone?

Ready to be duped one more time?

Remember Ahmed Chalabi, where did his information come from.......

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He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[mr2mk1g 10]

Who the hells gonna buy it this time round though?

[nacmacfeegle 0]

Same fools that bought it last time, but buying it, and paying for it are different things Matt.

Pub time, cya.

--------------------

He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

That is the problem with presenting wrong information to the world as solid, verifiable facts....then refusing to admit you made a mistake. You lose credibility. Fool me once....

_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[storm1977 0]

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"an Iranian opposition exile group charged in Paris that Iran is enriching uranium "

This is the same group that broke the news on the enrichment plant which the EU just got Iran to stop producing enriched uranium in. So I guess one of their finds were true.
[rply]
"IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei wrote that "all the declared nuclear material in Iran has been accounted for"

[billvon 2,462]

>We are tlaking about new missle technology for nukes . . .

Now we are. After we invade you'll be telling us "I never said it was about the missiles, it was about liberating the people of Iran! And how do you know that in ten years they wouldn't have developed ICBM's?"

[storm1977 0]

Quote

>We are tlaking about new missle technology for nukes . . .

Now we are. After we invade you'll be telling us "I never said it was about the missiles, it was about liberating the people of Iran! And how do you know that in ten years they wouldn't have developed ICBM's?"

We invaded Iran?
hmmm.... CNN is running that story yet

-----------------------------------------------------
Sometimes it is more important to protect LIFE than Liberty

[PhillyKev 0]

Why haven't we? They are part of the axis of evil and have WMD, according to this.

[billvon 2,462]

>We invaded Iran?

Not yet! They have some proof to create before we can do that.

[Darius11 12]

Separately, an Iranian opposition exile group charged in Paris that Iran

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Hey I am not saying Iran is not pursuing nuclear capabilities like they are pursuing many other technological advances.
But an Iranian opposition exile group I think they would be a little bias.
What frightens me are the people who believe every thing they read.

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." - Kurt Cobain

• Quote

[Gravitymaster 0]

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>We are tlaking about new missle technology for nukes . . .

Now we are. After we invade you'll be telling us "I never said it was about the missiles, it was about liberating the people of Iran! And how do you know that in ten years they wouldn't have developed ICBM's?"

Because now that the Gorelicks and the Torecellis of the Clinton era aren't around anymore to destroy our Intel gathering capability, we might start getting it right.

[storm1977 0]

Quote

Quote

>We are tlaking about new missle technology for nukes . . .

Now we are. After we invade you'll be telling us "I never said it was about the missiles, it was about liberating the people of Iran! And how do you know that in ten years they wouldn't have developed ICBM's?"

Because now that the Gorelicks and the Torecellis of the Clinton era aren't around anymore to destroy our Intel gathering capability, we might start getting it right.

Yes we can all thank Mr. Torecelli for FUCKING it up for us!

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Sometimes it is more important to protect LIFE than Liberty

[SkyDekker 1,150]

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Because now that the Gorelicks and the Torecellis of the Clinton era aren't around anymore to destroy our Intel gathering capability, we might start getting it right.

Ahh yes, every mistake by Bush's administration is really Clinton's fault.

[PhillyKev 0]

Yeah, didn't you know that Toracelli put a gun to Bush's head and forced him to believe everything Chalabi said?

[SkyDekker 1,150]

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Yeah, didn't you know that Toracelli put a gun to Bush's head and forced him to believe everything Chalabi said?

Everybody knows that anybody appointed by, or with any affiliation to Clinton is absolutely fucking stupid.

well, everybody except Bush himself......what does that make him then

[storm1977 0]

Quote

Quote

Because now that the Gorelicks and the Torecellis of the Clinton era aren't around anymore to destroy our Intel gathering capability, we might start getting it right.

Ahh yes, every mistake by Bush's administration is really Clinton's fault.

Maybe you should read oup on the "Torecelli Principal"
It is enlightening!!!

Chris

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Sometimes it is more important to protect LIFE than Liberty

[SkyDekker 1,150]

Quote

Maybe you should read oup on the "Torecelli Principal"
It is enlightening!!!

I am assuming you mean the "Torricelli's principal"?

[pajarito 0]

Quote

Quote

Maybe you should read oup on the "Torecelli Principal"
It is enlightening!!!

I am assuming you mean the "Torricelli's principal"?

And I’m assuming you mean "Torricelli's principle." Sharp shooting, are we? I love it when some don’t like what others are saying so they start insulting their intelligence or at least their spelling, writing, or typing skills.

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

Quote

>We are tlaking about new missle technology for nukes . . .

Now we are. After we invade you'll be telling us "I never said it was about the missiles, it was about liberating the people of Iran! And how do you know that in ten years they wouldn't have developed ICBM's?"

Soon we will be invading Russia as well...they announced yesterday that they are developing a new missle/nuke the world has never seen before. It will make the missle shield useless.

_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[Guest]

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Why haven't we? They are part of the axis of evil and have WMD, according to this.

Because unlike Arabs, the Iranians aren't creampuffs, and have a much-deserved historical reputation for being a great deal feistier than their Arab counterparts. Approach with caution.

I say let them have the Bomb. They'll find out pretty quickly that it's every bit as useless for them as it is for us.

The only downside is the possibility of RIFWs/TWs getting their hands on "The Suitcase from Allah [tm]".

That would be bad.

mh

.

[SkyDekker 1,150]

Quote

And I’m assuming you mean "Torricelli's principle." Sharp shooting, are we? I love it when some don’t like what others are saying so they start insulting their intelligence or at least their spelling, writing, or typing skills.

Actually I copied directly from his post to Google to read up on it. Google came back with that suggestion, hence I am asking him.

I love it when people start making false assumption because they don't always agree with their point of view.

[Zep 0]

Good let Iran have it's missiles, Let Iran make a first strike
Let all the goody goodies that disagreed with Bush's policys
see first hand what carrnage iresponsible governments can cause
Let it be on thier hands

Gone fishing

[billvon 2,462]

>Let all the goody goodies that disagreed with Bush's policys
>see first hand what carrnage iresponsible governments can cause

Well, we're up to 14,000 innocent people dead in Iraq and 1200 US troops who will never come home - so we've actually already seen what kind of carnage irresponsible governments can cause.

[pajarito 0]

Quote

Good let Iran have it's missiles, Let Iran make a first strike
Let all the goody goodies that disagreed with Bush's policys
see first hand what carrnage iresponsible governments can cause
Let it be on thier hands

Sadly, it would be on all of our hands which is why, regardless of all the whining by the leftist pacifists, we must have the guts to act and not just talk.

Lots of people enjoy their freedom and safety but don't have the stomach for war through which it was earned.