U.S.: Newly revealed 'covert' Iran facility not nuclear
U.S. backs Iran's insistence that site 'exposed' by Iranian dissident group alleging secret uranium enrichment was in fact not a nuclear facility.
By Reuters Tags: Iran Iran nuclear USThe United States took a surprising stance on Friday supporting Iranian claims that it was not building a new secret uranium enrichment facility, after an Iranian opposition group exposed satellite imagery on Thursday allegedly proving the existence of a secret nuclear site some 120 kilometers from Tehran.
 |
The president of Strategic Policy Consulting pointing to a monitor reportedly showing tunnels to a nuclear site in Washington on Sept. 9, 2010. |
| Photo by: AFP |
The Iranian dissident group said on Thursday the information came from a network of sources inside Iran affiliated with the exiled opposition group the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran (PMOI).
Washington, which along with its European allies accuses Iran of trying to build nuclear bombs, said it had known about the facility for years and had no reason to believe it was nuclear.
"We have informed the International Atomic Energy Agency about all of our nuclear facilities, Iran's top nuclear official Ali Akbar Salehi said.
The NCRI in 2002 exposed Iran's uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and a heavy-water facility at Arak. But analysts believe the group, which opposes Iran's clerical establishment, has a mixed track record and a clear political agenda.
The group had satellite photographs of the alleged newly discovered site, which it said was under a mountain near Qazvin, about 75 miles (120 km) west of Tehran, and was about 85 percent complete.
Uranium enrichment can produce fuel for nuclear power plants or, taken to a higher level, for atomic bombs. Tehran says its nuclear program is aimed at generating power.
However, Iran's record of secrecy has stoked suspicions, heightened by the February launch of higher-grade uranium enrichment of 20 percent fissile purity, bringing it closer to weapons-grade material.
In Vienna, Britain's envoy to the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Friday called Iran "uniquely obstructive" for rejecting some inspectors from the IAEA.
Ambassador Simon Smith also suggested his government would look into claims by the dissident group that it had evidence of a new secret underground nuclear site.
Iran said in November that it had plans to build 10 more nuclear sites.
Why Facebook Connect?
Comment on Haaretz.com articles with your Facebook login, and share your thoughts on your own wall.
- Latest
- Most Viewed
- Most Rated
- Open all
They'll bomb a garden shed full chooks.
Folks who are really interested in observing developments in foreign nations love 'sun-synchronous' orbits. That is to say that ever day, the orbit changes to the degree the Earth orbits the sun. Thus the angle of the sun against the ground remains the same. A tower being erected will show an ever-longer shadow. An ever deeper excavation will show an ever elongating shadow into it's depths. It is the lucky nation which has missiles of sufficient power to launch rockets into such a high-angel retrograde orbit as to be sun synchronous.
America and Israel have been dedicated to this rule for many years. Why is Obama deviating all of a sudden?
Then the 'tunnel entrances' would have shadows on the left. But then then would not the series of bulldozer paths extending down and to the left of the left most 'tunnel entrance' actually represent earth bulldozed out of instead of into and upon the artifice? If the sun was from the east - and the circular object a tunnel, there would be only a shadow inside (rather than the outside) of the circle, and there would be shadows to the right of the bulldozer paths. Not apparent. The shadows in all cases are cast to the right of relief objects except for the small trench directly below the circular berm. And of course, the numerous pock marks above to the right, and below, the left 'Tunnel Entrance' label.
I don't know, but I do know it is not a series of entrances to some vast underground facility. It does not correspond to any type of nuclear plant I have ever looked at. I would like to know what is just below the bottom of the photo and especially off to the right. The areas from which the earth was bulldozed to produce the ramps are both obvious especially on the right hand ramp. The area just right of bottom center might be where another ramp was bulldozed just off picture to the bottom. Perhaps the MEK will provide us with an un-cropped photo for further analysis. But then a ramp facing away from the 'site' might not fit.
Obama seems to not want to upset teh Muslims most particularly Iran. Wonder why. To settle the issue lets get the IAEA in tehre right away no restrictions. If iran says no way, case made start bombing
If you are convinced, find a way around all the US-allied countries and those whose airspace is protected by the US and drop all the bombs you want. Then send in your own troops to see what you blew up. And you can then rebuild and govern the country for the next 60 years since you don't know how to end an occupation. Just make sure your troops and your anti-missiles and your ships and your air force are between Iranian retaliation and our people. And launch your own damn satellites since you can't trust ours.
They just want money. How many dissident Iraqis went back to Iraq? They never cared about Iraq.
If you look at the far right, you can see a road with clear tracks and centerline. Most dump trucks are about2.5 meters. Curving around inside to the left is a road which has not been bulldozed, merely driven. Just below and to the right of the mound labeled as a 'tunnel entrance' is a smaller road created by driving smaller vehicles, probably pickup truck sized.
And inside Cheyenne mountain, thirty-five levels down is a secret research facility that examines earth-descended cultures on other planets around the Galaxy. But don't tell this group or the Iranians about it.
And inside Cheyenne mountain they have 3 spacecraft with 27 aliens who eat only Edelweiss imported from my mountain here in the Swiss Alps. That is so secret, I fear for our wild mountain goats. Cheerio Mark, have a nice weekend.
Yes, Iran will obtain nuclear weapons, even if the mullahs are overthrown. Having spent about a quarter of the nations GDP on obtaining credible nuclear weapons capability, do you really think any Iranian regime would simply throw it all in the trash? Israel has illegally nuclear weapons, so Iran has also right to have nuclear arms to stop Israel.
so tell us tony, why then does ahmedinejad say they are not attempting nor want nor are even allowed by allah to possess nuclear weapons... you say clearly that this is what they are doing....so is ahmedinejad lying? are you lying? if he is, why?
Most of us in the free world are totally opposed to this disgusting campaign against Iran and the Iranian people. Just because Israel is paranoiac and wants to divert attention from its oppression of the Palestinians and human rights violations, doesn’t mean we have to support their quest for bombing a country that has done nothing wrong to them or anyone else. It is not Iran that’s the aggressive country in the ME. It is not Iran that has nuclear weapons in the ME. It is not Iran that should be boycotted but Israel.
I’ve seen this sort of thing on a quite a few occasions. Not every revolutionary is truly committed to the cause and neither is every disenfranchised person an innocent or unwitting victim of the evil usurper. People tell lies and spread misinformation for a multitude of reasons, we seem rather good at it, what do you think. I’m just curious.
or a kitty litter plant. Or a bakery.
Without even bothering to look at the photo? The folks at the NRO must have busted their guts looking at that. Any competent analyst would get the 'picture' in a minute or two.
The fact is that Barack Obama's administration is confused. They have lost their bearing in all policies: from middle east peace talk to New York Mosque saga, and then comes Pastor Jones threat to burn Islamic koran. Perhaps, the world is in a situation of collapsing. Thus, North Korea killed 56 South Koreans nationals, USA did notting; Iran is also about to have nuclear weapon US does not know the actual sites for such production. It is all about guessing. Third World War is on the corner and it will be catastrophic.
Actually that's also a guess, not a fact.
The Bush doctrine has done more to bring on a third world war than ANYTHING Obama has done or not done. Sometimes doing nothing is better than being firm but going in the wrong direction like Dubya and his inner circle of PNAC's that lied to the American public and the world concerning WMD's in Iraq. There has got to be a better way to deal with things than revenge, war and tax cuts for the 1/2 percenters that are the major benafactors in never ending war! PEACE EVER?
Actually, in the Photo the sun is past noon and shining from the mid-upper left side of the photo. How to figure out? Check the circular berm at the lower right. It has shadows on two sides, and reveals the sun-angle.
in the BHO/Clinton moves to appease the Ayatollahs. Three US citizens languish in an Iranian prison and the US does nothing while Americans taken hostage in N Korea become daily news fodder; hundreds are massacred in peaceful democracy demonstrations in Iran and BHO's silence was deafening; and a woman to be stoned doesn't even raise an eyebrow at the Islamist WH. All in BHO's vaunted effort to win over Muslim extremists in his effort to bow and make the US their subject
Lets be fair. Iran has already a problem with its latest centrifuges, the composite materials required cannot be made locally, less so imported. New underground facilities are therefore more than likely to house either weapons production, such as cruise missiles or other armaments that arrive in kit form. All this paranoia about nuclear warheads, is no more than assumptions by the naive. It takes decades to build such a weapon, advanced engineering with complex machinery. The Pakistan nuclear explosion was just that, an explosion. Same as the DPRK, only in this instance it was a dirty bomb. India, which has a vast and advanced engineering military industrial complex, is believed to have miniaturized a nuclear device onto a ICBM. Not to forget the Indian Navy has nuclear submarines and also an Aircraft Carrier. Truly, we are all somewhat brainwashed by so much advanced Iranian weaponry or technical prowess, by a country that cannot even build a cellphone or computer. The Regime struggles to contain a disenfranchised populace through threats, oppression and above all, thoughts of grandeur. The real problem, is feeding the people. For wheat is becoming scarce. Most people do not realize the true cost of building a nuclear device, well, that runs into many billions of dollars. Iran, may well have spent far too much, for now they have no credit, less so for food. I doubt whether even the regime can survive another drought. Good day.
has factories producing cell phones, is one of the cutting edge countries in nanotech, and is making greater contributions to the advancement of science than not only Israel, but a lot of EU states including Switzerland. You can check all of those out ( here's a link for the last one, to a Canadian site http://www.science-metrix.com/30years/index.html# ) or continue to be ignorant as you wish.
I am impressed by your prompt answer. Cutting edge in ....what... Nanotechnology,advancements in science.? Wow. Factories putting together Nokia Cellphones, I heard that they have developed a chip superior to Intel. Frito Lay...Regarding food production, well, you are quite correct, however there will be a bread shortage, I believe that there are many other shortages. Lets just keep it quiet, shall we. Salam.
Let me be clear, Iranian scientists have participated in experiments here in Geneve at the CERN particle accelerator. Furthermore Iranian scientists are also well ahead in all fields of medicine. Regarding computers, Iranian scientists have upgraded supercomputers, Iranian scientists have published many works of outstanding relevance. My point is, Iran is run by a dictatorial regime, that has cut funding in all aspects of human resource development and embarked on overspending or shall we say spending spree seeking the holy grail in nuclear warheads and weaponry whilst its citizens suffer, so much similar to the DPRK. Ok.! Now, we are clear. Salam.
an unreasonably hostile western world that has the incessantly whining Israel not to mention AIPAC demanding it do more.
My article needs some sunshine.
It is better to know the truth before the shock and awe starts. The world was told by the Bush administration that Iraq had WMD's, that Saddam had tried to buy yellow cake, etc., which turned out to be lies. It is refreshing to hear a little bit of honesty these days, coming from an administration.
or in the case could it be for real.
Israel made a very fateful decision in the 1950s to become the first nation to introduce nuclear arms to the Middle East. Nixon and Kissinger (Zionist jew) made and equally fateful decision to lend U.S. support to Israeli weapons of mass destruction. Now, the chickens are coming home to roostIsrael made a very fateful decision in the 1950s to become the first nation to introduce nuclear arms to the Middle East. Nixon and Kissinger (Zionist jew) made and equally fateful decision to lend U.S. support to Israeli weapons of mass destruction. Now, the chickens are coming home to roost.
will share their fate.
Dumbya Bush may believe it.
Actually, after getting burned several times by the MEK Bush stopped believing their endless exposes. I am sure the analysts at the National Reconnaissance Office have had some big laughs over this story.
you think saddam had no wmd's? he used them on his own people. ever heard of halabja? you think what the israelis bombed in 1981 was a chocolate factory? how many nuclear scientists did he have prior to the multilateral invasion in 199 and 2003? give me a break with this bs revisionism... had the WORLD not gone in, he would have reconstituted his nuke program and every serious nuclear watchdog knows this. Mark lincoln might like to THINK he knows what iran is up to, but tell me, why is mark lincoln a useless poster on a thread like this? you really think nuclear experts hang out here? I love his assessment of the photos...what a joke he is... the fact is, the US and the WORLD went into iraq and was FULLY justified in doing so. No "smoking gun" was needed....that was only as a result of the patheitc UN doing nothing and then stonewalling any action after over 16 UN resolutions had been disregarded by saddam and after he chemically bombed his own people and tortured themn for decades and invaded his neighbours....bush's only fault was not saying clearly, we dont need an actual nuclear weapon to know he is trying, to know he is a monster, to know he used wmd's already on his own people, to know he lobbed scuds unprovoked at israel, to know he invaded iraq, to know he and kofi annans son were subverting oil for food. Bush should have told the UN to stuff it. what a useless counter productive and cynical body it has become over the years.
The same neo-con prattle that plunged the world into the pit.......how boring.
You live in the 21st century (surprise, surprise) but you are using a name chosen in a novel for a character of the First century. Then you demonstrate that changes in eras, the lessons learned, the experiences gained, mean nothing to you. Saddam used poison gas on the Kurds BEFORE the FIRST Gulf War (1991), after which all his WMDs were given up and destroyed. Then came the SECOND Gulf War (2003), which the fake WMD scare was used to justify. Follow the time line? You don't consider this funny, but Nark Lincoln and I just have a healthier sense of history and of humor. Incidentally, do you like horse races? If I were you I will concentrate on that, not on politics.
Tell me, smart guy, how come Libya's declarations on its nuclear weapons totally shook up the intelligence community ? Do you think that the N. Koreans would sell to Libya but skip Iraq ? No, in a real world once you go one a sales trip selling equipment you knock on all doors in the neighborhood. Saddam had the reason, the means and the intent to acquire WMDs. Just because they were never found does not mean that the WMD were not there before the invasion. They could have been simply moved to friendly neighboring Arab countries in a disassembled condition to be reconstituted at some point in the future.
to countries that break their resolutions? If so, Israel is in big big trouble. For Saddam's 16 resolutions pale in comparison to Israel's 224. What would you like the UN to do to those countries ignoring their resolutions? Impose sanctions? Bomb them? If it was justified for Iraq, why not Israel?
The photo was in yesterday's Washington Post. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/checkpoint-washington/2010/09/dissident_group_says_iran_has.html
No coordinates just the photo provided by the MEK to the press.
what a joke. Obama's admin will do anything it can to obscure the truth in the runup to november. It's a disgrace how the obama admin will lie bold face in order to protect its failed muslim/iran outreach.
Anyone who took a good close up look at the satellite photo released by the MEK (NCRI) would have noticed that two of the 'tunnel entrances were revealed by their shadws to be ramps ending in level sections standing above the ground (center left, upper right). One is a ramp without a level extension (lower right). The fourth, has a low circular berm with a ramp or conveyer belt extending up to a low heap of dirt. None of the alleged 'Tunnel Entrances are in fact tunnel entrances. All are revealed by their shadows as extending above, not into the earth.
Think about all the work they put in trying to come up with this "secret" documents,only to be told "nothing new here"..Think of all the real "contacts" in Iran they've burned in the process of getting this info(And i kinda have a feeling they were fed this info by Iranian intelligence,to make them look silly).Looks like someones really trying hard to start a war with Iran.Only thing is that, the US seems to have learned lessons from "dissident groups",like curveball...Please Haaretz,don't be fall into the sensational journalism that's taking over most of the western media.Continue to be objective..Shalom!!!
the dissident group is a spy ring ala MKO which is a terrorist organization. MKO is supported by israel and the US.
Will that do?
A mine?
With war mongers lurking, any important infrastructure.
Naturally, only if they are in the countries you dislike. There can be hundreds of reasons from non-nuclear testing labs to mining facilities. Conversely, the nuclear facilities are by far not always very remote or "under a mountain". Why, Zaider, you seem to be the only person around this planet who hasn't seen Vanunu's photos of Dimona Center.
Iran has actually been in real Missile War with staggering fatalities. They learned to put EVERYTHING in hardened facilities, because missiles and bombers can fly right over front lines. Nothing is safe, nuclear or not. It is an entirely rational response the the very real threat they face. What is irrational is your brand of Chicken Little fear of nukes hiding in every shadow. It is pure paranoia that you refuse to believe US intel on the site, and instead continue on with this idea that it MUST be a nuke site anyways.
NORAD is a command & control center for all NATO members that requires strategic control of all communications of all members at one location. Iran is a 3-d world country and they may a have a need to secure communications between the politburo of all the head mullahs and its Revolutionary Revolutionary Guard. What you do not understand is that to build an big underground facility as reported takes billions of dollars by the time you equip it. So it has to be something really important. That is why I posed a question asking for suggestions as to any serious reasons whatever they me be. So far, I received no qualified answer.
Cheyenne Mountain is right beside Colorado Springs and Fort Carson. Not at all far from major populations. p.s. look at the photo provided by the MEK and you will notice that it is relatively flat ground.
For the last 4 years, the facility has been renamed the 'Cheyenne Mountain Directorate' and kept on standby status with it's major functions transferred to Peterson Air Force Base which is a 'soft' target.
When American troops arrived, they discovered that the 'baby milk' factory in Baghdad was a formula factory, not a biological weapons plant. But then we knew that before we hit it because the French firm which had built it had given us the plans.
That was a splat in the face, I am sure the Iranians must be having a good laugh at this and they deserve to laugh at this kind of a report. I say lets take this opportunity and send the Iranians some pure love and after a period of time I am sure they will send love to us too and not Missiles . : )
Who,then, is likely hiding the truth?.....Israel or Iran? Israel has the bombs BUT Iran has never been proven to even be buuilding them. Israel has been lying for many years and it and it's US lackies (Israel owns the US Congress and parts of its population) continues to beat the drums of war.......for what purpose? It assist Israel in its hegemony over the entire ME. People are finally waking up.
Israel does not have hegemony over the ME. Israel is a small state the size of New Jersey. The ME is a vast territory with independent states. These states are doing quite poorly. The people are oppressed by their own leaders, and are largely very poor. The ME countries are independent and doing a great job on their own.