Iran Not Developing Nukes

[TheBeagle]

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta let slip on Sunday the big open secret that Washington war hawks don’t want widely known: Iran is not developing nuclear weapons.

 

Appearing on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday, Panetta admitted that despite all the rhetoric, Iran is not pursuing the ability to split atoms with weapons, saying it is instead pursuing “a nuclear capability.”

 

That “capability” falls in line with what Iran has said for years: that it is developing nuclear energy facilities, not nuclear weapons.

 

“I think the pressure of the sanctions, the diplomatic pressures from everywhere, Europe, the United States, elsewhere, it’s working to put pressure on them,” Panetta explained on Sunday. “To make them understand that they cannot continue to do what they’re doing. Are they trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No. But we know that they’re trying to develop a nuclear capability, and that’s what concerns us. And our red line to Iran is, do not develop a nuclear weapon. That’s a red line for us.”

 

Republicans have been beating the drums of war in recent weeks as tensions in the Iranian gulf have soared. Iran has threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil transport hub crucial to global industry, if U.S. warships return to monitor their activities.

 

Iran said it was planning to hold military exercises in the Strait of Hormuz in the coming weeks, and prior wargames saw the Iranians test missiles that are designed to sink warships.

 

President Barack Obama recently agreed to fresh sanctions on Iran targeting the country’s central bank, in hopes of slowing down their nuclear program. The European Union was also considering fresh sanctions, and details were expected later in January. The U.N., as well, has sanctioned Iran repeatedly over its nuclear program.

 

Iran said recently that it had created the country’s first ever nuclear fuel rod made from domestic uranium enriched at their own facilities.

 

Nuclear fuel enrichment is much different from enrichment for weapons. Most commercial nuclear reactors use lightly enriched uranium, which is between 3-5 percent enriched. Weapons-grade uranium must be enriched to

approximately 85 percent or more of a key radioactive isotope for it to be usable in an atomic bomb

 

 

 

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/09/panetta-admits-iran-not-developing-nukes/

 

 

just another reason to vote ron paul....im tired of being LIED to by our government...

 

[TheBeagle]

just read more info on this........disgusting the say the least

[Budz-4-U]

Iran said they are, in an underground facility, that is nuclear blast proof.

[MightyMightyMezz]

Iran said they are, in an underground facility, that is nuclear blast proof.

 

My understanding is they are enriching uranium there. They have denied doing it for weapons.

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction#The_Iranian_stance

 

Iran states the purpose of its nuclear program is the generation of power and that any other use would be a violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, of which it is a signatory, as well as being against Islamic religious principles. Iran claims that nuclear power is necessary for a booming population and rapidly-industrialising nation. It points to the fact that Iran's population has more than doubled in 20 years, the country regularly imports gasoline and electricity, and that burning fossil fuel in large amounts harms Iran's environment drastically. Additionally, Iran questions why it shouldn't be allowed to diversify its sources of energy, especially when there are fears of its oil fields eventually being depleted. It continues to argue that its valuable oil should be used for high value products and export, not simple electricity generation. Furthermore, Iran argues that nuclear power makes fairly good economic sense. Building reactors is expensive, but subsequent operating costs are low and stable, and increasingly competitive as fossil-fuel prices rise.^[113] Iran also raises funding questions, claiming that developing the excess capacity in its oil industry would cost it $40 billion, not to speak of paying for the power plants. Harnessing nuclear power costs a fraction of this, considering Iran has abundant supplies of accessible uranium ore.^[114] These claims have been echoed by Scott Ritter, the former UN weapons inspector in Iraq. Roger Stern, of John Hopkin's Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, agrees "Iran's claims to need nuclear power could be genuine".^[115]

[Budz-4-U]

My understanding is they are enriching uranium there. They have denied doing it for weapons.

 

 

http://en.wikipedia...._Iranian_stance

 

 

 

Oh, OK, I am sure that is what they are doing, and it never crossed their mind to toss a nuke towards Israel, or the U.S.

 

Thanks, I feel safer already. Here I thought Iran was a sworn enemy to Israel and the United States. I forgot they loved us...... my bad.

[man of steel]

Budz,

Understand your concerns.

North Korea comes to mind,What threats have they thrown around about nukes

and South Korea?

If Iran gets nukes what makes you think they would use them?

Israel would blow them away also,We are the only ones to use nukes on civilians.

Do we go to war again? Back to Iraq with soldiers?

When Newt,Mitt,Santoram are in front of me I will go, Should be nuke safe behind them.

Sorry for the rant I don't want anymore war,Kids are doing the dirty work for draft dodgers.

 

On Israel they approve and are leading the way in mm. There PTSD studies are awsome.

Montel is doing documentry in Israel on mm.

Shouldn't the US stop aid as they support the illegal use of a sch1 narcotic?

Not meant to flame just discuss.

I do support defending them if need be,But think

they can take care of this themselves.

[MightyMightyMezz]

Oh, OK, I am sure that is what they are doing, and it never crossed their mind to toss a nuke towards Israel, or the U.S.

 

Thanks, I feel safer already. Here I thought Iran was a sworn enemy to Israel and the United States. I forgot they loved us...... my bad.

 

Alright, what's your best evidence they are creating nuclear weapons?

[The Digital Nomad]

If you want to feel good about Iran, just listen to their current rhetoric on the news by Iranian generals running the "training exercise in the strait of Hormuz" - they sound just like the fools who were in the Iraqi army during the first war - "they promise a mother of all battles". Wait until Iran uses a french exocet missile against a US ship.

 

It does not matter if Iran creates a UAV, builds a rocket, or makes a nuke - its their continued efforts to bring their own brand of islamic rule to the region. So do you want democratic governments over there or do you want islam extremist deciding they need to deal with 'non-believers of islam"?

 

It stopped being a war for oil a long time ago.

 

DN

[MightyMightyMezz]

Maybe the USA shouldn't have carried out that coup back in '53, huh? That was a "mistake" made "a long time ago," right?

 

us iran coup

 

 

 

 

Don't even get me started on Israel.

 

 

 

34 Americans killed and 174 wounded. Some ally you think you got there! Does this ring a bell? The USS Liberty. Just another one of those mistakes that happened a long time ago I guess.

[Northern Lab]

Oh, OK, I am sure that is what they are doing, and it never crossed their mind to toss a nuke towards Israel, or the U.S.

 

Thanks, I feel safer already. Here I thought Iran was a sworn enemy to Israel and the United States. I forgot they loved us...... my bad.

 

So what if they are? Can you blame them? The West has made it quite clear in the case of Iraq and North Korea, that unless you have a nuke, you're getting invaded.

 

Do you know where the largest Jewish population in the Middle East outside of Israel resides?

 

Iran. Yeah, lots of Jews in Iran. Who'da thought, eh?

[Budz-4-U]

Islam extremists have had Jews and Christians as their sworn enemies for THOUSANDS of years.

 

We didn't start this in 1953, as thousands of years ago was prior to 1953.

 

The United States didn't start this, as 1776 was much later than thousands of years ago.

 

This is an epic battle, of Biblical proportions. Jews/Christians versus non-Christians, in this case, Islam.

 

Short of all of us converting to Islam, they would like us, the Infidels, slaughtered. We, the Christians/Jews, are the evil ones. We are not Islam, that makes us evil, and we must die.

 

If they are not working on nuclear weapons, then I am sure they will let inspectors have full access, right ? We all know better. IF they are let in, they will be shown what they want us to see.

 

I don't trust any nation, or religious organization, who has sworn to wipe me off of the face of the earth. I guess I'm funny like that.

[MightyMightyMezz]

Islam extremists have had Jews and Christians as their sworn enemies for THOUSANDS of years.

 

We didn't start this in 1953, as thousands of years ago was prior to 1953.

 

The United States didn't start this, as 1776 was much later than thousands of years ago.

 

This is an epic battle, of Biblical proportions. Jews/Christians versus non-Christians, in this case, Islam.

 

Short of all of us converting to Islam, they would like us, the Infidels, slaughtered. We, the Christians/Jews, are the evil ones. We are not Islam, that makes us evil, and we must die.

 

If they are not working on nuclear weapons, then I am sure they will let inspectors have full access, right ? We all know better. IF they are let in, they will be shown what they want us to see.

 

I don't trust any nation, or religious organization, who has sworn to wipe me off of the face of the earth. I guess I'm funny like that.

 

 

Back to the subject at hand.

 

Panetta's statement that Iran is not making nuclear weapons is supported by Robert Kelley, a member of the IAEA Iraq Action Team 2003:

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-11/iran-nuclear-weapons-charge-is-no-slam-dunk-commentary-by-robert-kelley.html

It’s accepted that Iran at one time had a nuclear-weapons program. The country’s enormous investment in a secret underground uranium-enrichment complex in the city of Natanz is essentially proof of clandestine intentions. The military plutonium-production reactor in Arak is yet another indicator. However, it must be remembered that in the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate, U.S. agencies concluded that Iran halted its nuclear-arms program in 2003 under international pressure. It’s rare for intelligence officials to determine that they have sufficient evidence to say a program has ended, so their information presumably was very good. Similarly, until this year, the IAEA has consistently reported that it had no information suggesting Iran had a nuclear-weapons program after 2004.

 

 

...

What about the three indications that the arms project may have been reactivated?

 

Two of the three are attributed only to two member states, so the sourcing is impossible to evaluate. In addition, their validity is called into question by the agency’s handling of the third piece of evidence.

 

That evidence, according to the IAEA, tells us Iran embarked on a four-year program, starting around 2006, to validate the design of a device to produce a burst of neutrons that could initiate a fission chain reaction. Though I cannot say for sure what source the agency is relying on, I can say for certain that this project was earlier at the center of what appeared to be a misinformation campaign.

 

 

[Budz-4-U]

Great, Iran must love all us Christians and Jews now. They no longer hate us. I feel better already.

 

I am sure Iran will allow all Jews and Christians to be as free in their country, as Islamists are in our country.

 

I am all for a truce, go over to Iran, tell them we want a truce, smoke the peace pipe with them, and both sides will forget about the thousands of years of fighting. Good luck with that.

[Northern Lab]

Islam extremists have had Jews and Christians as their sworn enemies for THOUSANDS of years.

 

We didn't start this in 1953, as thousands of years ago was prior to 1953.

 

The United States didn't start this, as 1776 was much later than thousands of years ago.

 

This is an epic battle, of Biblical proportions. Jews/Christians versus non-Christians, in this case, Islam.

 

Short of all of us converting to Islam, they would like us, the Infidels, slaughtered. We, the Christians/Jews, are the evil ones. We are not Islam, that makes us evil, and we must die.

 

If it's a religious battle, why hasn't Iran wiped out their Jewish and Christian populations?

 

If they are not working on nuclear weapons, then I am sure they will let inspectors have full access, right ? We all know better. IF they are let in, they will be shown what they want us to see.

 

That sounds an awful lot like, "If you're not breaking the law, you'll let us see your grow operation, if you're doing nothing illegal, you don't have anything to hide, right?"

 

Where is it our place to police a sovereign nation? I think we're sticking our nose right where it doesn't belong, just like we've been doing since we toppled a DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED government in Iran in 1953 and installed our own puppet.

 

I don't trust any nation, or religious organization, who has sworn to wipe me off of the face of the earth. I guess I'm funny like that.

 

Where and when did iran swear to "wipe you off the face of the earth"? Link please.

[Budz-4-U]

And, I noticed you avoided the truth:

 

"Islam extremists have had Jews and Christians as their sworn enemies for THOUSANDS of years.

 

We didn't start this in 1953, as thousands of years ago was prior to 1953.

 

The United States didn't start this, as 1776 was much later than thousands of years ago.

 

This is an epic battle, of Biblical proportions. Jews/Christians versus non-Christians, in this case, Islam.

 

Short of all of us converting to Islam, they would like us, the Infidels, slaughtered. We, the Christians/Jews, are the evil ones. We are not Islam, that makes us evil, and we must die."

[MightyMightyMezz]

Great, Iran must love all us Christians and Jews now. They no longer hate us. I feel better already.

 

I am sure Iran will allow all Jews and Christians to be as free in their country, as Islamists are in our country.

 

I am all for a truce, go over to Iran, tell them we want a truce, smoke the peace pipe with them, and both sides will forget about the thousands of years of fighting. Good luck with that.

 

See how fast you abandoned your "facts" in favor of broad generalizations? Iran has the largest population of Jews in the Middle East outside Israel by the way.

[Estimated Prophet]

Iran is harboring weapons of mass destruction....just like the ones that US and UN inspectors have been searching for in Iraq since the invasion of the Persian Gulf?

[Budz-4-U]

I agree with Ron Paul, we go around creating some of our own problems.

 

However, some of these issues have been going on for Thousands of years.

 

And, it is in our best interest to not allow any more counties or religious groups to have nuclear weapons.

 

We are not talking Ak-47's. Nuclear weapons. We know what they do, we dropped two on Japan.

 

Exactly why we don't want radical Islamists to have them. Self preservation is a good thing.

[Northern Lab]

And, I noticed you avoided the truth:

 

"Islam extremists have had Jews and Christians as their sworn enemies for THOUSANDS of years.

 

We didn't start this in 1953, as thousands of years ago was prior to 1953.

 

The United States didn't start this, as 1776 was much later than thousands of years ago.

 

This is an epic battle, of Biblical proportions. Jews/Christians versus non-Christians, in this case, Islam.

 

Short of all of us converting to Islam, they would like us, the Infidels, slaughtered. We, the Christians/Jews, are the evil ones. We are not Islam, that makes us evil, and we must die."

 

Do all muslims subscribe to this 'truth'?

[Northern Lab]

I agree with Ron Paul, we go around creating some of our own problems.

 

However, some of these issues have been going on for Thousands of years.

 

And, it is in our best interest to not allow any more counties or religious groups to have nuclear weapons.

 

We are not talking Ak-47's. Nuclear weapons. We know what they do, we dropped two on Japan.

 

Exactly why we don't want radical Islamists to have them. Self preservation is a good thing.

 

Why aren't Jews being slaughtered in Iran right now?

[Budz-4-U]

Do all muslims subscribe to this 'truth'?

 

No, just the ones who wish to continue with their Holy War. A lot of their citizens just want jobs and a safe place to raise a family.

 

However, in a lot a of these countries, smaller factions take control, impose their will, citizens become fearful, and the war continues.

[MightyMightyMezz]

And, I noticed you avoided the truth:

 

"Islam extremists have had Jews and Christians as their sworn enemies for THOUSANDS of years.

 

We didn't start this in 1953, as thousands of years ago was prior to 1953.

 

The United States didn't start this, as 1776 was much later than thousands of years ago.

 

This is an epic battle, of Biblical proportions. Jews/Christians versus non-Christians, in this case, Islam.

 

Short of all of us converting to Islam, they would like us, the Infidels, slaughtered. We, the Christians/Jews, are the evil ones. We are not Islam, that makes us evil, and we must die."

 

 

I normally would think of it as nitpicking but since you put it in bold (again!) Islam hasn't even existed for thousands of years. It was founded around 610 AD. It's you who is avoiding the reality of the US coup which has all kinds of ramifications for Iran and the US. I think that is a lot more relevant than just being like "It's an ancient battle - we can't let the Persian hordes overrun us - the time to strike is NOW!!!"

[MightyMightyMezz]

By the way in case you didn't watch the trailer for the USS Liberty film and you've never heard of such a thing Israel attacked a US ship in the 1967 War. They killed 37 Americans and wounded 174 in a deliberate, sustained attack. Lyndon Johnson swept it under the rug. That's treason.

[Budz-4-U]

Well, the names of the religions and countries has changed over these Thousands of years.

 

One thing has remained a constant. You have the Jews/Christians on one side, and those who believe otherwise on the other side.

 

On both sides of that line, there are many citizens who just want a peaceful life.

 

However, there are many, on both sides of that line, who wish to continue with their own way of life, and religion, to the point they will do whatever to protect their way of life, and beilefs.

 

Both sides go beyond that, and wage a Holy War, in the name of religion.

 

How do we fix a mess that has been going on for thousands of years ? We could lay our weapons down, and hope they follow suit.

 

How do you all suggest we stop a war, that has been going on for thousands of years, and retain our safety ???

 

 

[MightyMightyMezz]

I'm not on either side of that divide. I have no religious affiliations. What do I suggest? Not imposing puppet dictators like the Shah for a start. Not giving aid to the treacherous Israel. Not trumping up charges of "Weapons of Mass Destruction" as seen in Iraq. Need more or is that enough to chew on?