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Iran nuclear explosion Jan 21 – radiation now leaking

eyes-surprisedRADIATION LEAKING FROM IRAN’S NUKE EXPLOSION, WND, by REZA KAHLILI, 25 FEB 13Islamic regime fears poisonous fallout clouds could hit cities Radiation is leaking from Iran’s nuclear facility at Fordow, which suffered devastating explosions on Jan. 21, WND has learned, and the regime has ordered millions of antidote iodine pills from Russia and Ukraine amid fears the radioactivity will spread.

flag-IranMany of the personnel, who arrived after the explosion to assist with the cleanup at the site, have been taken to a military hospital suffering from headache, nausea and vomiting, according to a source in the security forces protecting Fordow.

A special team of nuclear experts was ordered to the site days ago, the source said, and detected high levels of radiation. The number of confirmed dead from the explosions has risen to 76, said the source, who provided exclusively to WND the names of 14 Iranian scientists and one North Korean who died in the blasts.

Security forces have arrested 17 high-ranking officers, including majors and colonels, over the incident and summarily executed Maj. Ali Montazernia, a member of the security forces in charge at Fordow.

The Islamic regime has put up a wall of silence surrounding the explosions, but with the possibility of radioactive fallout creating grave health and environmental disasters in the nearby holy city of Qom and other surrounding cities, it may not be able to maintain the secret, the source suggested. Continue reading

February 25, 2013 Posted by | incidents, Iran | 3 Comments

Obama CAN make progress in negotiations with Iran, despite Congress

diplomacy not bombs 1So, what can Mr. Obama do in order to maximize diplomacy’s chance of success despite structural congressional strictures? The answer is clear: Explore and exercise those foreign-policy options that cannot be easily hindered by Congress.

the president can also – without the hindrance of Congress – reactivate the United Nations’ dormant capacities and use them in favor of the upcoming negotiations.

Flag-USACan Obama forge nuclear deal with Iran? http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/can-obama-forge-nuclear-deal-iran  Reza Nasri, The Christian Science Monitor
flag-IranFebruary 20, 2013

It is clear by now that President Obama will likely never persuade Congress to lift its crippling sanctions on Iran even if Iran agrees to make significant concessions on its nuclear program. If anyone had any doubt about how hostile Congress is even to the mere idea of easing pressure on Tehran, watching the Senate Armed Services Committee’s treatment of Chuck Hagel at his confirmation hearing for secretary of Defense should have put that doubt to rest.

 Pressuring Iran is no longer just a matter of tactical policy for Congress. It’s a deeply institutionalized ritual that every member is expected to partake in.

This is a sad reality that Tehran is fully aware of – one that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, tacitly acknowledged last week after the Obama administration implemented new congressional sanctions: He said that Iran would not be negotiating with America simply “for the sake of negotiating.” Iran wants a negotiating partner that can actually deliver on a promise to normalize relations and reciprocate concessions with mutual concessions.

As Congress has made this implausible for now, bilateral talks between Tehran and Washington are not likely to take place any time soon. On the other hand, the United States and Iran will inevitably meet to negotiate the latter’s nuclear program in the context of the multilateral “P5+1” talks scheduled to take place in Kazakhstan on Feb. 26. Continue reading

February 24, 2013 Posted by | Iran, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Iran is using its enriched uranium for peaceful purposes

flag-IranUN Report: Iran is Diverting Uranium for Peaceful Purposes http://news.antiwar.com/2013/02/20/un-report-iran-is-diverting-uranium-for-peaceful-purposes/
highly-recommendedBut the US still stubbornly insists Iran stop enriching uranium to 20 percent, despite proving good on its promises by John Glaser, February 20, 2013 A United Nations report due this week is expected to detail a decrease in the growth of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium because it is diverting much of the material to make fuel, as it has promised, Reuters reports. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and even Israeli intelligence admitted publicly last October that Iran was diverting much of its enriched uranium for peaceful scientific research and medical isotopes.

This information clashes with what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to warn about. On Monday, heissued another stern warning of Iran’s determination to become a nuclear state, insisting that a “robust, credible, military threat” is the only thing that can stop it.

Some reports claim Iran has installed new uranium enrichment, increasing its overall capacity. But this upcoming UN report is expected to conclude that the rate of growth of Iran’s capabilities is slowing, primarily because the material is being used for fuel and other peaceful purposes.

Iran has repeatedly announced its 20 percent enriched uranium is for peaceful purposes like fuel, scientific research, and medical isotopes. Iran has followed through on this promise.

Still, negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 are essentially stagnant because of Washington’s insistence that Iran give up its 20 percent enrichment.

February 24, 2013 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

How Israel and Australia betrayed Ben Zygier

Ben Zygier didn’t betray his country. Ben Zygier was betrayed. Between his two home countries, he was placed in a situation he couldn’t deal with.

Israel allowed itself to cross three boundaries: a Mossad man was asked to retain Australian citizenship – leading to a dual-loyalty dilemma; the identity that he was instructed to use as a cover was his real Australian identity; and, worst of all, he was sent to operate in his homeland.

 The prime minister must send a letter to the Zygier family – that have been broken by their son’s breakdown – saying, “Your son was not a traitor.”.

Zygier, BenBen Zygier was no traitor, he was betrayed, Haaretz, 22 Feb 13,  By Sefi Rachlevsky   He wanted to contribute to Israel and did not mean to betray both  his homelands, or his father for that matter. Israel cast him into a situation from which he could only be liberated by death..

… The fundamentals of its [Israel’s]power have not changed since David Ben Gurion established them: might, the support of friendly powers, the mobilization of world Jewry that can also influence their home countries, and the memory of the Holocaust. But the Zygier affair highlights how in an existential moment, Israel isn’t “only” immoral, but tramples arrogantly over these fundamentals without observing any boundaries…..

Australian Jewry – and Ben Zygier’s father Geoffrey Zygier, a central figure within it – epitomizes some of the fundamentals of Israeli power. Most Australian Jews went there after the Holocaust. This memory induces them to be of service to Israel, which in turn affects the way Australia supports Israel. ……
Ben Zygier didn’t betray his country. Ben Zygier was betrayed. Between his two home countries, he was placed in a situation he couldn’t deal with. Those who know the facts can attest to this. From the outset of this affair, Israeli contempt for the feeble Jews of the Diaspora knew no boundaries. According to foreign sources, the desire to make use of Ben Zygier’s identity and passport overrode the fact that he was screamingly incompatible for the mission. Continue reading

February 22, 2013 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, Israel, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Australian Mossad agent’s death prevented him for whistleblowing about Israel’s secrets

Zygier, BenMossad agent known as prisoner X linked to killing of Hamas leader: Report http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/02/15/289034/prisoner-x-linked-to-hamas-chief-murder/   15 Feb 13, The Australian-Israeli ‘Mossad agent’ who has become known as ‘Prisoner X’ may have been linked to the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai in 2010, the same year he was found dead in a maximum security jail near Tel Aviv, a report says.

According to a report by the New York Times quoting the Kuwaiti daily Al Jarida on Thursday, Ben Zygier, identified as Prisoner X, was among the 26 suspects in a murder plot in which Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a Hamas official, was tracked and killed in his hotel room hours after his arrival in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, in January 2010.
The assassins had reportedly used fake passports from Australia, Britain, Ireland, Germany and France, among other countries.
The report added that ‘Prisoner X’, who apparently spent a decade working for Mossad, had provided the officials in Dubai with “names and pictures and accurate details” in exchange for protection.

However, the Israeli regime kidnapped him from his hideout and jailed him over treason nearly a month after the operation over the speculation that he had been on the verge of exposing Tel Aviv’s secrets about the passports.

Australian media also quoted a security official familiar with the case as saying that Zygier “may well have been about to blow the whistle, but he never got the chance.”  Continue reading

February 16, 2013 Posted by | Israel, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Unreasonable threats made, about Iran’s uranium enrichment

flag-IranDespite Scaremongering Iran’s Uranium Stockpile Not Growing http://news.antiwar.com/2013/02/10/despite-scaremongering-irans-uranium-stockpile-not-growing/ Civilian-Enriched Uranium Fueling Civilian Nuclear Program by Jason Ditz, February 10, 2013
The Israeli “red line” on the size of Iran’s uranium stockpile is rapidly approaching, to hear Israeli diplomats talk. New reports from those familiar with the situation, however, suggest that this isn’t really the case. That’s because while Iran’s civilian enrichment program is constantly creating low-enriched uranium, they are also constantly using it for their civilian program, and with Iran still making fuel for its medical isotope reactor that “red line” date keeps getting pushed back.

This already happened once, with the “red line” supposed to be reached in October of last year, and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barakeventually admitting the use of uranium had pushed it back until this summer. The continued use is pushing it back even more.

The reality of the situation is that these red lines are constantly predicated on Iran inexplicably stopping the use of uranium for civilian purposes, meaning there is always a “red line” looming in the next several months based on having any enrichment capability, an excuse to make threats against Iran without having the line ever actually get crossed.

February 16, 2013 Posted by | Iran, politics international, Uranium | Leave a comment

Death of Ben Zygier and the failure of Israel’s spy agency Mossad to keep this quiet

Why Israel Couldn’t Contain Prisoner X Story, The Daily Beast,  by Feb 14, 2013  Even with the increased flow of information about Prisoner X—Ben Zygier, aka Ben Alon, aka Ben Allen, aka…—we will probably never really know the truth. What could be the chain of events that led a good Jewish boy from Melbourne, Australia, who, it was confirmed by Israel, worked for the Mossad for 10 years, to end up as an anonymous prisoner in complete isolation in Israel’s most secure and watched prison cell? The fact that under what was supposed to be 24-7-365 observation he also succeeded to hang himself only adds to the mystery. Continue reading

February 15, 2013 Posted by | Israel, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

USA- Iran talks “futile” says Iran

Iran says nuclear talks with US futile 9MSN News, February 8, 2013
American proposals for direct talks with Iran are pointless while
Washington is “holding a gun” to the country through sanctions, Iran’s
supreme leader says, quashing a possible breakthrough in contacts with
the West over the nuclear standoff.

The message from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all
major decisions in Iran, has been reiterated by Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a news conference in Cairo.

Their dismissal of one-on-one dialogue raises the stakes when wider
negotiations between Iran and world powers, including the United
States, resume this
month…..http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/2013/02/08/06/01/iran-says-nuclear-talks-with-us-futile

February 8, 2013 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

A manufactured danger- the supposed nuclear weapons threat from Iran

Contrast, then, the Iranian nuclear posture with that of the U.S. and
Israel – the two supposedly threatened parties.

Israel has perhaps as many as 200 nuclear weapons.  It is unknown
precisely just how many bombs Israel possesses because it refuses to
sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (which Iran has done), or allow in
international inspectors (which Iran continues to do).

Meanwhile, the U.S. – the only nation to actually deploy nuclear
weapons in combat – is currently in the midst of upgrading its arsenal
of 5,113 nuclear warheads.  With conservative estimates approaching
$400 billion, the Washington Post reports, it will be the “costliest
overhaul in its history.”

And yet, it is Iran that poses the nuclear threat?

flag-IranThe Iran Nuclear Threat: Phantom Menace
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-iran-nuclear-threat-phantom-menace/5321242
By Ben Schreiner
Global Research, February 01, 2013 They say you can’t kill that which
has never lived.  It’s useful advice when analyzing the persistence of
the so-called “Iranian nuclear threat.”

According to a report in McClatchy, “Israeli intelligence officials
now estimate that Iran won’t be able to build a nuclear weapon before
2015 or 2016.”

Recall that just this past September Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu was theatrically warning that Iran would achieve nuclear
weapons capability by “next spring, at most by next summer.”

Of course, Netanyahu has made a career out of warning that Iran is
about to go nuclear – claiming as early as 1992 that Iran was 3 to 5
years away from being able to produce a bomb

As one Israeli official justifiably lamented to McClatchy, “Did we cry
wolf too early?”  Yes – early and often, to be precise. Continue reading

February 1, 2013 Posted by | Iran, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Curiouser and curiouser- it’s now assumed that there was no explosion at Iran nuclear site

man-puzzledThe IAEA Says It Has Inspectors At Iran’s Fordo Nuclear Site And flag-IranThere Has Been No Explosionhttp://www.businessinsider.com/massive-explosion-reported-at-irans-fordow-nuclear-facility-2013-1 Robert Johnson | Jan. 30, 2013,Conflicting reports of a recent explosion at Iran’s Fordo nuclear facility appear to have been put to rest.

 (This is an updated post)

Reza Kahlili originally reported for WND on the “blast”: “The blast shook facilities within a radius of three miles. Security forces have enforced a no-traffic radius of 15 miles, and the Tehran- Qom highway was shut down for several hours after the blast.”

Kahlili’s report said the Fordo nuclear facility was severely damaged in an explosion and up to 240 workers trapped inside.

Jay Carney then told reporters in a press conference, that the White House had no information on the report: “We [the U.S.] have no information to confirm the allegations in the report and we do not believe the report is credible. We don’t believe those are credible reports.”

Iran’s official news agency, said the same thing, with the IRNA, promptly denying the explosion, claiming the news was simply the result of the Western media-fueled “propoganda machine.”

That might have ended the story there, but The Times of London’s Israel correspondent Sheera Frenkel also confirmed the incident through her own independent sources: Continue reading

February 1, 2013 Posted by | incidents, Iran | Leave a comment

Times of London says there was explosion at Iran nuclear site

questionTop British Paper: Massive explosion believed to have damaged nuclear facility in Iran -Sources http://enenews.com/top-uk-paper-massive-explosion-believed-damaged-nuclear-facility-iran-sources
 January 28th, 2013 
 Title: ‘Blast’ at Iranian nuclear facility
Source: The Times of London* (via The Australian)
Author: Sheera Frenkel
Date: January 29, 2013  
h/t pcjensen
A MASSIVE explosion is believed to have damaged Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility, which is being used to enrich uranium, Israeli intelligence officials say.

Sources in Tel Aviv said yesterday they thought the explosion happened last week. The Israeli government is investigating reports that it led to extensive structural damage and that 200 workers had been trapped inside.

Israel believes the Iranians have not evacuated the surrounding area. It is unclear whether that is because no harmful substances have been released, or because Tehran is trying to avoid sparking panic among residents. […]

One Israeli official said: “We are still in the preliminary stages of understanding what happened and how significant it is.” He did not know, he added, whether the explosion was “sabotage or accident”, and refused to comment on reports Israeli aircraft were seen near the facility at the time of the explosion. […]

*Wikipedia: By June 2012 The Times’ average daily circulation had fallen to 400,120 copies, compared to The Daily Telegraph’s 573,674, with the two retaining respectively the second-highest and highest circulations among British “quality” newspapers.
More Reports:

See also: Report of huge explosion at nuclear facility in Iran — Major news networks dismiss claim

January 31, 2013 Posted by | incidents, Iran | Leave a comment

International Atomic Energy Agency says “no explosion at Iran nuclear site”

questionIAEA says no indications of blast at Iran nuclear site, SMH, 31 Jan 13,  The UN atomic agency said on Wednesday that it had no indications that an explosion took place at an Iranian nuclear facility, as reported by Israeli and US media.

“We understand that Iran has denied that there has been an incident at Fordo. This is consistent with our observations,” said Gill Tudor, spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The reports cited the conservative American news website WND, which said an explosion at the Fordo facility on January 21 had caused major damage and trapped workers.

Iran denied any such blast took place, with a senior lawmaker calling the rumours “Western propaganda” aimed at influencing upcoming talks with world powers on Iran’s nuclear programme…….http://www.smh.com.au/world/iaea-says-no-indications-of-blast-at-iran-nuclear-site-20130130-2dle8.html#ixzz2JbPAQz5z

January 31, 2013 Posted by | incidents, Iran | Leave a comment

Why spread an unlikely story of explosion at Iran nuclear plant??

flag-IranNot for nothing have the major news organizations ignored Kahlili’s Fordow report. Beyond his questionable credibility, there is no supporting evidence. If a large explosion did occur at Fordow a week ago, why have no satellite photos appeared of dozens of vehicles on the site involved in rescue operations? And if there are 240 workers trapped underground, how come no worried relatives have expressed concern on one of the social networks? Iran may have a repressive regime, but tens of millions of citizens are connected to the Internet and are experts at evading the regime’s attempts to monitor and filter their communications. Something would have come out by now.

man-puzzledWho spread reports of an ‘explosion’ at Iran’s Fordow nuclear plant and why? 
According to the report, the explosion in Fordow seriously damaged many of the centrifuges in the plant and trapped underground 240 employees who have yet to be rescued. But if this is true, why have the major news networks dismissed it?
Haaretz, By Anshel Pfeffer | Jan.27, 2013 The Internet has been abuzz over the last couple of days with an uncorroborated report regarding a huge explosion in the underground uranium enrichment plant at Fordow in Iran. According to the report, the explosion seriously damaged many of the centrifuges in the plant and trapped underground 240 employees who have yet to be rescued.

If this is true, it will be the most serious sabotage caused yet to the Iranian nuclear program. If this is true.

The main problem with the report is that no supporting evidence has appeared so far from any reliable sources to corroborate it, nor has a statements been released from an official source in Iran or any other country. All the main Western news organizations with contacts and sources in the intelligence community have steered well away from the story. (In Israel, only the tabloid Yedioth Ahronoth, which splashed the story on the front page of its Sunday edition, took notice of the story.)

Perhaps it’s the identity of the report’s author which leads to the disbelief: Reza Kahlili, an Iranian exile with an interesting past who is well known to many reporters covering intelligence and Iranian affairs. He published the report on the explosion, which apparently took place on Monday, the eve of the Israeli elections, on World News Daily, a veteran website with close contacts to the far-right in the United States. Kahlili himself is a frequent speaker at events organized by right-wing organizations and those that support the right in Israel. It’s not hard to realize why. In an interview he gave Haaretz two years ago, upon the publication of his book “A Time To Betray”, Kalili set out a worldview on Iran that was surprisingly similar to that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also compared the regime in Tehran to that of the Nazis, and called upon Israel to bomb Iran’s nuclear installations…… Continue reading

January 28, 2013 Posted by | Iran, Israel, secrets,lies and civil liberties | 2 Comments

A realistic plan for negotiations with Iran

diplomacy not bombs 1Devil Is in the Details for Iran Nuclear Deal Anti War.com by , January 26,2013 After a year of fruitless negotiations that are expected to resume soon, Iranian and U.S. experts are urging both sides to show more flexibility and make more concessions on its nuclear programme.

 A letter written this month by seven former Iranian parliamentarians now living in exile urges Iran and the P5+1 – the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany – to pursue a “win-win outcome” by incorporating four points into an agreement.

The letter states that Iran should be able to enrich uranium up to five percent for peaceful purposes; Iran should be given fuel for its medical and scientific research reactors if it halts its enrichment of 20 percent uranium and allows the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to control its existing stockpile; Iran should implement the Additional Protocol as a “confidence-building measure”; and Iran should be provided with a timetable for the lifting of sanctions if it halts its 20 percent uranium enrichment.

“The proposal reminds us that there is in fact a reasonable solution to this confrontation, one that satisfies each side’s core interests and removes any need for war,” Stephen Walt, a Harvard international relations professor, told IPS. “The only question is whether leaders in Washington and Tehran will be smart and far-sighted enough to seize it.”…… http://original.antiwar.com/ramsey/2013/01/25/devil-is-in-the-details-for-iran-nuclear-deal/

January 28, 2013 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

Explosion at Iran’s Fordo uranium enrichment site. Is this report true?

man-puzzled       So far, I have not been able to find corroborating information on this.  Please check out the comments below this item – some good points to alert us to the possibility that this is a hoax.  And note the video below the blogs – reminder of the effect of the radio program “War of the Worlds” – which panicked people many decades ago. – C.M. 

Report: Explosion Destroys Key Iran Nuclear Site http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/122646/report-explosion-destroys-key-iran-nuclear-site A source is reporting much of the underground Fordo site has been hit By Adam Chandler|January 25, 2013   A few major sites that linked to WND story have removed it. I take that as a pretty good indication that this story cannot be confirmed.

According to World News Daily, a massive explosion is said to have destroyed most of Iran’s nuclear facility at Fordo.

An explosion deep within Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility has destroyed much of the installation and trapped about 240 personnel deep underground, according to a former intelligence officer of the Islamic regime.

The previously secret nuclear site has become a center for Iran’s nuclear activity because of the 2,700 centrifuges enriching uranium to the 20-percent level. A further enrichment to weapons grade would take only weeks, experts say.

The explosion is said to have taken place on Monday. The nuclear site is a high profile target given that it’s completely underground and recently reached nuclear capacity. Just earlier today, it was reported that the Iran could quadruple enrichment at the Fordo site.

While I am extremely skeptical of this report’s veracity until I hear more, this is potentially a massive development. More to come.

January 26, 2013 Posted by | Iran, safety | 12 Comments