'Obama Prepares Total Destruction of Iran' - Update - Iran Says UN is a Pawn of the US

[Count Bobulescu]

The New York Times, "Iraq casts a pall over U.S. effort to fathom Iran," by James Risen: "Analysts and others at the C.I.A. who are struggling to understand the nuclear ambitions of Iran are keenly aware that the agency's credibility is again on the line, amid threats of new military interventions. The intelligence debacle on Iraq has deeply influenced the way they do their work, with new safeguards intended to force analysts to be more skeptical in evaluating evidence." http://nyti.ms/HyPr0v

[fluffybiscuits]

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomac...ogram-1.422408


Netanyahu having a whinge about Iranian nuclear ambitions, of course Israel is the only one in the Middle East allow have nuclear ambitions :s . In his opinion the sanctions are not working...

[Count Bobulescu]

WaPo’s chief Foreign Affairs corr David Ignatius’ star is flying high at the moment. Other journos have been complimenting his work. So I’d pay attention to this.

SIREN: IGNATIUS OP-ED -- "Obama has signaled Iran that the United States would accept an Iranian civilian nuclear program if Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei can back up his recent public claim that his nation 'will never pursue nuclear weapons.'"
"This verbal message was sent through Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who visited Khamenei last week. A few days before traveling to Iran, Erdogan had held a two-hour meeting with Obama in Seoul, in which they discussed what Erdogan would tell the ayatollah about the nuclear issue and Syria."

"Obama advised Erdogan that the Iranians should realize that time is running out for a peaceful settlement and that Tehran should take advantage of the current window for negotiations." More here. http://wapo.st/HjXe0z
The column marks the third major scoop for Ignatius since February. The WaPo writer has emerged as a top recipient of White House leaks, and today's column is sure to drive the news this morning as foreign policy thinkers grapple with the key question: Why does the administration want us to know this?

Here are two recent reviews of Ignatius’ work.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/...y-wonk/254717/

Politico's Dylan Byers has written one of the fairest, most earnest reviews of another journalist's work that I've read in some time, particularly when it is about a writer who enjoys enviably high degrees of access at the White House, CIA, State Department and Pentagon. There is none of the cheap shot snark that invades too much of today's punditry.

NEXT WEEK'S BIG STORY -- The headlines will undoubtedly be dominated by talks between Iran and world powers over Iran's nuclear program. Already, though, prospects for a breakthrough are looking grim. Iran has ruled out Istanbul as a location for discussions, in part because of Turkey's stance on Syria, and it's now unclear whether the countries involved can agree on even the most basic issue: where to meet. From the Los Angeles Times: "Some diplomats said the dispute is the latest of many signs that the Iranian government is in no mood to give ground on the nuclear issue." http://lat.ms/I8pcbM

[Count Bobulescu]

WHO -- Iran and six world powers, including the United States
WHAT -- Nuclear talks
WHEN -- This Friday
WHERE -- Istanbul, Turkey
WHY -- Avoid war
It's official: An agreement has been reached on the time and place of a first round of nuclear negotiations, and it appears the talks will begin on Friday. From Iran's semiofficial FARS News Agency:
"The Iranian team of negotiators is led by SNSC Secretary Saeed Jalili, while delegations of the six world powers are headed by EU foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton."
"The Iraqi capital city of Baghdad will be the second host to the Iran-powers talks in case of progress in the first round of negotiations in Istanbul."
WaPo's Thomas Erdbrink: "The six nations are expected to press Iran to accept curbs on its nuclear program that would make it far more difficult for Tehran to build a nuclear weapon. A key demand, Western diplomats say, is that Iran halt production at its uranium-enrichment plant near Qom, a Shiite holy city about 90 miles south of Tehran, which was built in mountain tunnels beyond the reach of all but the most advanced bombs and missiles." http://wapo.st/Hr1koq


MEANWHILE, EHUD BARAK tells Fareed Zakaria: "I don't believe that this amount of sanctions and pressure will bring the Iranian leadership to the conclusion that they have to stop their nuclear military program."


AND SPY TALK'S JEFF STEIN laments that covert action against Iran has become political fodder on both sides. "The Obama administration," Stein writes, "used secret intelligence and The Washington Post this weekend to fend off war mongers ... and more: to send the message that a military attack is unnecessary, at least for now."


In the WaPo article (read it here http://wapo.st/HsKL8H), intelligence officials describe missions in which stealth drones have flown more than 600 miles inside Iran without being detected. Stein: "The administration's point: We know what's going on inside Iran's nuclear program." http://bit.ly/I7ljbD

[Count Bobulescu]

· U.S. TO DEMAND IMMEDIATE CLOSING OF IRANIAN ENRICHMENT PLANT. Headed to negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program later this week, The New York Times reports the Obama administration and its European allies are planning to demand the closing and ultimate dismantling of the recently completed nuclear facility built deep under a mountain—considered most protected against airstrikes—and a halt in production of uranium fuel not far from weapons grade. Read more

[fluffybiscuits]

Now in all fairness to Iran they have said that they would consider perhaps reducing the amount of enriched uranium to around 5% purity. The amount of purity needed for enriching weapons is around the 90% mark thereby indicating that perhaps Iran is telling the truth, 5% is enough to be used in areas such as diagnostic medecine . They will only drop though if the embargos are lifted or made lighter.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...526344914.html

Meanwhile Russia Today has an interview with a security expert. Didnt read the whole thing but the gist is that it would be an exercise in futility to attack Iran, it wont stop them enriching weapons

http://www.rt.com/news/israel-attack-iran-shapir-677/

CB Any chance US might attack before election to show that they need continuity in the presidency?

[Count Bobulescu]

Now in all fairness to Iran they have said that they would consider perhaps reducing the amount of enriched uranium to around 5% purity. The amount of purity needed for enriching weapons is around the 90% mark thereby indicating that perhaps Iran is telling the truth, 5% is enough to be used in areas such as diagnostic medecine . They will only drop though if the embargos are lifted or made lighter.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...526344914.html

Meanwhile Russia Today has an interview with a security expert. Didnt read the whole thing but the gist is that it would be an exercise in futility to attack Iran, it wont stop them enriching weapons

http://www.rt.com/news/israel-attack-iran-shapir-677/

CB Any chance US might attack before election to show that they need continuity in the presidency?

Fluffy, in the Iranian nuclear thread you’ll see that I noted that part of the reason the US developed Stuxnet was to persuade the Israelis that there was a viable alternative to bombing Iran, so i don’t think that the US is in any hurry to bomb anyone.

[fluffybiscuits]

Fluffy, in the Iranian nuclear thread you’ll see that I noted that part of the reason the US developed Stuxnet was to persuade the Israelis that there was a viable alternative to bombing Iran, so i don’t think that the US is in any hurry to bomb anyone.

Could they not have sent in undercover operatives to get Saddam then? History has shown us that they are not exactly prone to covert operations....

[Count Bobulescu]

Could they not have sent in undercover operatives to get Saddam then? History has shown us that they are not exactly prone to covert operations....

Different team driving the bus in those days. Everyone believes Obama would have gone to Afghanistan, few believe he would ever have gone to Iraq.

[fluffybiscuits]

Different team driving the bus in those days. Everyone believes Obama would have gone to Afghanistan, few believe he would ever have gone to Iraq.

There must be some continuity in policy surely...

[fluffybiscuits]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...-sales-succeed


The effects of the oil embargo are taking their toll. In return for suspending 20% of their uranium enrichment programme, a lot of the embargos would be suspended for a while. As things stand the currency has plummeted in value resulting in a lot of families experiencing hardship as the price of staple foods has gone through the roof. Even the oil production has been cut which would benefit big oil companies, production has dropped now by 20 to 30%.

[C. Flower]

Tension between Iran and the US / Israel is growing. I see that Alan Shatter lobbed his two pennyworth in by repeating the untruth that Ahmadinejad wants to "wipe Israel off the face of the earth" rather than just bring the legal entity of the Israeli State to an end.

DUBAI, Sep. 17, 2012 (Reuters) — The United States and its allies have launched a major naval exercise in the Gulf that they say shows a global will to keep oil shipping lanes open as Israel and Iran trade threats of war.




Publicly announced in July, the operation, known as IMCMEX-12, focuses on clearing mines that Tehran, or guerrilla groups, might deploy to disrupt tanker traffic, notably in the Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and the Arabian peninsula.


The start of the event, with a symposium for officers from more than 30 navies, came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. television viewers on Sunday that Tehran was close to being able to build a nuclear bomb; his words fuelled talk of an Israeli strike, and of Netanyahu pressuring President Barack Obama to back Israel as Obama battles for re-election.

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/bre...uclear-navies/

[Count Bobulescu]

Looks like Iran can’t get its story straight about whether it has “boots” in Lebanon.

BEIRUT — Lebanese President Michel Suleiman has asked for official clarifications from Iran over statements by a senior commander that they have military advisers in Lebanon.

The top commander of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard said Sunday that his force has high-level advisers in Lebanon and Syria.

The statement said Ambassador Roknabadi denied there were advisers in Lebanon.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...0e8_story.html

[Count Bobulescu]

An Iranian nuclear scientist says two of his country's nuclear facilities were attacked last month, in separate explosions that he blamed on sabotage. Fereydoon Abbasi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, revealed that two different locations were targeted by explosions on August 17, one day before U.N. inspectors came visit the sites. One was at the well-known Natanz nuclear facility and the other was at Fordow, a deep underground uranium enrichment site believed to be heavily protected against a possible airstrike

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/globa...losions/56952/

[Count Bobulescu]

New and improved: the Pentagon, meanwhile, is boosting its bunker buster bomb, to combat Iran.The WSJ's Adam Entous and Julian Barnes report this morning that the U.S. military has redesigned its biggest "bunker buster" bomb with new features that will enable it to "destroy Iran's most heavily fortified and defended nuclear site," saying it will show Israel the U.S. has the ability to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb if diplomacy fails - and also that Israel's military can't do it on its own. "Several times in recent weeks, American officials, seeking to demonstrate U.S. capabilities, showed Israeli military and civilian leaders secret Air Force video of an earlier version of the bomb hitting its target in high-altitude testing, and explained what had been done to improve it, according to diplomats who were present. In the video, the weapon can be seen penetrating the ground within inches of its target, followed by a large underground detonation, according to people who have seen the footage."