Iran and the EU

From Reuters :

European Union president Austria said on Friday Iran has until the Group of Eight (G8) summit in July to consider an offer of incentives to suspend its nuclear enrichment program.

I assume they'll make another incentive offer in mid-July after Iran tells the EU where to stick it.

Iran, Again

So, Iran is at it again. As the AP reports:

Iran's president has thrown a new wrinkle into the nuclear debate by claiming his country is testing a centrifuge that could be used to more speedily create fuel for power plants or atomic weapons.

But some analysts familiar with the country's technology said Monday that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could be deliberately exaggerating Iran's capabilities, either to boost his own political support or to persuade the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency to back off.

Prediction: President Bush has used up all his political capital. The Dems are too wimpy to treat this threat with the methods necessary to end the danger. The Israelis will have to go in and do the deed. Prime Minister Olmert needs to form the new government and look good in the process. His platform includes giving up the West Bank to Hamas. He needs to look tough somewhere, especially after the bombings during this Passover season. According to Arutz Sheva (Israel National News):

A suicide blast in Tel Aviv that killed at least 9 Israelis and wounded over 60 others is not an isolated PA terror incident, but rather part of a larger-scale war against Israel organized by Iran...

"Iran is the paymaster for Hamas, as well as for Islamic Jihad and Al Aksa Martyr’s Brigades..."

In addition to funding Hamas’ rogue regime, Ahmadinejad has been continuously calling for the eradication of Israel. This week the Iranian President referred to Israel as a "rotten tree," pledging to remove the "threat on the Islamic world" posed by Israel.

The IDF will come in and strategically remove all suspected sites before June 30 this year.

Iran , Israel

Same Old... Stuff

The Palestinian Authority’s new foreign minister, Mahmoud Al-Zahar, is spouting off again. The leader of the extremely successful hate-group/terrorist organization/political party, Hamas, blabbed to a Chinese newspaper that:

I dream of hanging a huge map of the world on the wall at my Gaza home which does not show Israel on it.

This, right after Iranian Prime Minister Mahmoud Ahmadinejad swore he would "wipe Israel off the map."

This along with a nice new twist in suicide bombing. An Arab terrorist of Fatah's Al-Aksa Brigade, dressed up as a religious Jew. He hitched a ride from four Jewish men. Then, the terrorist hitchhiker blew himself along with the Jewish men.

In the US, we read stories like this and shake our heads and say something like, "this is too bad... why do people hate each other so much?" Then we go on watching our NASCAR or listening on our IPODs, never realizing that this is typical Islam and the US could see such attacks soon. They've happened all over the former Soviet Union. Remember the elementary school taken over last year by Muslim terrorists? The first day of school, and they go on a killing spree after a siege. Remember the bombs in the trash bins around Moscow? If it can happen there, where there is considerably less interest in religious rights, it can certainly happen in the US.

Iran , Israel

Iran's New Torpedo

What would the week be like without another story out of Iran.

Iran conducted its second major test of a new missile within days on Sunday, firing a high-speed torpedo it said no submarine or warship can escape at a time of increased tensions with the U.S. over its nuclear program. The tests came during war games that Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have been holding in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea since Friday. On the maneuvers' first day, Iran said it successfully tested the Fajr-3 missile, which can avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads.

The Iranians could have naval supremacy in the Persian Gulf - a major artery for oil shipments. This can't be a good thing for oil supplies.

Gen. Ali Fadavi, deputy head of the Revolutionary Guards' navy, said the ships that fire the Iranian-made Hoot had radar-evading technology and that the torpedo - moving at 223 miles per hour - was too fast to elude.

"It has a very powerful warhead designed to hit big submarines. Even if enemy warship sensors identify the missile, no warship can escape from this missile because of its high speed," Fadavi told state television.

The Hoot's speed would make it about three or four times faster than a normal torpedo and as fast as the world's fastest known underwater missile, the Russian-made VA-111 Shkval, developed in 1995. It was not immediately known if the Hoot was based on the Shkval.

Most people, even Democrats, acknowledge that Iran is going to be a problem that won't go away on its own. I imagine President Bush dreamed of Benjamin Netanyahu winning the Prime Minister spot in Israel, as Netanyahu seems to be one of the few politicians with the intestinal fortitude to put an end to this menace. Ehud Olmert and Kadima party, with their victory at the ballot box last week, put an end to this dream.

The U.N. Security Council has demanded Iran give up uranium enrichment, a crucial part of the nuclear process. Washington is pressing for sanctions if Tehran continues its refusal to do so, though U.S. officials have not ruled out military action as an eventual option, insisting they will not allow Iran to gain a nuclear arsenal.

Iran's hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has warned that the United States will "suffer" if it takes action against its nuclear program. Some have seen that as a threat to increase militant action in the region or turn to the oil weapon, though Iranian oil officials have ruled out any squeeze in supplies.

It should be an interesting spring and summer.

Iran

Diplomacy and Iran

President Bush announced that we need to achieve a "diplomatic" solution to the situation in Iran.

That's good. I was afraid he might try to fix the problem.

Iran Will Not Suspend Nuclear Research

It is no big shock, but Iran's foreign minister reiterated that his country will not suspend nuclear research (i.e. building a nuclear bomb).

I have two questions buzzing around in my head.

First, which country will take out the "research" facilities? US or Israel? Or, perhaps, a third country?

Second, how soon will this happen? My guess is some kind of attack will take place by April, but since I am not prophetic nor do I have access to top secret spy data and Defense Deparment planning, I have no idea.

Tags: Iran