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Title: Iran May Be Covering Up Nuke Test
Source:
Sky News
URL Source: http://www.skynews.com.au/world/article.aspx?id=726654&vId=
Published: Mar 7, 2012
Author: Sky News
Post Date: 2012-03-07 19:07:22 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 1744
Comments: 9
Satellite images of an Iranian military facility appear to show trucks and earth-moving vehicles at the site, indicating an attempted cleanup of radioactive traces possibly left by tests of a nuclear-weapon trigger, diplomats told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The assertions from the diplomats, all nuclear experts accredited to the International Atomic Energy Agency, could add to the growing international pressure on Iran over its nuclear program, which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes. While the US and the EU are backing a sanctions-heavy approach, Israel has warned that it may resort to a pre-emptive strike against Iran's nuclear facilities to prevent it from obtaining atomic weapons. Two of the diplomats said the crews at the Parchin military site may be trying to erase evidence of tests of a small experimental neutron device used to set off a nuclear explosion. A third diplomat could not confirm that but said any attempt to trigger a so-called neutron initiator could only be in the context of trying to develop nuclear arms. The diplomats said they suspect attempts at sanitization because some of the vehicles at the scene appeared to be haulage trucks and other equipment suited to carting off potentially contaminated soil from the site. The images, provided by member countries to the IAEA, the UN's nuclear watchdog, are recent and constantly updated, one of the diplomats said. The diplomats all requested anonymity because they were not authorsed to discuss the information on the record. The IAEA has already identified Parchin as the location of suspected nuclear weapons-related testing. In a November report, it said it appeared to be the site of experiments with conventional high explosives meant to initiate a nuclear chain reaction. It did not mention a neutron initiator as part of those tests, but in a separate section cited an unnamed member nation as saying Iran may have experimented with a neutron initiator, without going into detail or naming a location for such work. In contrast, the intelligence information shared with the AP by the two diplomats linked the high-explosives work directly to setting off a neutron initiator at Parchin. In explaining such a device, the agency's November report said that "if placed in the centre of a nuclear core of an implosion-type nuclear device and compressed, (it) could produce a burst of neutrons suitable for initiating a fission chain reaction." If Iran did try to trigger a neutron initiator, it would harden international suspicions by adding a nuclear component to a suspected string of experiments linked to weapons development that generally have not included radioactive material. Iran has previously attempted to clean up sites considered suspicious by world powers worried about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Poster Comment: Good. Perhaps they are further along than suspected. Godspeed.
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#1. To: Brian S (#0)
This is total nonsense. They claim these "diplomats" are expert in nuclear weapons technology. Yeah, sure they are. All diplomats are also physicists and nuclear weapons engineers. The only way this makes any sense is if they are spies operating under the cover of diplomacy. In any event, they are not identified at all nor is the country they represent named. This supposed news report is about as lame as those false accusations against Iraq before we invaded it, right up to Colin Powell's blatant lies to the United Nations to try to secure their blessing to invade Iraq. It reminds me of all that crap spewed by Judith Miller in the New York Times, preliminary propaganda to support a massive air attack followed by invasion.
So you advocate a Persian bomb?
So you advocate a Persian bomb? What Brian muslim is inadvertently admitting is that Israel is justified in taking out Irans nuke capability.
Not just 'a bomb'...many bombs. Iran has the right to protect itself however it deems necessary.
Never swear "allegiance" to anything other than the 'right to change your mind'! More to the story. My take is these are "diplomats." Meaning they are foreign technical advisors with diplomatic credentials. A good way for both countries to hide the intent of the technical advisors from third party nations. Trust me we do the same thing...often. Back in the day of START I, we had inspection teams do unannounced visits to the USSR (then Russia and the Ukraine) to ensure the Russians were adhering to START. They had the same arrangement with us. The only way for this to be a credible "surprise" visit on both sides was to issue diplomatic credentials. On the clandestine side, the same game is played. So these "diplomats" could be Russian, North Korean or Pakistani. So not spies for us, but technicals using diplomatic credentials in support of Iran's program. My "spider senses" tell me Iran had a mess on their hands and wanted technical advice on how to do the cleanup so that they could take IAEA inspectors to the site in a few months and show them it is clean. So if these reports from "diplomats" are correct, given the NK timeline, Iran will have a device for a full underground test in less than 18 months. Shortly after that they could go to a limited production for delivery devices. Iran has been running a parallel missile delivery program. One thing also comes to mind. This "diplomat" reporting of a clean up does not mean the test happened recently. It could have happened last summer and now the clean up is happening. What the boys in VA and MD need to be looking at is when did the empty Iranian rhetoric turn into confident rhetoric and you will have a good indication of when this limited test took place, and from there run the "bomb" clock.
Iran has the right to protect itself however it deems necessary. So you are not advocating Iran use nuclear weapons offensively?
Of course not. Why should they if not attacked. Iran, as history shows, is not an overly aggressive country.
Never swear "allegiance" to anything other than the 'right to change your mind'! Iran, as history shows, is not an overly aggressive country. I would agree with your statement if you added "overtly" to overly aggressive. You do realize their Quds Force train and facilitate terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, support Hezbollah and Hamas?
But in the Cold War disarmaments regime, both sides agreed to it. The actors were known to both sides. That is not the case here. Once again, we discover that apples are not oranges. Of course, almost every embassy is assumed to be (and is) a haven for various sorts of espionage. It has been for hundreds of years and it is expected. However, they are claiming that these particular unidentified spies are some kind of recognized experts. We don't know who they are, we don't know their qualifications and it is quite obvious that their careers probably hinge on "finding" what they are told to find. I'm not objecting to any of this, mind you. I just dislike that the entire enterprise is being presented as some kind of independent objective review of the situation. This kind of reporting falls far below even the ludicrous coverage we got in the runup to the Iraq fiasco. What, no WMD? Oops. But since we're already here... And Americans wonder why these backward brown people are so suspicious of our noble work and selfless motives.
Two of the diplomats said the crews at the Parchin military site may be trying to erase evidence of tests of a small experimental neutron device used to set off a nuclear explosion. A third diplomat could not confirm that but said any attempt to trigger a so-called neutron initiator could only be in the context of trying to develop nuclear arms.
#2. To: Brian S (#0)
Good. Perhaps they are further along than suspected. Godspeed
#3. To: redleghunter (#2)
Good. Perhaps they are further along than suspected. Godspeed
#4. To: redleghunter (#2)
So you advocate a Persian bomb?
#5. To: TooConservative (#1)
In contrast, the intelligence information shared with the AP by the two diplomats linked the high-explosives work...
#6. To: Brian S (#4)
Not just 'a bomb'...many bombs.
#7. To: redleghunter (#6)
So you are not advocating Iran use nuclear weapons offensively?
#8. To: Brian S (#7)
Of course not. Why should they if not attacked.
#9. To: redleghunter (#5)
Back in the day of START I, we had inspection teams do unannounced visits to the USSR (then Russia and the Ukraine) to ensure the Russians were adhering to START. They had the same arrangement with us. The only way for this to be a credible "surprise" visit on both sides was to issue diplomatic credentials. On the clandestine side, the same game is played.
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