Iran: November 2008 Archives

The Doomsday Clock continues dizzyingly winding down (via Newsmax Insider):

The latest United Nations report on Iran’s nuclear program steps up concerns about its efforts to produce nuclear weapons.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s November 19 report to its board of governors discloses that Iran’s “heavy water production plant appears to be in operational condition.”

The agency said it made its determination from satellite imagery because no ground inspections have been permitted by the Iranians, according to Newsmax U.N. correspondent Stewart Stogel.

Heavy water contains a larger than normal proportion of deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, which is a key ingredient for nuclear weapons production.

Iran’s giant Bushehr nuclear power station, expected to go on line next year, uses light water, not heavy water.

It is not clear why Iran insists that it needs its own heavy water facility, other than for so-called “research” purposes, Stogel reports.

If Israel decides to attack Iran, the heavy water facility cited by the IAEA could be a target.

The IAEA report, forwarded to the U.N. Security Council, also stated that Iran has yet to provide access to locations related to the manufacturing of centrifuges, research and development on uranium enrichment, and uranium mining and milling.

The IAEA said, "Iran needs to provide the agency with substantive information to support its statements and provide access to relevant documentation and individuals in this regard. Unless Iran provides such transparency . . . the agency will not be able to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran."

Show of hands: Who still believes that Iran gives a frog's fat leg about the IAEA's "credible assurance about [the mullahgarchy's] absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities"?

Put your hand down, Barry, you don't count....

"The world" will not wait for Red Barry to get up to speed:

Iran said it successfully test-fired a new generation of long range surface-to-surface missile on Wednesday — one that could easily strike as far away as southeastern Europe with greater precision than earlier models.

The Sajjil is a solid fuel high-speed missile with a range of about 1,200 miles, Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammed Najjar said on state television. At that range, it could easily strike Iran's arch-foe Israel and go as far as southeastern Europe.

Solid-fuel missiles are more accurate than the liquid fuel missiles of similar range currently possessed by Iran. The country has had a solid-fuel missile with a shorter range — the Fateh, able to fly 120 miles — for several years.

The Islamic Republic News Agency said the test was conducted Wednesday, and television showed the missile being fired from a desert launching pad.

Looks like False Messiah had better be scheduling his group-hug pilgrimmage to Tehran sooner rather than later.  Either that or ask Zell Miller to make him an arsenal of spitball missile interceptors.  Maybe Czar Vladimir would be cool with those.