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Subscribe to RSSIranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad showed off new fuel rods at a research reactor in Tehran. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
Updated at 1:30 p.m. ET: Iran claimed Wednesday that it has taken two major steps toward mastering the production of nuclear fuel, a defiant move in response to increasingly tough Western sanctions over its controversial nuclear program.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said that Iran was destabilizing the world.
Israel has accused Iran of waging a campaign of state terror and has threatened military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, while Iran has blamed the Jewish state for the recent killings of Iranian atomic scientists. Iran has denied responsibility for three bombing incidents this week.
In Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad oversaw the insertion of the first Iranian domestically-made fuel rod into a research reactor in northern Tehran, the country's official IRNA news agency reported.
Separately, the semiofficial Fars agency reported that a "new generation of Iranian centrifuges" had been installed and had gone into operation at the country's main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz in central Iran.
The West suspects Iran's nuclear program is aimed at producing atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies, insisting it's geared for peaceful purposes only, such as energy production.
The crisis has already resulted in sanctions placed on Iran's economy, and there are fears that it could escalate to military action.
Iran: Nuclear facilities immune to cyber attack
Iran's nuclear announcements came as the country said Wednesday it halted oil exports to six European countries — the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, France, Greece and Portugal — in response to recent new European Union sanctions.
State TV later quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying crude oil exports to Europe had not yet been cut, reversing that earlier report.
Hasan Tajik said six European diplomats were summoned Wednesday and told that Iran has no problem replacing customers — an implied threat that Tehran would carry out plans to cut European Union countries off immediately to preempt sanctions set to go into effect in July.
Iran has said it is forced to manufacture nuclear fuel rods, which provide fuel for reactors, on its own since international sanctions ban it from buying them on foreign markets. In January, Iran said it had produced its first such fuel rod.
IRNA boasted that the nuclear fuel announcement is the final step in the entire cycle of nuclear fuel — from extracting uranium ore to producing the finished rods.
Amid rising tensions with Israel, Iran says they are willing to resume nuclear talks with the World Security Council. The Woodrow Wilson Center's Robin Wright talks about Iran's nuclear developments.
'Terror operations'
Israel's Netanyahu reiterated claims that Iran was behind explosions this week that targeted Israeli diplomats in India and the former Soviet republic of Georgia, as Israeli officials strongly suggested Iran was behind bomb blasts in Bangkok Tuesday.
"If this aggression isn't halted, ultimately it will spread to many other countries," Netanyahu said.
"Iran's terror operations are now exposed for all to see," Netanyahu added, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. "Iran is undermining the world's stability and harms innocent diplomats. World countries must condemn Iran's terror acts and draw a red line."
PhotoBlog: Graphic photo of bomb scene
On Monday in New Delhi, an explosion tore through an Israeli diplomatic vehicle, wounding the driver and a diplomat's wife, according to Indian officials.
On the same day in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, authorities say attackers planted an explosive device on the car of a driver for the Israeli Embassy, but it was discovered and defused before it went off.
Meanwhile, Thailand's government was struggling to piece together what three Iranian men were plotting when a cache of explosives detonated by mistake in their home in Bangkok's busy Sukhumvit Road area Tuesday.
Police released images of three suspects, two of whom were arrested in Thailand, while a third was detained in Malaysia Wednesday.
Bangkok blasts wound Iranian attacker, 4 others
Israel's ambassador to Thailand, Itzhak Shoha, said Wednesday that homemade "sticky" bombs discovered in a Bangkok house after the accidental blast were similar to devices used in India and Georgia, building on his country's claims the incidents are part of a covert terror campaign by Iran.
"They are similar to the ones used in Delhi and in Tbilisi," Shoham said. "From that we can assume that there is the same network of terror." That and the arrests of Iranians in Thailand "again leaves not too much room to assume who was behind it," Shoham said.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast called the allegations "baseless," saying Israel was trying to damage its relations with Thailand and fuel "conspiracy" theories.
Thai bomb disposal teams searched the Iranians' house again Wednesday looking for more evidence.
Two of the men were initially detained but Thai immigration police chief Lt. Gen. Wiboon Bangthamai said a third suspect, named as Masoud Sedaghatzadeh, had flown to Malaysia.
The man boarded a flight bound for Kuala Lumpur Tuesday night, Bangthamai said.
However on Wednesday, police in Malaysia said the third suspect had been arrested.
Security forces in Thailand were also searching for an Iranian woman who they said had originally rented the house.
Confessions?
Late Tuesday, Israel's Channel 10 TV quoted unidentified Thai authorities as saying the captured Iranians confessed to targeting Israeli interests.
Thai police have named the Iranian pair in custody as Saeid Moradi, who lost at least one leg in a self-inflicted grenade blast as he tried to flee police, and Mohummad Hazaei, who was detained Tuesday as he tried to board a flight to Malaysia.
Both men are now facing four criminal charges, including possession of explosives, attempted murder, attempted murder of a policeman and causing explosions that damaged property.
Israel accuses Iran of bombings in India, Georgia
Top security agencies called a news conference in which authorities acknowledged to being caught by surprise and said they had little information about who the alleged attackers were or their possible targets.
National Security Council chief Wichean Potephosree said the government had not yet determined if there was any link between the events in Bangkok, New Delhi and Tbilisi.
"We haven't found any links but we are still investigating," Wichean said. "We admit there was magnetic component, aiming at individuals, but the origin of the magnets still has to be investigated."
Israel teams with terror group to kill Iran's nuclear scientists, U.S. officials tell NBC News
When police searched the house, the bomb squad found and defused two explosives, each made of three or four pounds of C-4 explosives inside a pair of radios.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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- Uganda minister shuts down gay rights conference
- Syria's Assad sets referendum date
Leave a Comment:
When I see the Iranian President I say to myself, "Now there is an Honest man. No doubt about it. I trust him."
Time for a Mossad / Seal joint venture!
What's cool about Iran is that they have over 75,000,000 people and not one of them is gay. Talk about long odds. I have at least 3 in my own family of about 20 people. Surely Allah has blessed this land.
Israel made up the Holocaust so they could steal a sliver of land in the desert surrounded by bloodthirsty fanatics. McNutjob told us so. I believe him. doesn't everyone?
in world peace we as individules must speak in the interest of the world and its developing needs, not that of just isreal. isreal has been on a campaign of legal muder for decades. how does isreal justify "legal murder" in the interest of the state? isreal has been taking the lives of 100 for every 1 isreali. isreal has been setting back the clock on developing arab nations and peoples and economies. isreal wants to go in and murder irans citizens and scientist on irans soveriegn soil and call it just. when the retribution comes they look for compassions sympathy and allies. isreals tact is perverse.....and leads to more fighting and conflicts.
An arab arms race will help no one.
Those of you who are anti Israel and accuse Israel of being a terrorist state forget that it is Iran who has publicly stated on a number of occasions that it will "wipe Israel off the face of the earth". If Iran had announced it was going to do that to the USA, what would be your response? One also forgets that the last Iranian revolution was partially based on the disdain for other countries interferring in the internal affairs of Iran. Now the shoe is on the other foot. Iran is sponsoring terrorism using Hamas, etc. If it weren't for the US, Israel would have already bombed Iran back into the dark ages.
All I can say is...idoits...you are all idoits...uneducated, biased, and moroonish buffoons...go ahead collapse my post, because the truth hurts... we tell the truth and everyone goes on about their business forgetting the truth because it reminded them of their ignorance...but we all like lies...its what for breakfast, lunch and dinner... really, it even includes me, because Im actually making a post...really people get a life...go spend time with your children, read a damn book, exercise, be productive, instead of wasting your time trying to figure out who is at fault or who has this freak'n right or that right... what happens, happens...like ANY of US are going to make a difference... if you feel like you can make a difference then do it via the proper channel... this news source is bullshyt... they dont report the news they manipulate the news... As for Israel and Iran...hell these two have been back yard bruising each other for thousands of years...this is nothing new...
of all the places on the earth, these countries of the middle east will most need and be reliant on nuclear energy in the future. when new energy sources are found and developed the reliance on fossil fuels will fall 80% and these countries take a terrible down fall to thier economies. does isreal propose the arab middle east boil salt water to power the growing populaces needs. isreal is setting back the clock for this region and if holocaust is a fear and prediction...then isreal is dishing it out.
Albert Einstien was an idiot. He created a bomb that can destroy the planet. Now thats insanity and you have that flunky to thank. And wasn't he a Jew? If so, so called "god's chosen people" must not believe in the power of the Holly Ghost :)
Over 500 million so called Indians were killed in order to get this territory "USA" and many more Africans were killed all the way up until the end of "slavery". How many Africans did local, state, and federal governments in the USA kill after so called slavery? How many before? Leopold of Belgium killed over 30 million Afircans in the Congo just for rubber and thats 1 country. How many people did USA or "white people" kill in WWI and WWII? USA dropped atomic bombs on Japan. Does USA or "white people" deserve due karma at all? Im not a racist but if you look at the numbers historically "white people" have killed billions of people on this planet in the name of colonialism so there not giving it up that easy. White skinned people have deviled the devil.
Christianity and Islam killed millions of people in the name of god/allah. African and Chinese people have dirt too but not more than "white skinned" people and not all "white skinned" people are like that but the proof is in the pudding. As an African person and from the original lineage of humanity I love all beings but its time for this bs too stop.
So if evil people are going to continue to be in control of governments and monetary system then I would have to say it is time for this whole planet to be baptized.
Queen Elizabeth II, head of state of the United Kingdom and of 31 other states and territories, is the legal owner of about 6,600 million acres of land, one sixth of the earth’s non ocean surface.
She is the only person on earth who owns whole countries, and who owns countries that are not her own domestic territory. This land ownership is separate from her role as head of state and is different from other monarchies where no such claim is made – Norway, Belgium, Denmark etc.
The value of her land holding. £17,600,000,000,000 (approx).
This makes her the richest individual on earth.
...Iran will win this negotiation...Iran will agree to stop its nuclear weapons development in confidential agreements around October 2012 ...Obama, buoyed by his stellar foreign policy maneuvering, will win a narrow victory for another 4 years...spot light is off Iran by US administration....reports will surface much later that Iran only agreed to shut down its nuclear weapons development, not its civilian nuclear power development...Iran will clandestinely continue its secret weapons development...US is consumed by debt/tax issues....we will wake up one morning around 2014 to the news that Iran has tested its first nuclear weapon.....
I agree....RON you ARE an IDIOT.....
Does ISRAEL go around threatening other countries with their nuclear power like IRAN does.
Go home RON and put your KORAN in the fire
Thats right, Iran does not even have nukes now and they are already threatening people.
Now tell me again which side we should be on in.This is from an Israeli site.
Saudis prompt Al Qaeda-Iraq move to Syria: Assad’s ouster top priority
DEBKAfile Special Report February 13, 2012, 3:55 PM (GMT+02:00)
Saudi rulers, seeing Bashar Assad on the verge of defeating the opposition to his rule, are reported by debkafile’s intelligence sources as taking a hand in turning al Qaeda Iraqi cells loose against him. Saudi agents used their pull with Iraqi Sunnis to persuade al Qaeda leaders that Assad and his Alawite regime were their most dangerous foe.
The same message was also broadcast by their Pakistan-based leader Ayman al Zuweiri.
Al Qaeda strength was fast building up in Syria, say US intelligence agencies tracking the jihadists’ Middle East movements – ten days before Zawahri Sunday, Feb. 11 issued his videotaped instruction to all combat strength in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey to converge on the Syrian battlefield.
Monday, Iraq’s acting interior minister Adnan al-Assadi confirmed that “a number of jihadists had gone to Syria,” reporting also that the price of weapons in Mosul had risen because they were being sent to the opposition in Syria “from Baghdad to Nineveh [province].”
debkafile’s counter-terror sources estimate that the bulk of the 1,500-strong Iraq-based al Qaeda network– Syrians, Egyptians, Libyans, Mauritanians, Pakistanis, Lebanese and Palestinians – have headed to Syria. This accounts for the sharp drop in terrorist attacks inside Iraq
The jihadists are making it across, despite nightly battles with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Malik forces, whom Tehran has ordered block their passage, and with Syrian border guards on the other side.
The newly-arrived al Qaeda cells were almost certainly behind the Aleppo car bombings Friday, Feb. 10, which claimed the lies of 28 people, most security officials, and injured more than 200.
After virtually crushing most of the pockets of resistance to his rule, the Syrian ruler may well find himself up against the new threat of jihadist terror. After battling American troops for nine year, Al Qaeda in Iraq will not be easy to vanquish.
That's pretty interesting. Where is this from? I still think this is a case of bad guys killing other bad guys. No matter. I just hope we don't arm or train either side. This is their beef. I guess I would want the Sunnis to destroy the Shiites. The Alawites just confuse the whole thing. Then there are the Turks and the Kurds. They should just lay low and wait for their chance to pick up the pieces.
Hey China you want your own oil ? We will give you Iran and you take away our debt. DEAL !!!
I hope Israel decides to go blow up all of Iran's nuke sites and be done with this BS. US will back them up too, I'm sure of this.
Like China would want 75 million Shiites. The can't handle the few million Muslims they got now. It's easier for them to just buy the oil with our interest payments. Our debt interest is about 11 billion dollars a week. China's cut of that is 8%. That's about a billion a week.
The Iranians are doing what they have to to survive in the face of what they see as western aggression. It is easy to criticize their actions from our point of view, but from theirs its the US and the west threatening their existence. And on top of that, they follow a religion that defines any and all who do not worship Allah with Muhammad as their Prophet as infidels, per the Koran, and the only prescribed treatment for infidels is death. So basically Iran believes they have a religious responsibility to kill every last one of us. So once they get nuclear weapon capability, do not expect them to keep it under wraps like North Korea or Pakistan, but instead to make sure that any Islamic terrorist organization that can make use of the technology to destroy the west gets access to it. Very scary future we face if Iran gets the bomb. And if backward, destitute North Korea can build a bomb, a far more modern Iran certainly can do it.
It's all about energy. The US, if they want to truly stay at arms length to what is inevitable conflict, better start thinking short term impact on energy supplies. Drill here, drill now, or suffer the consequences of a global scramble for scarce and expensive middle east oil. Obama or whoever replaces him needs to go ahead and free up oil production domestically before Israel does what it appears it will do and attacks Iran. With reduced or no dependence on foreign oil the US can stand back and watch the fight without putting themselves in the ring. Iran with a nuke weapon is bad for everyone in the world. If Israel wants to take them down for us let them. The Iranian ruling class is hell bent on destroying most of the planet. With a nuke they are one step closer to doing so. Sadly the Iranian citizenry is ultimately going to suffer horribly as a result. They are not responsible for the actions of their ruling mullah government. Gotta get rid of A-Jad and the Khomeini meanies. Next time he comes to NY just let him off in Queens and that would pretty much take care of him.
lol @ earthman...great post....
lol @ 3rd party....geez Keen...what are you...a nuerotic English Grammer teacher/Debate coach??...lol!!!!!!
OK So Who would expect anything different for a Jew state to say ? The hate everyone and Only want the World to follow there Hatefully ways and Accuse the rest of the World as being anti Semantic ..Well I guess there proving themselves correct . They spew out there hate to anyone listens ..And in there own Occupation of a country stolen from a land where they are and will forever be Un Wanted .While being Protected and furnished with weapons to wage there Hate to there surrounding neighbors ...Sadley it is the Way's of the West to alow there Ocupation and Expansion into there suroundings to continue.....Frank Blackstone , I beleive Iran will continue to be Prosperous and try to acheive there own Nuclear independance without trying to atack anyone or anyplace ..
wow, you come up with a pure hatespew line like
which is nothing but hate, and are so blinded by your pure hatred of jews that you will happily jump up and down like a good little puppet for anyone that screams how they all have to die.
hmm, no hate in you, is there?
stupid @!$%#ing brainless hypocrite
I beleive Iran will continue to be Prosperous and try to acheive there own Nuclear independance without trying to atack anyone or anyplace ..
your delusion is so very sad
a nuclear armed Iran would be the worst thing possible. none of their neighbors trust them except that beacon of light known as syria. and we all know how well syria treats its own people. after all those tanks and artillery positions are doing nothing but cleaning the streets of homs
human rights watch and amnesty international constantly tell how Iran is such a great and happy place for their people, look it up. of course be prepared to shatter some of your brainless @!$%#ing delusions
Hello Dan" Frank here , I have traveled about Iran and like most that have never set foot out there back yards . It is a Great Country and Friendly People living quite comfortably .
You speak of Hate , The Occupation of Israel has its own form of and attitude towards Genocide . while practicing it against there neighbors while stealing there land to build there settlements . They are a Factually Murderous people in that they Track down and Murder there Enemies in other countries where they have no jurisdiction And they have many enemies to be certain . There hatred is well known , Tossing all you re rocks in a Glass house accusing someone of Hate is unwisely showing you re true colors ...
frank, you see, unlike you and your pure, blind hatred of all things jewish, my complaint is not with the people of Iran, it is with their lying, torturing, terrorist-loving government.
I have several Persian friends, all of whom despise the current Iranian government , two of their families escaped from the shah (whom they also despised), and the family members that remain have all kinds of horror stories of the things the despotic, government there does to its people. and they use Persian not out of fear, but out of hatred for the diseased creation of the Ayotollahs.
you are a hypocrite and a conduit of hatred
Well Dan It certainly Appears we do not agree on Much . Although I do not call you names and Hypocrite in you re views and thoughts on Iran V's. Israel or the Jews and the ones departed there homeland to stand off and hate it from the safety of the West like the Cubans and a lot of other decedents that don't like there Former Gov ts.
I do somewhat agree the ayatollahs Rulers are Extreme in there Hard line Religious views . Other forms in the same regime are trying to bring there country into the 20th century with opposition at ever level .
There are plenty of Horror stories right on the 10;0 clock news and World news every day The U S Forces killing civilians the Taliban forces bombing the Solders It isnt anything New .
History is the only Deciding factor in what is left as generations come and go . All Glory is Fleeting or so the slave whispered into the Emperors ear ...
"Iran is undermining the world's stability and harms innocent diplomats. World countries must condemn Iran's terror acts and draw a red line." --- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin "Bibi" Netanyahu
Really. That's remarkable (and almost laughable) coming from Netanyahu, when Israel's Mossad secret police and death squad agency has been going around the world for decades bombing, shooting, strangling, poisoning, torturing and kidnapping people.
Wasn't Israel the first to bring the terror and technology of the car bomb to Lebanon in the early 1970s? Isn't it now known that Israel used a chemical weapon for the purpose of assassination in Amman, the capital city of Israel's neighbor, Jordan? Doesn't Israel now routinely use death drones to kill Palestinians who dare to resist Israel's illegal 44 year occupation? And didn't the US under Cheney/Bush and the neocons begin using death drones, Israel-style, to enforce their occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq? Obama and the neocons have stepped up the use of death drones, now including Pakistan and over Syria.
It is well-accepted in intelligence circles that Israel has been killing Iranian nuclear scientists. Israel also is now ranked as the most militarized, weaponized nation on earth, and the world's number six nuclear superpower [Jane's Intelligence Review]. What would America do if a foreign military power started killing US scientists?
After 63 years of war, Israel's track record of violence and state terror, and US complicity, has brought anything but stability to the Middle East and the world. It's time to draw a red line.