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This satellite image from Friday shows earth displacement activity at the suspected high explosive testing site in Parchin, Iran. The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog has repeatedly asked Iran for access to the site as part of a long-stalled probe into suspicions that Tehran may be seeking the ability to assemble nuclear bombs.
VIENNA -- U.N. nuclear inspectors displayed new satellite imagery on Wednesday indicating that some small buildings had been dismantled and other possible clean-up work undertaken at an Iranian military site they want to visit.
One image from May 25 showed signs that "ground-scraping activities" had taken place at the Parchin facility, as well as the presence of a bulldozer, according to diplomats who attended a closed-door briefing by U.N. nuclear agency officials.
This will likely further strengthen Western suspicions that Iran is "sanitizing" the site of any incriminating evidence before allowing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) into the complex. "It is very clear," one Western envoy said.
Diplomatic talks aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions have ended with no major breakthrough. NBC's Ali Arouzi reports.
Iran's IAEA envoy, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, dismissed such accusations by Western officials, telling reporters after the briefing that "this kind of noise and allegations are baseless".
Israel's Barak to NBC: Nuclear Iran unacceptable
The images released by the Institute for Science and International Security's (ISIS) could hurt a tentative deal between the U.N.'s atomic watchdog aimed at giving inspectors wide access to scientists, documents and facilities allegedly related to nuclear-weapons work, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Wednesday's disclosure followed inconclusive talks between Iran and six world powers in Baghdad last week to address concerns about the nature of its nuclear activities, which Iran says are aimed at generating electricity.
The images were posted on ISIS's website hours after diplomats said the International Atomic Energy Agency showed what appeared to be similar imagery at a closed-door briefing in Vienna.
Israel's defense minister Ehud Barak said his country will do "whatever it takes" to prevent Iran from becoming a military power with a nuclear weapon. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
The agency has been pressing Iran to allow inspectors to visit the Parchin military facility, which the IAEA thinks could have been involved in testing of high explosives, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Western envoys who attended Wednesday's briefing earlier told Reuters that two small side buildings at Parchin had been removed, and ISIS said its pictures from May 25 showed that they "have been completely razed."
ISIS, which tracks Iran's nuclear program closely, said there were visible tracks in the images "made by heavy machinery used in the demolition process," adding that the two buildings had been intact in early April.
The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly asked Iran for access to Parchin as part of a long-stalled probe into suspicions that Tehran may be seeking the ability to assemble nuclear bombs, should it decide to do so.
Sanctions have taken a toll on the Iranian economy. The government is reluctant to admit it. Inflation is high. The number of young unemployed is a growing concern. NBC's Ali Arouzi reports.
The Islamic state has so far refused to let inspectors visit the facility -- which it describes as a conventional military complex -- saying there must first be a broader framework agreement on how to address the IAEA's questions.
Report: Iran using passenger jets to smuggle weapons to Syria, Lebanon
United Nations weapons inspectors have reportedly discovered traces of radio activity inside a nuclear bunker in Iran. Former U.S. ambassador Mark Ginsberg joins MSNBC to talk about the situation.
The Parchin complex is at the center of Western allegations that Iran has been conducting research and experiments that could serve a nuclear weapons development programme. The Islamic Republic has repeatedly denied any such ambition.
Iran state TV: We'll build second nuclear plant
Last week, the IAEA said in a report issued to member states that satellite images showed "extensive activities" at the facility southeast of Tehran.
Western diplomats said this was an allusion to suspected cleaning at Parchin. They have earlier cited other images showing recent activity at the site, including a stream of water, as suggesting Iran is trying to remove evidence.
Iran says it will take part in another round of nuclear negotiations in June after meetings in Baghdad with six world powers ended on Thursday. NBC's Ali Arouzi reports.
Iran, big powers agree to another round of nuclear talks
An IAEA report last November said Iran had built a large containment vessel in 2000 at Parchin in which to conduct tests that the U.N. agency said were "strong indicators of possible (nuclear) weapon development."
It said a building was constructed around a large cylindrical object, a vessel designed to contain the detonation of up to 70 kg of high explosives. Diplomatic sources say the suspected tests likely took place about a decade ago.
Last week, a senior Iranian official was quoted as saying the IAEA had not yet given good enough reasons to visit Parchin.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Not to worry, I'm sure Juan Cole and every anti-semite on the Left can explain all of this.
Pssssttt hate to tell you this but most of the Semites are already on the left...
That's right, and they all work as comedians in th Catskills. Wake up, Paul. The Left has been anti-Israel for some time now.
Standing up for what's right doesn't necessarily make you "anti" anything.
Nice spin, but still...
FAIL
Thanks for proving my point, Shandril.
Truth hurts, Juan Cole is spot on.
Another nail in the coffin of these perverted ayatollahs and their terrorist regime.They will bring great ruin to their country just like Hitler did to Germany.The destruction from the multinational forces that attack Iran may be massive.The blood of their citizens will be solely on the hands of the clerics.If the Iranians don´t rise up to overthrow the Islamic revolution and hang the leaders .the rest of the world will.Most of the world will cheer when Iran is attacked.32 years of holding the world hostage will soon be coming to an end!! Good riddance!!!
You would think that dismantling buildings would be a good thing in this context - that is why some wanted to bomb Iranian installations to dismantle the buildings. But is clear that for some people Iran can do no right and Israel can do no wrong. All this political spin smells like the lies fed to American People and the world to justify invading Iraq. Military industrial complex runs America... into the ground.
I find most of the anti-Semites are the Republicans, who use the Koran to tell them how to think.
The Democrats are far more concerned about becoming Communists.
So you should vote Islam, or I mean Republican, if you care more about your afterlife than your life.
And you should vote Red, I mean Democrat, if you care more about your current life than an eternity of fire.
Go at it, political party Hooligans. And try some opium while you are at it. Because it will have you make more sense.
These types of Saudi, oil companies and their lobbyists manipulated propaganda on WMDs in Iraq were there big time before Iraqi war.
Iraqi wars and high oil price maniuplations by the same gang have invented economic mess including PIIGS in Europe.
If Iranians want WMD, they can buy/steal from Pakis and buy from N. Korea.
It is not time for high oil price manipulations with sancions on Iranian oil.
Talk of military intervention and "attack" is premature and negates the entire purpose of these negotiations, is counter productive to diplomacy and supports Iran's premise that we are bullying them. Trust me, any military intervention even air strikes will be disastrous to our interests in the long run. The media was previously reporting that the initial talks proved promising and both sides were optimistic so I say let's not jump to conclusions prematurely. Diplomacy is the only real way we can prevent Iran from developing its nuclear program, short of a full scale military invasion by air, land and sea in order to remove the regime. I believe the consequences of that would be disastrous for the US and surely result in heavy casualties! If Israel wants to go that route that is up to them but we should not support such an invasion and stay away from rhetoric which supports that outcome. Diplomacy and persuasion through sanctions remain the best option and that still remains our best option.
Do you have any idea what war with Iran would involve? If (and that is a very big if) the big powers and/or Israel decide to bomb the sites it will only DELAY an eventual nuclear program by a couple of years. Let's let diplomacy run its course which means as long as Iran is willing to come to the table there will be talks. The full effect of the sanctions have not even taken effect and there is still enough time for both sides to come to the table.
As to the news article and the "sanitizing" of the Parchin plant, let's not jump to conclusions yet. Sure, Iran may be covering up evidence of its nuclear program but it may not be as significant as it appears to be. After all, they have done this before so it should come as no surprize to anyone.
Iran may yet come to the realization that it eventually it will have to restrict and curtail its uranium refinement to under 20 percent, but I doubt it will give up its nuclear energy program.
If you notice in the article, it said the evidence showed the explosive tests/detonations occurred ten years ago, not recently, and they were of the
World is getting crazier every day
Are they trying to tell us that the peace loving nation of Iran, whom holds the UN inspectors at arm's reach, builds new centrifuges, test fires longer and longer range missiles, claims bold steps forward in their nuclear program, then tell us they aren't making a bomb are cleaning up sites prior to letting the UN inspectors visit???
Oh the accusations.....
So the stalling tactics worked. The Iranians kept putting off inspections of this facility with one excuse after another. The increasing pressure on Iran and the looming threat of military action to put an end to Iran's nuclear program made them realize that they are going to have to allow an inspection of this site. Luckily for them it looks like their stalling tactics bought them enough time to finish the work they were doing there and clean up the evidence. Either that or they realized they were going to have to allow an inspection of this site so they moved the work to another facility and then sanitized this site. When the IAEA figures out where they moved the work to the Iranians will come up with reasons to stall inspection of the new location until the next stage of the work is completed and they can again move sites. Until the Iranians agree to allow the IAEA to inspect any Iranian facility at any time without prior notice, this shell game will continue, as will Iran's nuclear weapons program.
The Iranians claim that they are only interested in nuclear power and medical research, but this is refuted by their actions. Nuclear power plants only require uranium enriched to about 3.5%. They continue to enrich uranium to 20% when they already have enough at that level to fuel their medical research reactor, the only one that needs this higher enrichment, many times over. They have installed a huge number of advanced centrifuges in their Fordo facility for the purposes of doing even more enrichment. The only purpose in stockpiling 20% enriched uranium is that it is the precursor to feed into the centrifuges to make highly enriched uranium, enriched to 90%, that is needed for nuclear weapons. By stockpiling 20% enriched uranium they are ensuring that they can rapidly produce large quantities of highly enriched uranium for weapons. This is the only logical reason for stockpiling uranium at this enrichment level since there is no other use for it once they had enough to fuel the research reactor. It is only a matter of time before the international community is forced to take out the Fordo facility, the other enrichment facility in Natanz, and all other nuclear research facilities in order to put an end to the Iranians covert weapons program.
Iraqi wars, high oil price manipulations and the current economic mess were invented by the greedy bunch of Saudis, oil companies, Jewish lobby, bankers and other manipulators.
Now we are witnessing similar craziest songs, dramas and dances as the greedy Saudis and co want.
See the how the oil prices are manipulated higher and higher!
Wait for more economic miseries and "austerity measures"!
Yes, JoeNY, how dare anyone make such outlandish accusations against the Iranians! Why, we all know they strive for peace in the ME though their idea of peace in the ME is to annihilate Israel. But then, wouldn't the countries in that region have to turn their hatred on one another since Israel would be "wiped off the map", to quote Ahmadinejad?
Roger - Have you seen the picture on the MSNBC website of the Nigerian plane that just crashed? Did you notice the big engine in the picture? On 9/11, a plane supposedly crashed into the Pentagon and onto a field in Pennsylvannia and guess what, no sign of an engine in either crash. Wow. What happened to the engines, the seats the luggage? Want to know what they did find? I will tell you. They found 2 passports of the Arab hijackers in the PA. field. No engine, no seats, no bodies, but luckily, they found 2 passports, so they could ID the hijackers. Wow, what a lucky break.
Wow Dudelips. Nothing like trying to make racist point while being a racist. Look in the mirror buddy
Please tell me you're not reading Juan Cole as some sort of racial epithet. Juan Cole a commentator and Iran apologist, you moron.
And not that he matters, but he's a caucasian one, to boot.
Juan Cole knows more about the ME than you ever will, do you read arabic of farsi?
Juan Cole is an ideologue, regardless of how many languages he reads.
If anyone thinks Iran will not have a nuclear device or that it can be stopped from getting one, you need to come back and live in reality. Fact is that Iran has the money and the oil such that Russia, America, China, Pakistan or North Korea will sell to them sooner or later. I would rather a world which ends its predatory practices and weapons are not needed. If this does not happen, then there were be an apocalypse sooner or later for sure. With the building of weapons and failure to end predation we are doomed to self-extinction.
Monkeys are smarter to bad we are ruining there planet
You obviously have never visited Detroit...
the Zoo, that is!
I've said it before; rhetoric aside, strong wordings and whatever else I personally believe in theory of mutually assured destruction and even should Iran develop nuclear weapons they will NEVER use them. It would be insanity and I don't believe they're insane. Iran's surrounded by others with nuclear weapons capabilities, putting them in a position of trust. Not defending Iran's policies, it's government, or what Ahmanutjob says, just saying they simply won't use them if developed. The only reason for all the covertness, lies, etc... I believe is because of all the pressure and sanctions being put on them to not be honest.
Of course they will use nukes.......they are ordered to use them, per the Koran.
Why do you think Obama holds greater power than their religion?
ModerationInAllThings, I agree with you totally as you can see in my post below..Iran WILL NOT attack Israel if it does make a weapon or 2, they will be wiped from the face of the Earth and they know it. jw101 Iran is a PERSIAN nation just to let you know, Iran just wants to join the club for protection and even if they do they will be no threat at all to the United States, if you think about selling their supply to terrorist I would worry more about Pakistan than Iran. No country with nuclear weapons is attacked from the outside by another nation, look that up.
@HarleMan,
I don't know if membership in the Nuclear Club guarantees that the US will leave you alone. Like you said, Pakistan has nukes but it hasn't stopped us from messing with them. In fact, we are probably more active (in a military sense) in Pakistan than in Iran.
As an aside, the Q'ran doesn't incite or call to violence; what does is generations of dirt poor, displaced people on a grand scale bastardizing it and training others from youth to believe in fighting as a means of gains on all levels. People find some terse quotes, strong wording in the Q'ran but I believe the better known (here) Bible also has it's share.
Don't know how it all started, perhaps as I'd said a means to an end, but the lack of education and complete control and poverty have led many to firmly believe the lies taught... and again, on an immense scale (relatively). Prejudice against an entire religion further seperates us from those that aren't skewed and we lose more chance for eventual relations than gained.
jw101- The USA is the only country barbaric enough to use nukes against civilians, and it has done so twice. Yours is a strawman argument.
That photograph looks just like any other construction site. For all I could tell, it could be the beginnings of a shopping mall. This is almost as funny as Iraq's imaginary weapons of mass destruction.
Huh, maybe that's why you're busy taking artsy B&W pics of your brooding self instead of working as a UN analyst.
Shandril you are correct, I've seen this before..pictures from outer space of earth being moved!! Give me a break, if a country has a bulldozer and is moving earth they are hiding something? Give me a better reason than that. I've seen this crap with Colin Powell at the UN showing the same type pictures of Iraq. We need to mind our @#$! business and worry about here at home.
I think that along with the Powell, UN photos what else gave some credibility to hitting Iraq over WMD's is that they'd used them before and they were given notice before we hit; hence the photos of trucks going to Syria, etc... . No one will know, but it's not too far off the grid to connect Bush Sr.'s connection to the CIA, having gone in first, then when his son got in finishing the job. Many in the ME had and have training camps, and 9/11 didn't have Iraqi's on planes here. So, going after Iraq in the name of terrorism was kind of out there for me.... a little honesty would've went further, but not expected.
Harleman: Yes, after the debacle the Bush team ran through the U.N, most will now ever believe what they see put out. However, let use enough logic to consider this photo as a real possibility. Iran's credibility throughout all this has been impeachable. Clearly, Iran has been less than forthright about what is going on in their country.
Match Iran's rhetoric on Israel with what they are accused of doing. It does not take a genius to connect the dots.
"It does not take a genius to connect the dots".
"We know where the WMD are, the are north and south of Tikrit and to the east of Baghdad"
The dots have been drawn by people standing to make another TRILLION while killing another 10,000 americans and several hundred thousand brown people.
Only a gullible person would "connect the dots" drawn by those who stand to gain from such a conclusion.
I thought you were making a W joke!
"Fool me once, ...."
andreas; your message implies that the U.S. is behind the latest findings. It is erroneous to use Bush and Iraq as a precedent for this and to then follow on using that case as a conclusion on Iran before we have all the facts.
It is the ISIS and the IAEA making these statements. Much to your disappointment, we do not have them in our back pocket. Remember Hans Blix when he headed the IAEA during the build-up to Iraq? He refused to play ball with Bush and Co. President Obama would like nothing better than to have neutral agencies tell us and the world that Iran is working toward nuclear energy, not nukes.
You cannot ignore three facts: Ahmadenijad wants to wipe out Israel, he has an active nuclear development program and he is reluctant to let the world know all of what he is up to.
You don't have to be a genius to connect the dots.
Hey Roger, perhaps you should learn to read. The damning claim comes from an envoy, from an unnamed country.
Ahmadinejad never said he wants to wipe out Israel. That is a Zionist lie.
RalphH:
A Zionist lie, huh? He didn't make that statement at the U.N. General Assembly, he said it in a public address in Tehran, caught on video, millions saw it. So much for your Zionist lie bovine feces. I guess you were asleep when that hit the news.
The envoy is an anonymous source from either the ISIS or the IAEA.
Go back to sleep and pleasant anti-Zionist dreams!
Roger, it is useless trying to argue with Ralph and those like him. They cannot see past the hatred on the end of their noses. Just ignore him. When he finds he cannot get a rise out of people, he just goes away sulking.
Ed-NawDoc: I truly appreciate you wise advice, but I am incapable of ignoring ignorance.
Bet Ralphy Boy is sulking now!
Thanks!
Oh yeah, I am sulking. Roger. Your dimwitted claim that Ahmadinejad said that iran would wipe Israel off the map has been discredited many times, as a mistranslation.
Roger, no problem. Ignorance is forgivable because one does not know better and is capable of learning otherwise. Stupidity, on the other hand, is unforgivable because one does know better that something is wrong, does it any way, and is incapable of learning.
Hey Ralph, thanks for proving my point with my third sentance above and to Roger's post above. Post # 6.10 above still applies.
It's Sunday, so let me be a little benevolent: Father, forgive Ralphy Boy, for he knows not what he says.
Amen.
The picture and report look just like what we and the UN were shown during the run-up to the war in Iraq.
Glad I'm not the only one who noticed that.
Seems to me we've seen this dog and pony show before. I remember Colin Powell (He should change his name to Colon because he was clearly full of @!$%#) showing sat pictures to the UN of "decontamination trucks" next to chemical weapons bunkers in Iraq.
This is from a March 2012 New York Times article:
I am not a nuclear weapons expert but even if Iran was able to obtain a weapon or 2 or 3 they would not be able to use the weapons. It would be suicide for them to attack Israel and their society would be ruined and they know it, as for the US they would not be a threat to us at all. The Nuke's would basically just become a defensive weapon against perceived enemies, remember no country that has nuclear weapons is really invaded by another country, for goodness sakes Pakistan of all countries has Nuke's and no one is talking about invading them. This is just another excuse for the Hawks to ramp up our military and march off to war with Iran for another 20 years, personally I don't care if Iran get's the bomb or not because I have much more problems in front of me to worry about like mortgage, car note, bills, my job, etc. Let someone else take on Iran and leave us out of it, I don't see France, Germany or Britain standing at the gates ready to attack Iran, they are waiting for us to go in first and then send it a small representative force.
Is this the same diplomat who claimed WMD in Iraq? So now we are going to war over a picture? how may times do these so called diplomats get together with Israelis to get their information.we all know Iran is no threat to US,is all about a regime change and that is Iranian business not America. no more war to please others.
Jshaw2 I agree with you, I remember the same pictures being shown about Iraq and look at the mess we got ourselves in. Unfortunately with all this talk going on and daily negative news reports Israel will order us to invade Iran sooner or later. Sad for the Persian people who have no say so about what policy's their country make. No War!! No more US soldiers dying fighting a made up war!!
jshaw2 #10,
Do I believe that we were snookered into our massive involvement in Iraq? Yes !
Just what do you consider as WMD's? Saddam Hussein in 1988 used chemical weapons against the population of Kurds in northern Iraq, as a means of ethnic cleansing.
So where do you draw the line?
We worked in coordination w/ Saddam to gas and chemical attack Iran, somewhat as payback for overthrowing our placed Shah.
Stop Nation Building and interfering w/ other sovereign nations internal affairs is a good place to draw a line.
But the Oil War Machine won't let that happen...
Setting back and watching is exactly what Iran wants America to do. Should we attack them, hell no. We do need to support whoever does. If the Persian people want freedom, they need to rebel. When, not if, they finally get a nuc and use it against Israel, Saudi Arabia or whoever they choose, Israel will strike everybody over there. Extremists have no need to be reasonable, fair, honest or truthful. They do as they want, when they want and to anybody they want to hurt. They live for an argument. They are looking to be offended so they can do what they want. This is a lose, lose situation.
Great post. It can well be extrapolated to some in our own Government Two Party System as well. Great insight to a Human Problem. Unfortunately, Iran seems to have none of Our Forefathers' well-planned Checks and Balances in place.
Support to strategically and precisely take out these Nutz running towards Nuke Militarization is essential, and you know that the Spooks are all over it. The killings of those Iraqi Scientists wasn't a bad start, though of course I do not find it
legal ethicalproper to do so openly. It is how these things happen it appears. Of course it always subject to unspoken rules. That is why we are not already UN-invading/liberating Russia's Buddy Assad in Syria. That is going to be an ugly war if it happens.Where do we draw the line?!?!
Glad that We are Blessed to be Americans despite all of the trappings! Even during the hardest of days, I usually sleep very well at night, Thank You!!
;-)
Peace
More war propaganda !
they really dont need to do this sanitizing im fairly sure that plans are in the works for the us and nato to do this for them in the very near future
Don't know why this latest revelation should be surprising. Iran has been known to sanitize sites before. Look at that mountain complex of theirs. It was obvious that equipment had been removed before they showed the world this site a few years back. And the shell game continues.
Just like Saduam Hussin in Iraq did they learn from each other??
Oh, Ed finds something obvious. What makes you an expert, Ed. You were a navy corpsman, not a intelligence analyst. All those Jews in the Pentagon, such as Douglas Feith and Paul Wolfowitz, sure got it all wrong about Iraq. They were analyzing and interpreting aerial photos, just like you.
All 16 US intelligence agencies have concluded Iran does not have a nuclear weapons program. See Ed, they are the professionals. You are not and neither are the Zionists who keep demonizing Iran. Structures are built and torn down ot military installations all the time. I bet right now there is some heavy equipment at Camp LeJeune or at the Norfolk Naval Shipyards.
Every time some diplomat is quoted, you can be sure he is in the pay of the Zionists. The Israelis are rattling their swords right now. They won't do anything. because they are incapable, bunglers and want the US to handle the problems. Any country's military, that gets it's a$$ kicked, the way Hezbollah embarrassed the IDF, has no business taking on a country that might actually be able to shoot down an airplane. If Israel uses their nukes, Russia will be all over them like like flies on s-t.
Ralph, save your Zionist conspiracy rants and hate mongering for someone else. As it is impossible to hold a reasonable conversation with you, and everybody that does not share your views is wrong and a evil Zionist lover. Just because I refuse to lay all of the world's evils at the foot of Israel and Jewish people like you do. I don't buy the anti Israel and anti Semitic c*#p you keep spouting so go bother someone else with it! You need some serious counselling to deal with your hate issues! In the words of the immortal W.C. Feilds, "Go away boy, you bother me."
Exactly. ☺
This is the same type of garbage we saw when Iraq was attacked, crying wolf, but I don't hear you!
I'm not sure why people think they won't use the Nukes....of course they will. I don't think they're religion tells them to do so, but they're people certainly do. It's a messed up part of the world with backwards morality. The whole region has been self destructive for a thousand years or longer. I'm sure they have no fear of being Nuked in return...as long as they also hit their target.
Nuclear suicide bombs will affect the whole world.
Iran is led by a madman. He is the product of a religion that celebrates suicide bombings. He can not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. If he has them, he will certainly use them. Not only the US and Israel, but all the civilized nations of the world must take any steps necessary to ensure that it never happens.
A radioactive atmosphere will not respect national borders!
Kannin, I agree with you but Ahmanutjob is not the one to fear. He is only the buffoon front man behind mike. The one with the real power is Khameni and his council of ruling mullahs and clerics. They are the ones with the real power. They are the insane religious fanatics that the world should really fear. They would have no problem using nukes to take out whoever they want because they would claim it was the will of Allah and not care one bit about how many were killed, including their own people.
From the time pictures of the alleged Iraqi WMD's were shown to the time Nato led forces occupied the country far more than enough time passed for WMD's to be removed and if Pravda is to be believed, they reported that the Russians removed them to Russia. Who knows. Personally I have no doubt that Iran is building nukes and that once built, given their specific brand of Islam, they will use them. They've stated their intention to wipe Israel from the face of the earth, so while the west dithers with diplomacy, designed to reach an agreement with Iran, which is surprising since this crisis is a result of Iran signing then violating such an agreement, Israel will be forced to act proactively. In a bar if someone says I am gonna kill you as soon as I get my next beer bottle, I don't plan on waiting to see if they're bluffing, so I don't expect Israel plans on waiting either. Wonder how happy people will be with their 40 mpg car when gas is rationed and $25 a gallon.
Jeff, you have no doubt that Iran is building Nukes? The so-called experts disagree with you on several levels, they have not achieved that level of enrichment yet as far as we know and you personally cannot know for sure. As for them wiping Israel from the face of the Earth, not a chance because Iran is not stupid and would be anniliated in the process so what would be their gain? War seems to stick to those that persue it, it's easy to start and hell to get out and very, very costly in lives and dollars. I cannot tell you if a nuclear weapon is Iran's goal or not but either way that is a WORLD problem and shouldn't rest on the shoulders of the United States to solve alone. As for gas going for $25 a gallon, going to war with Iran and possibly other ME countries can surely have that effect in the long run. Just take a deep breath and relax and let the world leaders resolve this issue in a way that they see fit because in the long run no one is going to take orders from you or I.
"very costly in lives and dollars"
I don't know if you've noticed, but they don't care about the lives of their people. And suicidal people don't need dollars.
HarleMan, the key word in your post is "yet".
For all those that insist that Iran is not building or attempting to build nuclear weapons, I would love to be a fly on the wall and hear the responses if and/or when there is an inbound ballistic missile coming over our shores from a ship off our East coast or fired from Iran aimed at a major city in this country. I wonder how many of those people would be clamoring for action against Iran then? How many of our people will alraedy have died by that point?
Ed - Only an imbecile would believe that Iran has the capability to launch a nuke at the US from Iran. They don't have any warships capable of launching missiles and finally, they don't have any nukes. All of our intelligence agencies agree with me. The only people that agree with you are the uniformed, other dimwits and Zionists.
From getting all the rocket thrusters to work properly to developing heat shields
that can withstand the stresses of rapid atmospheric reentry, Iran is probably
many years away from getting an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The
American spy apparatus, which once hyped the Iranian missile threat, has
quietly stopping saying when Iran can hit the east coast. And the irony is that
it’s taking Iran so long precisely because its missile efforts really are
sophisticated.
“The bottom line,” says Paul Pillar, a veteran CIA Mideast analyst, “is that the
intelligence community does not believe [the Iranians] are anywhere close to
having an ICBM.”
It's in Israel's interests of course to convince the US otherwise, since Iran does
have missiles that can reach that country. Israeli Finance
Minister Yuval Steinitz said in a CNBC
interview on Wednesday. "We estimate that in 2-3 years they will have the
first inter-continental ballistic missiles that can reach the east coast of
America."
In a recent interview with CNN, Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey said
he believed the Iranian regime was a "rational actor" when it comes to the nuclear program. Dempsey said Iran would likely weigh the
ultimate costs and benefits of building a nuclear weapon before doing so. James
Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, recently told a Senate panel
that a decision had not yet been made by the regime in Tehran.
Read what Netanyahu said in 1992. Did you believe him then? Remember all the claims Wolfowitz made regarding Iraq. Did you believe them? Here, I'll refresh your memory of the Zionist claims abpout Iraq.
1992: Israeli parliamentarian Benjamin Netanyahu tells his colleagues that Iran is 3 to 5
years from being able to produce a nuclear weapon – and that the threat
had to be "uprooted by an international front headed by the US."
Zionist warmongers like Ken Adelman and the Zionist Washington Post pushed the war in
an editorial titled, “Cakewalk in Iraq.” Jewish supremacists Richard Perle and
Paul Wolfowitz told you that Iraq would “Welcome us as liberators.” Iraq became
the longest war in American history. Here is a report from USA Today: “Pentagon
officials estimated for the first time Wednesday that up to 360,000 Iraq and
Afghanistan veterans may have suffered traumatic brain injuries.” Now that’s
not counting tens of thousands who have suffered maiming, amputations, or death
in this war based on lies.
Care to dispute my post? If so, point out the factual errors.
Ralph, I don't care to have any conversation with the likes of you, as it is an exercise in futility. Once again, to you everyone who does not agree with your narrow minded points of view is a Zionist/Israeli lover and is wrong no matter what. The only points of view you accept are your own. So please once again take your partial and misquoted half truths somewhere else along with your anti Israel/ anti Semitic hate mongering. I am not biting and am not buying your c*#p, so take it elsewhere. When you can converse like a reasonable adult and not be insulting those who dispute you, then maybe we can but I doubt that will happen. This conversation is over.
Hey Ed - It isn't about agreeing with me. I posted the quotes of intelligence officials in the US and even Israel. They agree with me. You cannot show any misquotes or half truths. All you can dop is shoot your mouth off, spouting Zionist propaganda. You never provide evidence of any kind. Quoting unnamed envoys from unnamed countries is not proof. You Zionists keep up the same stream of unsubstanciated bs, regarding Iran's nuclear program, while the intelligence communiies in the US contradict every claim you make.
Goodbye Ralph. Have a good day. As i said, go take your hatred elsewhere and get some anger management counselling! You need it. I just put you on ignore from now on.
Oh by the way Ralph one last thing. Your continuous use of insulting and name calling just proves my points even further. Your insisting on calling me and others a Zionist makes it even more evident. I don't agree with you so I am a Zionist. You don't get it that you just keep adding nails to the proverbial lid. If it was not so sad it would be comical. Get real! Now I'm done.
So, the IAEA has not "given good enough reasons" to be allowed to visit Parchin. Iran does not consider "we think you are building and testing nuclear devices at Parchin" a 'good enough reason'. Iran is not very good at hiding secrets, and their on again, off again 'talks' are designed only to buy time until they can provide Al Qaeda a nuclear device to use in Europe or America, smuggled there by an Indian freighter via Syria.
Iran is not going to "Nuke" Israel as it is just as much a Holy site to Islam as it is for Christians and Jew. This article is propaganda for the sheep that ONLY get their "facts" from the mainstream media. OMG...Did you see on MSN.com that Iran Moved Some Dirt around? We need to get those guys before they bomb Israel!...Complete and utter CRAP!
Hendie, where do you get your news info from? The Iranian state news agecy? Al Jazeera perhaps? I place you in the same category as those in post #17.3 above.
I believe Iran has one goal in mind as their leader has stated many times and that's the destruction of Israel. Anyone who thinks they won't carry through with that threat are just sticking their head in the sand hoping it will go away. Iran doesn't care about retaliation, just the ushering in of their Imam.
Terry I respect your thoughts but you and others continue to state about the vow of destruction to Israel, that is how ME countries talk to their people, we do that here also...we say what we believe the people want to hear. I don't know if they want the bomb or not but I really doubt that they would attack a country which would assure their total destruction, as for ushering in their Imam as you state I don't think that would be a good enough reason to throw everything away. We don't hope that it will go away we deal with the reality that one day Iran and other nations will have nuclear weapons and we need to keep talks open so that when that day does come we can sit and talk as rational humans and not start firing missiles at eachother, I don't call that sticking heads in the sand. As a former serviceman you know war is not as simple as just blowing up a couple of buildings, that is the easy part. The aftermath is when the reality of what has been started sinks in.
Our current problem is surviving the islamic world becoming nuclear armed. During the cold war there were enough idiots on both sides russia and the US that thought we could survive making a first strike on the other.
the attitude of arabs in general and iran in particular is that several years ago the undersecretary of education in iran was asked by a reporter if iran had nuclear weapons just kinda off the cuff. the undersecretary stated "if we had nuclear weapons dont you think we would have used them on Israel already" When the reporter noted that iran would be hit with massive retailation and end up nuclear glass. the undersecretary stated, "It would be worth it"
As a side note the attitude of islam is that they are to turn the whole world to islam by whatever means necessary. Right now they are doing it by immigration and playing the religious freedom against nations laws. thats why honor killings keep getting in the news here and there.
Russia and china have been supporting the arabs for quite a while. They think they can control the arabs and of course get the oil. Differant from the US. All the barfing about the iraq war for oil, well the Iraqi govt has control of all the oil in iraq not the US so there was no war for oil. If so why am i paying $3.50 for gas?
Now go back to the first gulf war and all the WMD. Saddam insane had more than enough time to transport any centrifuges to iran. After the iraqi air force tangled with the US air force, iraq sent its air force to iran. Not saying there was any WMD, but where did Iran get the thousands of centrifuges that refine nuclear fuel? The bottom line is probably from Russia or china. As a side note the iranian missles are carbon copies of north korean and chinese missles. Just a point. strange coincidence. I think not.
Nother point: How many total nuclear missles does russia have? 2, 2,000, or 20,000. With the breakdown of the USSR satilite countries several years ago there were countries that had ex russian nukes and did not even know how to maintain them. So the question is what if russia took some of thier older, smaller nuke missles and say gave iran ten 50KT nukes. Nobody would be the wiser. And of course iran could claim they made em. Or tell me a story and expect me to believe that Pakistan, common, Pakistan where the main mode of transportation is camels? made a nuclear inventory. Just a point there.
Now as far as the picture i think they are creating a large islamic mall. course it does take a specific type of explosive to placed in a specific place to make a nuke go off. So that iran may have been working on that is possible. but from the picture i see nothing.
The major concern here is that Iran does not have wars with other countries since the 80's and that was conventional. Now iran is at war with numerous places. You have Hamas in the gaza strip, which by the was recently fired 140 missles into Israel near Ashkelon. Israel has an anti missle system but when a missle is going to hit dirt and nothing else they let em fall. only when they are close to population centers do they destroy the incoming missles. Anyhow iran has Hezbollah in lebanon, which hexbollah now has members in the parlament of Lebanon. Iran is also trying to bolster up assad in syria, and byw so is russia.
So iran does not and probably will not use a nuke that can be traced back to them on anyone. However a covert operation by any of numerous islamic terrorists could transport a nuke and set it off nearly anywhere. Israel, manhattan, London. It would not be traced to iran just some nut islamic kamakazis, who would be nuclear dust, (no witnesses to interview). So that would be the concern in the next several decades. And the nutz in iran are crazy enough to do something like that. Islam is king there. you remember the beheadings by family members of iranians that killed members of their families and gays and others being hung using cranes in the sportsplex? Whden you get hung by a crane it does not snap your neck you suffocate slowly. And in accordance with islam not too much pain but just enough.
And for all the antisemites: Quit worrying about Israel throwing a nuke. They have the same policy we have. We reserve second strike. the Israelis call it Operation Sampson, which is they will not use nukes unless nuked first. and last count they have three nuclear submarines. How manymore is classified.
Pray that we survive the third world becoming nuclear armed. Like Saudi, Kuwait, and all the ones that have the oil money to buy a weapon. And no sanctions with russia on the other side of the sanctions are going to do no good. Then the bad side is if our navy and marines are sent on a landing. couple of good nukes and our services are worthless. The world will then be in a nuclear standoff till when i have no idea.
Hey thomas - Read this, then tell us who is the big threat. Keep in mind, Iran has no nukes, while Israel has hundreds. The Israelis are crazier than the craziest Muslim and far more well armed.
Israeli military historian, Martin van Creveld, who in 2010 said that “Israel
could find itself one day forced to exterminate the European continent using all
kinds of weapons including its nuclear arsenal if it felt its demise neared,”
and stressed that “Israel also considers Europe a hostile target.”
“We have hundreds of nuclear warheads and
missiles that can reach different targets in the heart of the European
continent, including beyond the borders of Rome, the Italian capital,” Creveld
said, adding that most of the European capitals would become preferred targets
for the Israeli air force.
He reiterated “Israel’s ability to destroy the
whole world whenever it felt its existence would be doomed to extinction.”
So, you expect Israel to destroy the world?
It's ammazing how much paranoya can by cuased by bigotry.
Well, you listed the solution in your description of the problem, just don't threaten Israel's existence, and everything will be fine.
Eli - The noted Israeli historian, Martin van Creveld, said Israel is ready to destroy Europe and the world. I only posted his quotes. Has Europe threatened Israel?
Creveld said “We have hundreds of nuclear warheads and
missiles that can reach different targets in the heart of the European
continent, including beyond the borders of Rome, the Italian capital,” Creveld
said, adding that most of the European capitals would become preferred targets
for the Israeli air force.
I reiterate - It is Israel that is the biggest threat to world peace. It was Israel that assasinated JFK and was complicit in 9/11. The Israeli leadership is a bunch of mad dogs, always looking at war as a first solution.
http://www.john-f-kennedy.net/mossadandtheassassination.htm
http://lennybendavid.com/2008/05/lyndon-johnsons-historical-connection.html
http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/36262/friend-ally-savior-revealing-lbj-s-jewish-ties/
OMG OMG...Iran has removed two small buildings and some dirt around...They MUST be trying to build a nuclear bomb. This is MSM propoganda B.S.!!! There could be a thousand explainations to this, but this bias report is directed at the worst case scenario. This is the same exact type of hysterical reporting that got us into IRAQ. And WHO benefitted from that I wonder! Pure Garbage Article!!!
Yup. The Iraq war was instigated by Cheney/Bush to pay back Halliburton for the 27 million dollars they gave to Cheney on his way to the WH.
We need to break all ties to Israel, they corrupt our politicians with AIPAC money, and cause misery on a global scale. Let that bigmouth Ehud attack Iran by himself.
Nices, actually I think we should get rid of said politicians corrupted by the the Israeli lobbyists in the House and Senate first.
Stall, stall, stall, hide, hide, hide, harden , harden, harden, enrich, enrich , enrich, build, build build, use, use, use.
“displaced earth”, “new dirt road”, more “displaced earth”, “small buildings that have been razed”, “vehicle tracks”, still more “displaced earth”, “earth moving machinery”, and yet again more “displaced earth”. Now play some scary music to frighten the gullible masses and let’s go to war, yeeeehaaaa!
Why does this have to become an attack on Republicans from Democrats and Democrats from Republicans? Why is it that some of you think that the countries involved can either do no right or do no wrong? Not any one of them is without fault.
Israel is not always right, and the fact that the United States often stands by while Israel even when they're wrong sends the wrong message throughout the world. It should never be a matter of WHO (which country) is doing this or that, it should be a matter of whether or not WHAT they are doing is right or wrong.
Conflict has been a way of life in the Middle East for thousands of years. The fact that we always seem to support the same countries, no matter what they do and even when they're in the wrong, is a big contributing factor to why the US is hated by so many people. And it's not just the US - there are other countries who are doing exactly what we're doing....supporting the same groups because that's what we've always done.
Tell me please, why some countries are allowed to have nuclear weapons and some aren't. Sure, some like Iran are more likely to use those weapons, but we don't help the situation by ALWAYS supporting Israel.
Dach, your outrage is right on the money. Here in the US you MUST SUPPORT ISRAEL PERIOD, no questions asked. Obama has upset many people because he dared to question some aspects of our relationship with Israel and will be punished on election day by certain voting bloc's, if you do not agree with Israel or dare to have another point of view you are not a supporter of Israel. These pictures from outer space showing some dirt and buildings can be the beginnings of a Wal-Mart for all we know, didn't we do this already with Colin Powell at the UN. I am sick of talk of war with Iran or anyone else for that matter, this is a small planet and we have nowhere else to go so we need to learn to understand eachother better besides firing rockets, missiles and bullets at eachother. Iran does not have a nuclear weapon and will not attack Israel if it does get one, it will be the stupidest thing they will ever do and will be totally destroyed in hours and that is why Iran will not attack Israel.
The United States and the rest of the Free World are fools. Iran is stalling with all this talk. Talk does not work with Iran, they have made that clear. They have also made something else clear, they hate the United States, and Israel, and intend to wipe them off the face of the Earth. That is enough for me, and it should be for everyone else. We need to take them out now, not tomorrow. If they do not have the bomb now, they will soon. Its like letting a Wasp land on your arm, and saying to yourself it will go away without stinging you. Well, its possible, but not probable, especially if you have been swatting at it. Take out Iran now !!!!!
By chance, is your last name Bush or Cheney?
Raddar, you need to calm yourself down. Have you taken your meds today? I don't think anytime in the near future will Iran be able to wipe Israel or the United States off the face of the Earth, you say take out Iran now? What have they done to be wiped off the face of the Earth, listen to yourself you are saying to do to them what in your eyes they intend to do to us so that makes it alright as long as the US does the wiping out? Take your meds and lie down, the sun will shine tomorrow if Iran is not bombed tonight.
RADDAR: Gov'ts don't commit suicide on purpose dude. If Iran launched every military power in the region would become involved and the kleptomanianc USA would try to militarily occupy Iran's oil fields- provided the Russians and Chinese didn't get there first as they can drive there. The USA wants to keep its post WW2 seat at the head of the First World table. Times are changing and that's why the USA is so angry at the world.
I say we wait until Iran takes out NYC, SF, Boston, Seattle and Chicago before we take them out.
Road Warrior before you pack your bags and head to the Iranian border, don't forget Los Angeles, Washington, DC and how can we forget, the star of the show Israel. Until then #$@%! Iran, enjoy your life and no War!! Not worth the cost in lives and money!!