Israel Warns of Iran Nuke Capability in Three Years
Israel warned yesterday that Iran could resume uranium enrichment by March and have a nuclear weapons capability within three years, Reuters reported (see GSN, Dec. 9).
Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz provided the assessment in a closed-door briefing for an Israeli parliamentary committee, according to Reuters.
“If the Iranians continue now then they will be able to begin enriching uranium at the start of March,” Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Yuval Steinitz quoted Halutz as saying.
“It would take two to three years” for Iran to produce a nuclear bomb, Halutz told the officials (Megan Goldin, Reuters, Dec. 13).
Meanwhile, in a new barrage of anti-Israel rhetoric, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today for the first time publicly denied the Holocaust, calling it a “myth,” the Associated Press reported.
Ahmadinejad said that if the West believed the Holocaust happened, “then give a part of your own land in Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska to them so that the Jews can establish their country.”
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Berlin had summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires to make its protest “unmistakably clear.”
“I cannot hide the fact that this weighs on bilateral relations and on the chances for the negotiation process, the so-called nuclear dossier,” Steinmeier said. France, Germany and the United Kingdom have been preparing for renewed talks with Tehran.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Ahmadinejad’s remarks demonstrate “the mind-set of the ruling clique in Tehran and indicate clearly the extremist policy goals of the regime.”
“The combination of fanatical ideology, a warped sense of reality and nuclear weapons is a combination that no one in the international community can accept,” Regev said.
Even some Iranian conservatives have criticized Ahmadinejad’s rhetoric as damaging to Iran’s international image, according to AP. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, however, has supported Ahmadinejad’s calls for Israel’s destruction (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press/Washington Post, Dec. 14).
Israel has the means to defend itself and will not allow a second Holocaust, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said today.
“Thank God, Israel has the means at its disposal to bring about the downfall of this extremist regime in Iran. There will be no second ‘final solution,’” Raanan Gissin told Agence France-Presse.
“We hope that these extremist declarations will make the world wake up to the nature of this regime — especially the fact that Iran’s nuclear program and its support of international terrorism, represents not only a danger for Israel but for the entire Western civilization,” Gissin said (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Dec. 14).
Elsewhere, a senior Iranian official for the first time yesterday praised a Russian proposal to transfer Iran’s sensitive nuclear work to Russia, AFP reported.
“We salute all initiatives seeking to create an atmosphere of confidence, if Iran’s rights to peaceful nuclear activities are recognized,” said Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, the speaker of Iran’s parliament.
However, “during my visit, the question of uranium enrichment in Russia was not mentioned concretely,” said Adel, traveling in Moscow (Agence France-Presse/Khaleej Times, Dec. 14).
Ahmadinejad also criticized the United States for refusing to sell spare parts for civilian aircraft to Iran, AP reported.
Iranian officials have blamed a series of airline accidents on Washington, which maintains a general embargo on the country.
“No country is authorized to impose spare-part sanctions against another country. Nothing can justify this,” Ahmadinejad said.
He said the issue was at the heart of Iran’s distrust of Western promises to provide nuclear fuel, AP reported (Dareini, Associated Press, Dec. 14).
Ahmadinejad also vowed today not to compromise “one iota” on the nuclear dispute, AFP reported.
“We have experienced your attitude and we will no longer be duped by your lying propaganda,” he said (Agence France-Presse, Dec. 14).
Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz provided the assessment in a closed-door briefing for an Israeli parliamentary committee, according to Reuters.
“If the Iranians continue now then they will be able to begin enriching uranium at the start of March,” Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Yuval Steinitz quoted Halutz as saying.
“It would take two to three years” for Iran to produce a nuclear bomb, Halutz told the officials (Megan Goldin, Reuters, Dec. 13).
Meanwhile, in a new barrage of anti-Israel rhetoric, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today for the first time publicly denied the Holocaust, calling it a “myth,” the Associated Press reported.
Ahmadinejad said that if the West believed the Holocaust happened, “then give a part of your own land in Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska to them so that the Jews can establish their country.”
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Berlin had summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires to make its protest “unmistakably clear.”
“I cannot hide the fact that this weighs on bilateral relations and on the chances for the negotiation process, the so-called nuclear dossier,” Steinmeier said. France, Germany and the United Kingdom have been preparing for renewed talks with Tehran.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Ahmadinejad’s remarks demonstrate “the mind-set of the ruling clique in Tehran and indicate clearly the extremist policy goals of the regime.”
“The combination of fanatical ideology, a warped sense of reality and nuclear weapons is a combination that no one in the international community can accept,” Regev said.
Even some Iranian conservatives have criticized Ahmadinejad’s rhetoric as damaging to Iran’s international image, according to AP. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, however, has supported Ahmadinejad’s calls for Israel’s destruction (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press/Washington Post, Dec. 14).
Israel has the means to defend itself and will not allow a second Holocaust, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said today.
“Thank God, Israel has the means at its disposal to bring about the downfall of this extremist regime in Iran. There will be no second ‘final solution,’” Raanan Gissin told Agence France-Presse.
“We hope that these extremist declarations will make the world wake up to the nature of this regime — especially the fact that Iran’s nuclear program and its support of international terrorism, represents not only a danger for Israel but for the entire Western civilization,” Gissin said (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Dec. 14).
Elsewhere, a senior Iranian official for the first time yesterday praised a Russian proposal to transfer Iran’s sensitive nuclear work to Russia, AFP reported.
“We salute all initiatives seeking to create an atmosphere of confidence, if Iran’s rights to peaceful nuclear activities are recognized,” said Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, the speaker of Iran’s parliament.
However, “during my visit, the question of uranium enrichment in Russia was not mentioned concretely,” said Adel, traveling in Moscow (Agence France-Presse/Khaleej Times, Dec. 14).
Ahmadinejad also criticized the United States for refusing to sell spare parts for civilian aircraft to Iran, AP reported.
Iranian officials have blamed a series of airline accidents on Washington, which maintains a general embargo on the country.
“No country is authorized to impose spare-part sanctions against another country. Nothing can justify this,” Ahmadinejad said.
He said the issue was at the heart of Iran’s distrust of Western promises to provide nuclear fuel, AP reported (Dareini, Associated Press, Dec. 14).
Ahmadinejad also vowed today not to compromise “one iota” on the nuclear dispute, AFP reported.
“We have experienced your attitude and we will no longer be duped by your lying propaganda,” he said (Agence France-Presse, Dec. 14).
posted by Marko at 12/15/2005 09:25:00 AM
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