WAR Main Persian Gulf Trouble thread

jward

jward

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hmm.

Jason Brodsky
@JasonMBrodsky
20m

"At noon today, a loud noise was heard in most parts of Kerman, and some citizens say this incident was followed by the shaking of buildings in the city.”

Update: "The source of the loud noise heard in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman on Wednesday was the army’s disposal of expired military equipment, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, citing the city’s governor."
 
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Overnight protests rock Tehran, other Iranian cities, videos show​


3 minute read
February 17, 2023
3:40 PM CST
Last Updated 9 hours ago

Feb 17 (Reuters) - Protests rocked Iran again overnight Thursday after seeming to have dwindled in recent weeks, with marchers calling for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic, online video posts purportedly showed on Friday.
The marches in numerous cities including Tehran that began on Thursday evening and went on into the night marked 40 days since the execution of two protesters last month.
Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Mohammad Hosseini were hanged on Jan. 8. Two others were executed in December.

Register for free to Reuters and know the full story​

The protests that have swept across Iran began last September after the death in custody of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini for flouting the hijab policy, which requires women to entirely cover their hair and bodies.
Videos on Friday showed demonstrations in several neighbourhoods in Tehran as well as in the cities of Karaj, Isfahan, Qazvin, Rasht, Arak, Mashhad, Sanandaj, Qorveh, and Izeh in Khuzestan province.

Latest Updates​

Reuters was able to confirm three of the videos on the protests in Zahedan and one of those in Tehran.
An online video purportedly from the holy Shi'ite city of Mashhad in the northeast showed protesters chanting: "My martyred brother, we shall avenge your blood."
Other videos showed large protests on Friday in Zahedan, capital of southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province, home to Iran's Baluchi minority.
Meanwhile, the judiciary said a court had dismissed and jailed a police commander accused of raping a girl. The
incident fuelled anger ahead of protests on Sept. 30 which faced a crackdown in Zahedan in which at least 66 people were killed, according to Amnesty International. read more
The long wave of unrest has posed one of the strongest challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution. Openly defying the hijab rules, women have waved and burned their scarves or cut their hair.
While the unrest appeared to have tapered off in recent weeks, probably because of the executions or the crackdown, acts of civil disobedience have continued.

[1/5] People take part in a protest in Zahedan, Iran in this screen grab taken from a social media video released February 17, 2023 and obtained by Reuters. VIDEO OBTAINED BY REUTERS
Nightly anti-government chants reverberate across Tehran and other cities. Youths spray graffiti at night denouncing the republic or burn pro-government billboards or signs on main highways. Unveiled women appear in the streets, malls, shops and restaurants despite warnings from officials.

Many of the women among the dozens of recently released prisoners have posed unveiled in front of cameras.
Authorities have not backed down on the compulsory hijab policy, a pillar of the Islamic Republic.
In recent weeks Iranian media have reported closures of several businesses, restaurants and cafes for failure to observe the hijab rules.
Last week, Iranian officials called on trade unions for stricter enforcement of hijab regulations in Tehran’s stores and businesses.
"Improperly" veiled female students were warned last month they would be barred from entering Tehran University, while local media reported that about 50 students were prevented from entering Urmia University in the northwest for flouting the hijab rules.

Rights activists say more than 500 protesters have been killed since September, including 71 minors. Nearly 20,000 have been detained. At least four people have been hanged, according to the judiciary.
Karami, a 22-year-old karate champion, and Hosseini were convicted of killing a member of the Basij paramilitary force militia.
Amnesty International said the court that convicted Karami relied on forced confessions. Hosseini's lawyer said his client had been tortured.
Two others were executed on Dec. 8 and 12 respectively.
Five women activists released on Thursday said they owed their freedom to the solidarity of "the freedom-loving people and youths of Iran", according to social media posts.
"The day of freedom is near," they said in a statement.
www.reuters.com

Overnight protests rock Tehran, other Iranian cities, videos show

Protests rocked Iran again overnight after seeming to have dwindled in recent weeks, online video posts purportedly showed.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com
 
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Has No Life - Lives on TB
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1627377036024074240
View: https://twitter.com/Faytuks/status/1627377036024074240

US envoy Nides: Israel ‘can do whatever they need’ on Iran, ‘and we’ve got their back’​

​

By CARRIE KELLER-LYNN Today, 7:47 pm
1
US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides says the Iran nuclear deal is currently on ice, as the US will not indirectly negotiate with Iran while it supplies Russia drones for use in the war in Ukraine.
“The Iranians are providing drones to Russia and those drones are killing innocent Ukrainians. There is no chance today of us going back to the negotiating table,” Nides tells the Conference of Presidents, at the group’s event in Jerusalem.
“As President [Joe] Biden has said, we will not stand by and watch Iran get a nuclear weapon, number one. Number two, he said, all options are on the table. Number three, Israel can and should do whatever they need to deal with and we’ve got their back,” Nides adds.

“The threat of a nuclear Iran is not just for Israel, it is for the Middle East and America. We are focused on this,” says the ambassador. “The cooperation between Israel and the US vis-a-vis Iran is lockstep. Every day.”
www.timesofisrael.com

US envoy Nides: Israel ‘can do whatever they need’ on Iran, ‘and we’ve got their back’

* * *
www.timesofisrael.com www.timesofisrael.com
 
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Faytuks News Δ
@Faytuks
46m

UN atomic agency inspectors have detected uranium that has been enriched to near weapons-grade in Iran in recent weeks. However, diplomats say they had been informed Iran doesn’t appear to be accumulating a stockpile of 84% material, three senior diplomats says - WSJ
“We are in close contact with our partners following reports that Iran may have enriched uranium to levels over 80%. If confirmed would be an unprecedented & extremely grave development", a senior European diplomat says - WSJ
On Saturday Blinken met with his British, French & German counterparts at the Munich Security Conference to discuss Iran's "nuclear escalation". Sources say the discussions were prompted in part by concerns on whether Iran was considering producing weapons-grade material - WSJ
 
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Iran International English
@IranIntl_En
18m

Replying to @IranIntl_En @esmaeilion and 3 others
Belgian lawmaker @FranckenTheo told the gathering of Iranians in Brussels, "I asked NATO Secretary General today whether he supports your rally, and he said NATO supports the Iranian people's cause, keep fighting. This is an important signal."
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1627656286933229571
View: https://twitter.com/IranIntl_En/status/1627656286933229571?s=20

"NATO Secretary General @jensstoltenberg told me that NATO supports a free Iran. As you know NATO is a very powerful Western military organization. So it's a very important pulse," @FranckenTheo told the rally of Iranian diaspora in Brussels.
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1627659230005104640
View: https://twitter.com/IranIntl_En/status/1627659230005104640?s=20
 
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Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
Uh oh.....

Posted for fair use.....
www.jpost.com

What does it mean that Iran got caught close to weaponized uranium?

The IAEA leaked on Sunday that Iran had enriched uranium up to 84% – dangerously close to the 90% threshold to weaponize uranium.
www.jpost.com www.jpost.com

What does it mean that Iran got caught close to weaponized uranium?​

The IAEA leaked on Sunday that Iran had enriched uranium up to 84% – dangerously close to the 90% threshold to weaponize uranium.​

By YONAH JEREMY BOB

Published: FEBRUARY 21, 2023 00:17

Over and over again, we need to learn new terminologies and pierce the veil of smoke and mirrors to understand what is happening with Iran.


The world is back in this position again after the IAEA leaked on Sunday that the Islamic Republic had enriched uranium up to 84%.


What on earth does 84% mean?

Even for observers who closely follow uranium enrichment statistics, the cut-offs are usually 3%, 5%, 20%, 60% and 90%. But 84%?

So from one perspective, what 84% means is obvious – it is very close to 90% - the all-important weaponized level which Tehran has been approaching since April 2021, but carefully avoided crossing.


From another perspective, it is still under that magic number so it is unclear if it means anything at all.


However, some nuclear experts, like Institute for Science and International Security Director David Albright have previously written that even uranium enriched to the 60% level over the last two years could be improvised to make a less powerful, but still extremely dangerous, nuclear weapon.



For those who stand with Albright on this issue, 84%, while not 90%, has real significance in terms of increased major danger.


What were the ayatollahs hoping to achieve by this new jump?


This is even harder to say.


How close is Iran to producing nuclear weapons?​

At the 20% and at 60% enrichment levels, Iran proudly proclaimed and acknowledged its new scientific advancement and prowess.


Yet, on Monday the Islamic Republic alternated between denying the whole story or with the message that if a small number of particles were accidentally enriched to 84%, this does not mean that the government chose to blow past the 60% ceiling it has observed for the last two years.


Given that Tehran has been so loud about its previous nuclear achievements, it is possible that it is telling the truth here.


Mistakes happen, and if they are in very small numbers and Iran agrees to downgrade the uranium particles in question in front of IAEA supervision, maybe this is a small blip.


This could also make sense since Iran has been practically begging to return to nuclear negotiations and is about to get hit by stronger EU sanctions and much deeper inflation.



But all of this is only from the narrow perspective of the last two years.


Before this time period, the Islamic Republic had a long history of concealing nuclear progress, lying about it when caught, and only much later admitting and trying to spin being caught, when it realized it had no choice.


Its major nuclear enrichment sites at Natanz and Fordow were both revealed against Iran’s concealment plans. And it still denies the validity of Mossad’s seizure of its secret nuclear archive – despite the spy agency bringing a huge volume of original documents back to Israel.


One very likely scenario is that the ayatollahs were trying to quietly enrich and hide a very small amount of uranium close to 90% to see if it could get away with. If it got away with it once, then maybe it would try again. Maybe at a later date, it would present crossing the 90% threshold as a fait accompli to try to prevent the world from reacting.


An even worse scenario would be that Iran is currently enriched to levels beyond 60% in multiple places, and that what the IAEA caught is just the tip of the iceberg. Previously, top Israeli and US officials have told the Jerusalem Post that there would be an aggressive policy shift against Iran if it ever crossed the 90% weaponized threshold.


At a minimum, this was expected to lead to a referral to the UN Security Council if not more covert, or even overt, kinetic actions against Iran.

There are no signs of such a shift around a day after this latest revelation.


This could be because the West and Israel are still deciding what has happened and what it means about Iran’s intentions, especially given estimates that its weapons group needs another 6-24 months to develop actually deliverable nuclear weapons.


Or it could mean that everyone has been caught again by the Islamic Republic unprepared for the next move.
 
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Iran Says IAEA Inspectors In Tehran To Resolve 'Ambiguities'​


Iran International​



Inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog are in Tehran to resolve "ambiguities", Iranian media quoted the country's nuclear chief as saying on Wednesday.

"Officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency are in Tehran and have been starting negotiations, visits and checks ... Ambiguities created by an inspector are being resolved," the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Eslami was quoted by Tasnim news website affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard.

Last week, the UN nuclear watchdog said it was discussing the results of recent verification activities with Iran after Bloomberg News reported that the agency had detected uranium enriched to 84% purity, which is close to weapons grade.
So far, the IAEA has not reported if it has dispatched any officials to Tehran to resolve the issue with enrichment.
A spokesperson for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization denied the report on Monday and said Tehran's uranium enrichment did not exceed 60% purity.

"Through interactions and coordination, we are preventing the rise of new ambiguities and disruptions to our cooperation with the agency," Eslami was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
If the UN watchdog officially confirms the existence of 84-percent enriched uranium in Iran, the European signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal, the JCPOA, the United Kingdom, France and Germany can initiate the agreement’s ‘trigger mechanism’ at the UN Security Council to reinstate international sanctions suspended in 2015.

Since the US withdrawal from a 2015 nuclear deal in 2018, Iran has gradually started going beyond the pact's nuclear curbs and enriching uranium to up to 60% purity in April 2021.
www.iranintl.com

Iran Says IAEA Inspectors In Tehran To Resolve 'Ambiguities'

Inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog are in Tehran to resolve "ambiguities", Iranian media quoted the country's nuclear chief as saying on Wednesday.
www.iranintl.com www.iranintl.com
 
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Iran International English
@IranIntl_En
36m

#BREAKING A helicopter carrying Iran's sports minister and his entourage has crashed while landing in a stadium in Baft, Kerman province, southeastern Iran. Iranian media reports say the minister and some of his companions have been injured.
Iran International English
@IranIntl_En
5m

#BREAKING Esmaeil Ahmadi, an advisor to Iran's sports minister, has died in the chopper crash, according to a local hospital official.
Iran's Red Crescent says 16 passengers of the chopper including the minister have been wounded and transferred to the hospital.
 
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Iran's threat to Israel increases if it supplies air defense to Syria​


By SETH J. FRANTZMAN​

Reports that Iran may supply Syria with an air defense system represent a potential new threat in Syria.
This is because Iranian air defense systems can provide cover for other types of Iranian entrenchment in Syria. Iran has tried to move air defense systems to Syria over the last several years. However, recent reports show Tehran is openly announcing that it could send Damascus a system.

Iranian state media made the announcement Friday. It comes amid praise in Iranian media for the Iranian armed forces and IRGC. It also comes as Iran has supplied Russia with drones and there are reports of closer Russia-Iran cooperation. Iran is also continuing to enrich uranium and this is part of the larger Iranian tensions in the region.
Iranian state television said that "Syria needs to rebuild its air defense network and requires precision bombs for its fighter planes.” The report went on to say that “it is very likely that we will witness the supply by Iran of radars and defense missiles, such as the 15 Khordad system, to reinforce Syria's air defenses.”

What are the implications of Iranian air defense systems in Syria?​

The announcement has created a buzz on social media among experts, commentators and Iran watchers.
The overall assessment is that this is important for Syria and will increase its air defenses. It has implications for Syria as it does outreach to the region, especially after Bashir al Assad, the regime leader, visited Oman this week. Also, it has implications for Russia’s role in Syria, potentially for Turkey and the US's role, and also Israel’s policy of preventing Iranian entrenchment in Syria.
Abdolrasool Divsallar, a visiting Prof. at the Università Cattolica and Non-Resident Scholar at the Middle East Institute tweeted “Iranian state TV claims Tehran is selling EW and air defense systems to Syria, including 3-Khordad SAMs. There were many considerations in Tehran opposing this decision. Yet seems that finally Tehran is decided. If happens, it will take Iran-Israel confrontation to another level."

Other assessments of the news included claims that the system is very capable and that it can detect things out to 150km using radar, and engage targets at 45-75km. The system is mounted on the back of a truck, like other air defense systems. Each truck carried four launchers and the system can supposedly counter numerous threats at the same time. It uses a missile called the Sayyad 3. Some assessments see it as an improvement on the S-300, the Russian-made system.
Russia had said it would provide Syria with the S-300 back in 2018 but it’s not clear if and how the regime has used that system. Syria generally relies on the S-200, Pantsir and other systems that have proven inadequate. This is supposed to represent a “qualitative” kind of support by Iran, increasing Syria’s military abilities much more than in the past. It’s not clear how many air defense systems the regime might get, ostensibly the reports indicate several systems would be sent. It is also not clear if and when they will be delivered or if Iran already tried to deliver them.

Syria hopes earthquakes will attract foreign aid ​

The Syrian regime has sought to use the earthquake that harmed northwestern Syria as a way to attract more foreign aid and also get around sanctions. It has received support in the region and is making new connections in the Gulf. In addition, the Syrian regime would like to possibly use the aid support as a way to hide deliveries of weapons from places like Iran.

In the past, Iran trafficked weapons to Syria via Iraq and moved the arms to Hezbollah. Iran also tried to fly munitions and systems to places like T-4 base. Iran has also sought to move munitions through Damascus.
The Khordad 15 system was first unveiled in 2019 and Iran boasted at the time that the new system could trace 6 targets at the same time, including jets, drones and other threats.
"Iran will increase its military capabilities to protect its national security and interests, and it will not ask permission from anyone on this matter," said defense minister Amir Hatami at the time.
Police officers stand on the rubble of a damaged building at the site of a rocket attack, in central Damascus' Kafr Sousa neighborhood, Syria, February 19, 2023. (credit: FIRAS MAKDESI/REUTERS)

Iran signed an air defense pact with Syria in 2020. An article at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy noted in 2020 that “on July 8, Syrian defense minister Ali Abdullah Ayoub and Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, chairman of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, signed an agreement in Damascus to significantly expand bilateral military cooperation, especially in the field of air defense. Seeing a dual need to counter aerial threats against Iran and its allies while also undermining the coalition military presence in the Middle East, Tehran has developed a strategic vision that requires effective protection and (in time) denial of airspace. Toward that end, it has repeatedly proposed to augment Iraqi, Lebanese, and now Syrian air defense systems and integrate them with its own network.”

The article by Farzin Nadimi noted at the time that “Iran has a number of S-200, S-75/HQ-2, and 2K12 systems in service back home and has upgraded them over the years, so it could offer to upgrade Syria’s batteries as well. In addition, it could send Assad indigenously developed systems such as the Raad, Tabas, 15th of Khordad, Talash, and 3rd of Khordad.” The 3rd Khordad was used to shoot down a US Global Hawk drone in 2020. “Tehran might also intend to help Syria set up local production/assembly lines for such systems, most likely in underground facilities (similar production capabilities could conceivably be offered to Iraq or even Hezbollah),” the report noted.

“Iran’s longest-range and supposedly most-advanced air defense system, the Bavar-373, is still under development and has yet to enter full-scale production. Iran claims that the system is comparable to an American Patriot missile battery and superior to Russia’s S-300PMU-2, but for now, all it can offer Syria is to deploy an unproven example there for testing and evaluation purposes.”

The implications of Iran’s claims are clear, it wants to show that it can supply Syria with a system that is important and a potential game-changer. However, Iran has exaggerated its support for Syria in the past. Syria has also believed Russia would supply it with systems that have never materialized or had an impact. Iran’s latest claims could also end to be more smoke and mirrors.
 
H

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
jward said:
FLASH
@Flash_news_ua
11h

⚡️Iran has developed a cruise missile with a range of 1,650 km.
This was stated by the high-ranking commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.
The new development is likely to cause concern in the West following russia's use of Iranian drones in its war against Ukraine, – Reuters reports.
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1629489079761903616
View: https://twitter.com/Flash_news_ua/status/1629489079761903616?s=20
Click to expand...
Posted for fair use.....
euroweeklynews.com

Iran unveils 'undetectable' long-range cruise missile capable of hitting targets 1,650km away

Iran has 'undetectable' its new Paveh long-range cruise missile that is allegedly capable of hitting targets up to 1,650km away
euroweeklynews.com euroweeklynews.com

Iran unveils ‘undetectable’ long-range cruise missile capable of hitting targets 1,650km away​

By Chris King • 25 February 2023 • 21:33

The new Paveh long-range cruise missile unveiled by Iran is ‘undetectable’, and is allegedly capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 1,650km.​



​

Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s (IRGC) aerospace force, announced today, Saturday, February 25, that the new ‘Paveh’ long-range cruise missile has been put into operation. This ‘undetectable’ weapon is allegedly capable of striking targets at a distance of up to 1,650km (1,025 miles).

“Our cruise missile with a range of 1,650km has been added to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s missile arsenal”, the general revealed. Paveh is named in remembrance of the Iranian forces martyred in the Kurdistan province, he stated.

As reported by Tasnim News, Hajizadeh was speaking on Iran’s state television at the time. He also reiterated his desire to eliminate former US president Donald Trump to avenge the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in 2020.

According to the Iranian general, this missile is only activated once it is 300km from its target. This would make it ‘undetectable’ to anti-missile systems he pointed out. In addition, the Paveh could reach a speed of up to Mach 13, which is the equivalent of 16,052km/h.

The IRGC commander maintained that with the advent of this missile, Iran “has destroyed the 70-year air dominance” of the United States. He warned that Tehran is now capable of hitting US ships “up to 2,000km away”, as reported by the aforementioned media.

Referring to the US missile attack that killed Soleimani in 2020, Hajizadeh assured: “If we wanted to kill a thousand Americans tonight, we could have killed them, but we are looking to kill Trump”. He added that they also seek the death of former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the senior military commanders who gave the order for the strike.

The British secret services reported on Saturday that Russia had exhausted its stockpile of Iranian drones and would already be looking for ways to replenish these devices. “There have been no reports of Iranian suicide drone strikes in Ukraine since February 15, 2023,” the British Ministry of Defence said in a statement published on Twitter.

In addition, the report noted that at least 24 Iranian Shahed-136 drones had been shot down between the end of January and the beginning of February. To this total should be added to the ‘dozens’ of such devices shot down in the first days of the year it added.

“This lack of drone use indicates that Russia has probably run out of reserves. Russia will probably want to resupply”, it noted.

London acknowledged that: “these weapons do not have a good target destruction coefficient, but Russia surely sees them as useful decoys that can distract Ukrainian anti-aircraft defences from the much more effective Russian cruise missiles”.







Ministry of Defence

@DefenceHQ




United Kingdom government organization

Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 25 February 2023 Find out more about Defence Intelligence: http://ow.ly/L1eB50N2Fw8
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#StandWithUkraine
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10:53 PM · Feb 24, 2023
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https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1629374055152332801
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CIA Chief Warns Of Tehran-Moscow Military Ties, Iran Nuclear​


Iran International Newsroom​

Russia is proposing to help Iran on its missile program, CIA Director William Burns told CBS Sunday, while Tehran’s uranium enrichment program is far advanced.
In an interview on Face the Nation, Burns told Margaret Brennan that Iran’s military ties with Russia is “moving at a pretty fast clip in a very dangerous direction right now…”

At the same time, he said despite Iran’s uranium enrichment program which has advanced far and can produce bomb material in a matter of weeks, the United States believes a decision to produce nuclear weapons has not been made yet.
Manufacturing a bomb can be a more secretive process in comparison with enrichment, which the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is somewhat monitoring inside the country. While the enrichment installations are being monitored, the bomb-making process can take place in a completely separate and secret location.
The United States believes that Iran stopped its nascent weaponization program in 2003 when news about its secret nuclear program became public and Western powers began exerting pressure on Tehran.
“To the best of our knowledge, we don't believe that the Supreme Leader in Iran has yet made a decision to resume the weaponization program that we judge that they suspended or stopped at the end of 2003,” Burns said during the interview.

Iran began breaching an enrichment limit imposed by the Obama era JCPOA accord after the Trump administration imposed full oil export sanctions in 2019. First, Tehran began enriching to 5 percent, beyond the agreement’s 3.67-percent limit, but when the Biden administration signaled its readiness to revive the deal, Iran announced enrichment to 20 percent in early 2021.
As negotiations were taking place in Vienna that year, Iran increased enrichment to 60 percent, which is very close to the 90-percent purity needed for nuclear weapons.
This month Bloomberg reported that IAEA inspectors found 84-percent enriched uranium particles in an Iranian nuclear facility. The UN watchdog has not denied the report, while Tehran has said that unintentional over-enrichment can sometimes happen in the fast-spinning centrifuges.

Burns also warned that the close military ties between Moscow and Tehran can pose a threat not only to Ukraine but also to regional countries. Iran has already provided hundreds of Kamikaze drones that Russia has used against Ukraine. Burns revealed that Iran has also provided Russia with ammunition for artillery and tanks.
“Russia is proposing to help the Iranians on their missile program and also at least considering the possibility of providing fighter aircraft to Iran as well,” the CIA director said.
Iran already has medium-range missiles that could be modified to carry nuclear warheads but any Russian assistance in this regard could be extremely dangerous for the region and possibly beyond.
Israel has vowed that it will not tolerate a nuclear Iran and is preparing to use military force if needed to neutralize its nuclear program.

US officials have also been increasingly signaling that President Joe Biden will not tolerate a nuclear Iran, after JCPOA talks hit a dead-end in September. "If they start getting too close, too close for comfort, then of course we will not be prepared to sit idly by," US Special Representative for Iran Robert Malley told National Public Radio in November.
www.iranintl.com

CIA Chief Warns Of Tehran-Moscow Military Ties, Iran Nuclear

Russia is proposing to help Iran on its missile program, CIA Director William Burns told CBS Sunday, while Tehran’s uranium enrichment program is far advanced.
www.iranintl.com
 
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thenationalnews.com


Iranian threat is a ‘global challenge', US official warns​


Willy Lowry​

Iran’s growing involvement in Russia's war in Ukraine may have lasting implications for stability in the Middle East, a top US official said on Tuesday.
The warning from Dana Stroul, deputy assistant secretary of defence for the Middle East, comes as military ties deepen between Moscow and Tehran, which the US says has supplied Russia with drones, artillery and tank rounds.
“We are now at a point where Iranian threats are no longer specific to the Middle East, but a global challenge,” Ms Stroul said.

“That is a result of the increasing military co-operation between Iran and Russia and the illicit transfer by Iran to Russia of one-way attack drones that are being used in Ukraine to kill Ukrainian civilians.”
Western nations say Iran has supplied Russia with Shahed-136 drones that have helped Russia wreak havoc on Ukraine's power grid.
Iran has denied supplying drones to Russia.
The White House said Russia is considering supplying Iran with fighter jets and other military equipment. Ms Stroul expressed alarm over the flourishing military partnership.

“It is reasonable to expect that the tactics, techniques and procedures that the Iranians are learning and perfecting in Ukraine will one day come back to threaten our partners in the Middle East,” she told reporters during a virtual briefing.
On Monday, Russia launched another barrage of drones towards the capital Kyiv and the city of Khmelnytskyi in western Ukraine.
For years, Iran has been developing advanced drone technology often employed by the Houthi rebels in Yemen, but their growing influence outside the Middle East has US officials concerned.

Iran displays drones at secret underground base — in pictures​

Z2XKMWOKWE7FRKBRXH7AD7KKLQ.jpg


Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri, left, Iran's Armed Forces Chief of Staff, and Maj Gen Abdolrahim Mousavi, Army Commander-in-Chief, visit an underground drone base at an undisclosed location in Iran. AFP


Updated: February 28, 2023, 11:33 AM
www.thenationalnews.com

Iranian threat is a ‘global challenge', US official warns

Tehran has been funnelling military support to Russia in Ukraine
www.thenationalnews.com www.thenationalnews.com
 
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Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
Hummm......

Posted for fair use.....
stream.org

Biden Admin Wants Allies to Keep Quiet as Iran Comes Closer Than Ever to Nuclear Capability - The Stream

The Biden administration is against European allies’ wishes to condemn Iran for enriching uranium to 84%, just shy of the level considered nuclear bomb-worthy, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing diplomats involved in the discussions.
stream.org stream.org

Biden Admin Wants Allies to Keep Quiet as Iran Comes Closer Than Ever to Nuclear Capability​


By MICAELA BURROW Published on March 2, 2023

The Biden administration is against European allies’ wishes to condemn Iran for enriching uranium to 84%, just shy of the level considered nuclear bomb-worthy, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing diplomats involved in the discussions.

The United Kingdom, France and Germany support censuring Iran, as European diplomats fear that Tehran breaking the nuclear weapons threshold could trigger the official end of the 2015 nuclear deal, according to the WSJ. However, Iran said the highly-enriched particles were produced unintentionally, and the Biden State Department wants to wait until an international watchdog organization concludes an investigation.

DCNF-small-e1561137528596-1.png


The U.S. is “going to continue to consult very closely with our partners to do what we believe will be most effective,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said at a briefing Wednesday, according to the WSJ.

Some European diplomats accused Washington of failing to take a firm stance as negotiations aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal sputtered to a standstill, the WSJ reported. The Biden administration is reluctant to ramp up consequences for Iran’s nuclear buildup, but at the same time unwilling to make the political and diplomatic concessions necessary to revive the pact, the diplomats said.

European countries want to pass a resolution condemning Iran’s nuclear development at an IAEA board of governors meeting next week, the WSJ reported. However, they are are unlikely to take official action without U.S. backing.

U.S. diplomats noted that America supported a historic resolution in November to censure Iran, according to the WSJ.

The IAEA is continuing discussions with Iran over what precipitated production of 84% enriched uranium, according to the WSJ. In addition, officials close to the organization could not discredit with certainty Iran’s claims the materials were accidentally enriched at near nuclear-capable levels, they told the outlet.

Please Support The Stream: Equipping Christians to Think Clearly About the Political, Economic, and Moral Issues of Our Day.
The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that Director General Rafael Grossi will travel to Tehran on Thursday for “high level meetings” with Iranian officials.

A portion of the report detailing the never-before-seen levels of uranium enrichment leaked to the media in the days prior. European officials called the report, which was later officially released by the IAEA, “an unprecedented and extremely grave development,” according to the WSJ.

The report also found that Iran is not stockpiling the 84% enriched nuclear material, although it continues to enrich uranium to 60% — a level still considered dangerous and unnecessary — at its Fordow nuclear plant.
Iran could generate large enough quantities of fissile material to construct a nuclear bomb in about 12 days, a top U.S. Department of Defense official told Congress on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

“I think there is still the view that if you could resolve this issue diplomatically and put constraints back on their nuclear program, it is better than the other options. But right now, the JCPOA is on ice,” Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said, referring to the nuclear agreement former President Donald Trump slashed in 2018, according to Reuters.
 
jward

jward

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Israel’s Window to Strike Iran Narrows as Putin Enters Equation​


Ethan Bronner​

Iran is seeking sophisticated new air-defense systems from Russia that Israeli officials believe will narrow the window for a potential strike on Tehran’s nuclear program, according to people familiar with the matter.
The prospect of Iran getting the systems, the S-400s, would accelerate a decision on a possible attack, people in Israel and the US with knowledge of the discussions said.
Russia hasn’t said publicly if it will supply the weapons, but Moscow and Tehran have drawn closer since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. It would take less than two years for the S-400s to be operational.
“The longer you wait, the harder that becomes,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said of a strike on Iran at a security conference in Tel Aviv last week. “We’ve waited very long. I can tell you that I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.”

Such open threats — daily occurrences now in Israel — are a complex mix of intent and messaging aimed at Tehran and Washington although Israel bombed nuclear sites in Iraq in 1981 and Syria in 2007. An open military conflict with Iran could trigger an unparalleled regional conflagration affecting global oil supplies.
Russia has offered Iran “unprecedented defense cooperation, including on missiles, electronics and air defense” and may provide Tehran with fighter jets, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said last Friday.
The Kremlin and the Russian Defense Ministry didn’t respond to requests for comment, Netanyahu’s office declined to comment.

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No One Wants War With Iran: Qatar Sheikh

No One Wants War With Iran: Qatar Sheikh
Concern has grown over Iran’s nuclear work since international monitors detected uranium enriched to 84% purity — just below the 90% needed for weapons. By the end of 2023, Iran will have enough uranium enriched to 60% to produce 10 bombs, according to a senior Israeli official and a former senior US official.

Understanding the Shadow War Between Israel and Iran: QuickTake
Israel continues to hope the US will take the lead on any possible strike and while the Biden administration hasn’t ruled out military action, it prefers diplomacy.
Iran accuses Israel of assassinating its nuclear scientists, most recently as in late 2020, as well as hacking and other nuclear sabotage. Israel doesn’t publicly own up to them but they are widely acknowledged by officials both in the US and in Israel.
Iran Says It Arrested Spy Ring Over Attempted Nuclear Sabotage

Iran says its decades-long atomic program is for peaceful purposes, but Western powers say it’s building the capabilities to make a nuclear bomb.

Drones and Fighter Jets​

In December, the US said Russia was deepening military backing for Iran in return for Iranian supplies of drones for Moscow’s war on Ukraine. The next month, an Iranian lawmaker said Tehran expects a delivery of Su-35 fighter jets from Russia by mid-March.
Russia has very good ties with Iran and Tehran is looking for more support, said Elena Suponina, a Moscow-based Middle East expert.
After the US and five other powers signed a deal with Iran in 2015 restricting its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, Russia sold it a less advanced air defense system, the S-300s. The nuclear deal fell apart in 2018 when President Donald Trump withdrew the US.

The S-400s, which can hit aerial targets at a range of up to 250 kilometers (150 miles), would create a “red zone for high-altitude aircraft,” said Jeremy Binnie, Middle East defense expert at Janes, the UK-based defense intelligence firm.
“The more air defenses they have, the more difficult it is to hit them,” said Yossi Kuperwasser, a former top Israeli military intelligence official and now a senior researcher at the Israel Defense and Security Forum, an association of former and reserve members of the security forces. “We are analyzing when is the most convenient time to take action.”

Iran's Advancing Nuclear Program​


The country's stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% purity levels has swelled

Source: IAEA data compiled by Bloomberg

Israel has been here before. In 2015, Israeli TV played recorded conversations with Ehud Barak, who was Netanyahu’s defense minister in 2012, speaking explicitly of plans to attack Iran that were shelved after discussions with the US.
Iran’s Nuclear Inventory Surges Amid Enriched Uranium Probe

Israeli officials are watching not only Iran’s ability to withstand an air attack but its capacity to build a nuclear bomb.
They calculate that once Iran decides to weaponize, “it’s anything between 18 to 24 months for them to build the first warhead,” Mark Dubowitz, head of the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which supports measures to counter Iran, said in an interview in Tel Aviv.
After Joe Biden defeated Trump, his administration tried to revive the Iran nuclear deal but blamed Tehran for walking away. US Ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, recently indicated understanding for Israel’s approach.
“Israel can and should do whatever they need to deal with (Iran) and we’ve got their back,” he said at an event on Feb. 19.

The US and Israel recently held highly publicized military exercises in the Mediterranean, the largest ever drills between the two allies in a demonstration of aerial force.
New US-built air refueling aircraft which the Israelis are due to receive by 2025 would significantly increase their long-range capability, said Binnie at Janes.
Gulf nations would be at some risk but many are hoping Israel will act — even if it only sets back Iranian nuclear ambitions for a few years, said Riad Kahwagi, founder and chief executive officer of INEGMA, a Dubai-based security research group.
— With assistance by Jonathan Tirone, Courtney McBride, Jenny Leonard and Jordan Fabian
www.bloomberg.com

Israel’s Window to Strike Iran Narrows as Putin Enters Equation

Iran seeks S400 air defenses from Russia which would make an attack harder
www.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com
 
H

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
Posted for fair use.....
pjmedia.com

12 Days to Armageddon: Iran Poised to Enter the Nuclear Age

A Defense Dept. official told a House committee hearing on Wednesday that Iran was
pjmedia.com pjmedia.com

NEWS & POLITICS

12 Days to Armageddon: Iran Poised to Enter the Nuclear Age​

BY RICK MORAN 11:09 AM ON MARCH 02, 2023

While the attention of the United States and most western countries is on Ukraine, another major threat has been growing in Iran and may now have become irreversible.



It’s not a new threat. Iran’s nuclear program has been watched as carefully as a closed, paranoid nation can be watched. But much of the work on Iran’s nuclear weapons program can’t be discovered via spy satellites or other national technical means like listening devices. So when a glimmer of light is shone on their nuclear program, it’s generally a cause for worry.

Colin Kahl, the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, told a House committee hearing on Wednesday that Iran was “about 12 days” from having the capability to build one nuclear bomb. The 12 days is the “breakout” time for an Iranian nuclear bomb — a time period that has declined steadily since the George W. Bush presidency, when the CIA tried to tell us that Iran didn’t have a nuclear bomb program.

“Because Iran’s nuclear progress since we left the JCPOA has been remarkable. Back in 2018, when the previous administration decided to leave the JCPOA, it would have taken Iran about 12 months to produce one bomb’s worth of fissile material. Now it would take about 12 days,” Kahl, the third-ranking Defense Department official, told lawmakers.

In fact, despite evidence that Iran has now been able to enrich uranium to the bomb-grade level of 87%, the CIA is still saying Iran hasn’t resumed the nuclear weapons program that it stopped in 2003. They never get around to explaining why any nation would need highly enriched uranium to a level of 87% and what they might use it for if not a bomb.


Associated Press:

The IAEA report described inspectors discovering on Jan. 21 that two cascades of IR-6 centrifuges at Iran’s Fordo facility had been configured in a way “substantially different” to what had been previously declared. The IAEA took samples the following day, which showed particles up to 83.7% purity, the report said.
“Iran informed the agency that ‘unintended fluctuations’ in enrichment levels may have occurred during the transition period,” the IAEA report said. “Discussions between the agency and Iran to clarify the matter are ongoing.”
Click to expand...
The IR-6 centrifuges are third-generation machines that can spin up uranium hexafluoride to a highly enriched state far more efficiently and quickly than previous models. The nuclear agreement allowed Iran to use these advanced machines even though their purpose was to enrich uranium to 60% or more.

As for their “explanation” — “Gee, mom, we didn’t mean to like, actually, you know, like, make a nuclear bomb or anything.”

“Unintended fluctuations,” my ass.

A spokesman for Iran’s civilian nuclear program, Behrouz Kamalvandi, also sought last week to portray any detection of uranium particles enriched to that level as a momentary side effect of trying to reach a finished product of 60% purity. However, experts say such a great variance in the purity even at the atomic level would appear suspicious to inspectors.
Click to expand...
Meanwhile, Israel’s window to attack Iran’s nuclear infrastructure is closing fast. It appears that Iran and Russia have struck a deal for Russia to send Tehran their top-of-the-line S-400 anti-aircraft defensive system.


“The longer you wait, the harder that becomes,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said of a strike on Iran at a security conference in Tel Aviv last week. “We’ve waited very long. I can tell you that I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.”

Related: Iranian Mullahs Ratchet Up Threats to Kill Trump

In 2003, President George Bush was very close to destroying Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. This was before the nuclear facility at Nantanz had been placed underground and the Fordor complex hardened. But Bush decided to heed the CIA’s analysis that there was nothing to bomb.

The date when Israel is going to try to destroy Iranian nuclear infrastructure is not far off. Prime Minister Netanyahu is not going to listen to Joe Biden despite the threat of an aid cutoff. And with Russian President Vladimir Putin getting closer to Iran, the possibility of a regional war, if not a world war, becomes a frightening prospect.
 
H

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
jward said:

Israel’s Window to Strike Iran Narrows as Putin Enters Equation​


Ethan Bronner​

Iran is seeking sophisticated new air-defense systems from Russia that Israeli officials believe will narrow the window for a potential strike on Tehran’s nuclear program, according to people familiar with the matter.
The prospect of Iran getting the systems, the S-400s, would accelerate a decision on a possible attack, people in Israel and the US with knowledge of the discussions said.
Russia hasn’t said publicly if it will supply the weapons, but Moscow and Tehran have drawn closer since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. It would take less than two years for the S-400s to be operational.
“The longer you wait, the harder that becomes,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said of a strike on Iran at a security conference in Tel Aviv last week. “We’ve waited very long. I can tell you that I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.”

Such open threats — daily occurrences now in Israel — are a complex mix of intent and messaging aimed at Tehran and Washington although Israel bombed nuclear sites in Iraq in 1981 and Syria in 2007. An open military conflict with Iran could trigger an unparalleled regional conflagration affecting global oil supplies.
Russia has offered Iran “unprecedented defense cooperation, including on missiles, electronics and air defense” and may provide Tehran with fighter jets, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said last Friday.
The Kremlin and the Russian Defense Ministry didn’t respond to requests for comment, Netanyahu’s office declined to comment.

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No One Wants War With Iran: Qatar Sheikh

No One Wants War With Iran: Qatar Sheikh
Concern has grown over Iran’s nuclear work since international monitors detected uranium enriched to 84% purity — just below the 90% needed for weapons. By the end of 2023, Iran will have enough uranium enriched to 60% to produce 10 bombs, according to a senior Israeli official and a former senior US official.

Understanding the Shadow War Between Israel and Iran: QuickTake
Israel continues to hope the US will take the lead on any possible strike and while the Biden administration hasn’t ruled out military action, it prefers diplomacy.
Iran accuses Israel of assassinating its nuclear scientists, most recently as in late 2020, as well as hacking and other nuclear sabotage. Israel doesn’t publicly own up to them but they are widely acknowledged by officials both in the US and in Israel.
Iran Says It Arrested Spy Ring Over Attempted Nuclear Sabotage

Iran says its decades-long atomic program is for peaceful purposes, but Western powers say it’s building the capabilities to make a nuclear bomb.

Drones and Fighter Jets​

In December, the US said Russia was deepening military backing for Iran in return for Iranian supplies of drones for Moscow’s war on Ukraine. The next month, an Iranian lawmaker said Tehran expects a delivery of Su-35 fighter jets from Russia by mid-March.
Russia has very good ties with Iran and Tehran is looking for more support, said Elena Suponina, a Moscow-based Middle East expert.
After the US and five other powers signed a deal with Iran in 2015 restricting its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, Russia sold it a less advanced air defense system, the S-300s. The nuclear deal fell apart in 2018 when President Donald Trump withdrew the US.

The S-400s, which can hit aerial targets at a range of up to 250 kilometers (150 miles), would create a “red zone for high-altitude aircraft,” said Jeremy Binnie, Middle East defense expert at Janes, the UK-based defense intelligence firm.
“The more air defenses they have, the more difficult it is to hit them,” said Yossi Kuperwasser, a former top Israeli military intelligence official and now a senior researcher at the Israel Defense and Security Forum, an association of former and reserve members of the security forces. “We are analyzing when is the most convenient time to take action.”

Iran's Advancing Nuclear Program​


The country's stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% purity levels has swelled

Source: IAEA data compiled by Bloomberg

Israel has been here before. In 2015, Israeli TV played recorded conversations with Ehud Barak, who was Netanyahu’s defense minister in 2012, speaking explicitly of plans to attack Iran that were shelved after discussions with the US.
Iran’s Nuclear Inventory Surges Amid Enriched Uranium Probe

Israeli officials are watching not only Iran’s ability to withstand an air attack but its capacity to build a nuclear bomb.
They calculate that once Iran decides to weaponize, “it’s anything between 18 to 24 months for them to build the first warhead,” Mark Dubowitz, head of the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which supports measures to counter Iran, said in an interview in Tel Aviv.
After Joe Biden defeated Trump, his administration tried to revive the Iran nuclear deal but blamed Tehran for walking away. US Ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, recently indicated understanding for Israel’s approach.
“Israel can and should do whatever they need to deal with (Iran) and we’ve got their back,” he said at an event on Feb. 19.

The US and Israel recently held highly publicized military exercises in the Mediterranean, the largest ever drills between the two allies in a demonstration of aerial force.
New US-built air refueling aircraft which the Israelis are due to receive by 2025 would significantly increase their long-range capability, said Binnie at Janes.
Gulf nations would be at some risk but many are hoping Israel will act — even if it only sets back Iranian nuclear ambitions for a few years, said Riad Kahwagi, founder and chief executive officer of INEGMA, a Dubai-based security research group.
— With assistance by Jonathan Tirone, Courtney McBride, Jenny Leonard and Jordan Fabian
www.bloomberg.com

Israel’s Window to Strike Iran Narrows as Putin Enters Equation

Iran seeks S400 air defenses from Russia which would make an attack harder
www.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com
Click to expand...

Notice that in the article there's and assumption that such an attack upon Iran's nuclear weapons program would be a larger version of the 1982 Operation Opera, the taking out of Iraq's nuclear reactor. There's no mention of pulling out all of the stops and use of either Jericho 2s/3s and air launched weaponized Sparrow "ballistic targets".
 
jward

jward

passin' thru
This sounds a wee bit more ominous than usual- or perhaps tis just me.

EndGameWW3
@EndGameWW3
5h

Update: IDF Operations head Maj. Gen. Oded Basyuk: “We are coming close to the final critical stages of the Iranian nuclear issue. We have made the relevant preparations and if need be, we’ll activate them.”
 
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jward

passin' thru

Senior IDF officer: Iran tried to drone strike two vessels in Arabian Sea last month​


By Emanuel Fabian​


The head of the military’s Operations Directorate, Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk, revealed Wednesday that Iran had twice attempted to attack Israeli-linked vessels in the Arabian Sea in the past month.
His remarks came after Israel accused Iran of attacking an Israeli-linked tanker in early February, a strike that the ship’s operator said caused “minor” damage.
“Iran is not just Israel’s problem. And I’m not just talking about the nuclear threat. For example, the distribution of UAVs and the violation of international freedom of navigation in the region,” Basiuk said at a conference hosted by the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

“In the last month, Iran tried twice to attack vessels in the Arabian Sea and failed, and it did so using drones, which we also see being used in the Ukraine-Russia war,” he said. “Iran poses a danger to the security and stability of the entire region.”
He didn’t provide further details on when exactly the incidents occurred or what had transpired that led to the failure.

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On February 10, Campo Square, a Liberian-flagged product tanker, was “hit by an airborne object while in the Arabian Sea, approximately 300 nautical miles (555 kilometers) off the coasts of India and Oman,” according to Eletson, the Greek company that manages the vessel.


Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk, chief of the IDF Operations Directorate speaks at a conference in Tel Aviv hosted by INSS, March 1, 2023. (Screenshot: Youtube)

“Both the vessel and crew are safe and proceeding as per planned passage. There is minor damage to the vessel,” Eletson said in a statement a week after the strike, following a BBC report.
Campo Square belongs to Zodiac Maritime Company, owned by Israeli shipping magnate Eyal Ofer.

Citing a US military official and a regional military source, BBC Persian said the attack on the Campo Square involved several Iranian ships and likely the Shahed 136 drone, which Russia has been using in its invasion of Ukraine.
Iran’s government did not acknowledge the attack.
Tehran and Israel have been engaged in a years-long shadow war in the wider Middle East, with several drone attacks targeting Israeli-associated vessels traveling around the region.
In one such attack in July 2021, Mercer Street, an oil tanker owned by an Israeli businessman, was struck by a Shahed drone, killing a British and a Romanian crew member.
In November, Israel and the United States blamed Iran for a drone strike on a tanker off the coast of Oman. The vessel was operated by a company owned by Idan Ofer, Eyal Ofer’s brother.
“Iran is a continuous challenge,” Basiuk said at the Wednesday conference. “It is challenging us and we are challenging it.”
www.timesofisrael.com

Senior IDF officer: Iran tried to drone strike two vessels in Arabian Sea last month

Speaking at INSS conference, Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk says 'Iran poses a danger to the security and stability of the entire region'
www.timesofisrael.com www.timesofisrael.com
 
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Iran prepared to assist IAEA investigation, joint statement says​


By REUTERS

2–3 minutes


Iran has given sweeping assurances to the UN nuclear watchdog that it will finally assist a long-stalled investigation into uranium particles found at undeclared sites and even re-install removed monitoring equipment, the watchdog said on Saturday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran issued a joint statement on IAEA chief Rafael Grossi's return from a trip to Tehran just two days before a quarterly meeting of the agency's 35-nation Board of Governors.

The statement​

The statement went into little detail but the possibility of a marked improvement in relations between the two is likely to stave off a Western push for another resolution ordering Iran to cooperate, diplomats said. Iran has, however, made similar promises before that have yielded little or nothing.

"Iran expressed its readiness to ... provide further information and access to address the outstanding safeguards issues," the joint statement said. A confidential IAEA report to member states seen by Reuters said Grossi "looks forward to ... prompt and full implementation of the Joint Statement."
Iran is supposed to provide access to information, locations and people, Grossi told a news conference at Vienna airport soon after landing, suggesting a vast improvement after years of Iranian stonewalling.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi holds a news conference on the opening day of a quarterly meeting of his agency's 35-nation Board of Governors in Vienna, Austria, November 16, 2022 (credit: REUTERS/LISA LEUTNER)
Iran would also allow the re-installation of extra monitoring equipment that had been put in place under the 2015 nuclear deal, but then removed last year as the deal unraveled in the wake of the US withdrawal from the deal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump.

Follow-up talks in Iran between IAEA and Iranian officials aimed at hammering out the details would happen "very, very soon," Grossi said.
Asked if all that monitoring equipment would be re-installed, Grossi replied "Yes." When asked where it would be re-installed, however, he said only that it would be at a number of locations.
www.jpost.com

Iran pledges to cooperate with IAEA investigation, re-installs cameras

Iran is supposed to provide access to information, locations and people, suggesting a vast improvement after years of Iranian stonewalling.
www.jpost.com www.jpost.com
 
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passin' thru
Grossi: We will increase inspections at the Iranian Fordow facility by 50%
Grossi: We will restore surveillance cameras to Iranian nuclear facilities.
Grossi: Iran has agreed to allow verification of its data and nuclear sites
I doubt it...

Joint statement by the IAEA and the Iranian agency: Iran will allow the implementation of more appropriate verification and monitoring activities.
 
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Guy Elster
@guyelster
10h

#BREAKING #Iran supreme leader says the poisoning of schoolgirls is an "unforgivable crime", calls for maximum punishment of those responsible
 
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Iran: Chilling execution spree with escalating use of death penalty against persecuted ethnic minorities​


News March 2, 2023
The Iranian authorities have executed at least one Ahwazi Arab, 14 Kurds and 13 Baluchis following grossly unfair trials, and sentenced at least a dozen others to death since the start of the year, marking a chilling escalation in the use of the death penalty as a tool of repression against ethnic minorities, Amnesty International and Abdorrahman Boroumand Center said today.

The authorities executed at least 94 people in January and February alone, amid horrific sexual violence and other torture allegations, in a notable rise in executions compared to the same time last year, according to research by the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center and Amnesty International.
“The Iranian authorities are carrying out executions on a frightening scale. Their actions amount to an assault on the right to life and a shameless attempt not only to further oppress ethnic minorities but to spread fear that dissent will be met with brute force, either in the streets or in the gallows,” said Roya Boroumand, Executive Director of Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, an Iranian human rights organization.

Executions following unfair trials and torture​

In late February, Iranian officials executed an Ahwazi Arab man and a Kurdish man in secret following grossly unfair trials. The authorities have also sentenced to death at least another six Ahwazi Arabs and six Baluchis in recent weeks, some of whom were convicted in relation to protests that have engulfed Iran since September 2022.
On 20 February, Hassan Abyat, an Ahwazi Arab man, was executed in Sepidar prison in Khuzestan province, while Arash (Sarkawt) Ahmadi, a Kurdish man, was executed on 22 February in Dizel Abad prison in Kermanshah province. Informed sources told Amnesty International that, following their arrests, interrogators subjected both men to torture and other ill-treatment, forcing them to “confess”. Their forced “confessions” were broadcast on state media in violation of the right to presumption of innocence and in an attempt by the authorities to vilify them and justify their executions. They were also denied access to legal representation and were executed in secret, with no final visit or notice given to their families.
It is harrowing that executions routinely occur amid the systematic use of torture-tainted ‘confessions’ to convict defendants in grossly unfair trials.
Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International
Click to expand...
Hassan Abyat was sentenced to death twice — once by a Revolutionary Court for “enmity against God” (moharebeh) and once by a Criminal Court for murder (ghesas) — in relation to the death of an agent from the paramilitary Basij force in 2011 and alleged membership of an “opposition group”. Hassan Abyat had denied any involvement in the agent’s death. After subjecting him to enforced disappearance, interrogators tied Hassan Abyat to a special bed made for torture, beat him with cables and administered electric shocks to his testicles, according to a witness who also told Amnesty International that scars remained on Hassan Abyat’s body from the torture. The court convicted him without investigating his torture allegations.

Arash (Sarkawt) Ahmadi, who was arrested in January 2021, was sentenced to death for “enmity against God” (moharebeh) in connection with his previous membership in a banned Iranian-Kurdish opposition group and the death of a member of the security forces. According to Kurdish human rights activists, Revolutionary Guards interrogators forced him to give “confessions” under torture and other ill-treatment.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception. The death penalty is a violation of the right to life and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
Under international law, the imposition of the death penalty following an unfair trial constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of the right to life.

Ahwazi Arab and Baluchi men sentenced to death​

In recent weeks, at least 12 individuals from the Ahwazi Arab and Baluchi ethnic minorities have been sentenced to death following grossly unfair trials.
On 14 February, six Ahwazi Arab men — Ali Mojadam, Moein Khanfari, Mohammad Reza Mojadam, Seyed Salem Mousavi, Seyed Adnan Mousavi, and Habib Deris — were informed that they had been sentenced to death following a group trial before a Revolutionary Court in Ahvaz on the charge of “enmity against God” (moharebeh) for alleged “membership in illegal groups”, in a case dating back to 2017. According to Ahwazi Arab human rights activists, their torture-tainted “confessions” were used to convict them.

Between December 2022 and January 2023, at least six young men from the Baluchi minority were sentenced to death in separate trials in relation to protests that took place in Sistan and Baluchestan province in September 2022. Shoeib Mirbaluchzehi Rigi, Kambiz Khorout, Ebrahim Narouie, Mansour Hout, Nezamoddin Hout, and Mansour Dahmaredeh, who has a physical disability, were sentenced to death on charges of “spreading corruption on earth” (efsad-e fel arz) and/or “enmity against God” (moharebeh) for arson and stone-throwing. International law prohibits the use of the death penalty for offences that do not meet the threshold of “most serious crimes” involving intentional killing.
According to sources with knowledge of the matter, interrogators subjected the men to torture and other ill-treatment, including sexual violence, to force them to make “confessions”. They stuck needles into Ebrahim Narouie’s genitals and beat Mansour Dahmardeh so severely that they broke his teeth and nose, according to the sources.
Of the 28 members of minorities executed in 2023, 19 were convicted of drug-related offences, seven of murder, and two of overly broad and vaguely worded charges of “spreading corruption on earth” (efsad-e fel arz) and/or “enmity against God” (moharebeh) that do not meet the principle of legality.

“It is harrowing that executions routinely occur amid the systematic use of torture-tainted ‘confessions’ to convict defendants in grossly unfair trials. The world must act now to pressure the Iranian authorities to establish an official moratorium on executions, quash unfair convictions and death sentences, and drop all charges related to the peaceful participation in protests,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“We also urge all states to exercise universal jurisdiction over all Iranian officials reasonably suspected of criminal responsibility for crimes under international law and other grave violations of human rights.”
Iran: Chilling execution spree with escalating use of death penalty against persecuted ethnic minorities
 
Countrymouse

Countrymouse

Country exile in the city
jward said:

Iran prepared to assist IAEA investigation, joint statement says​


By REUTERS

2–3 minutes


Iran has given sweeping assurances to the UN nuclear watchdog that it will finally assist a long-stalled investigation into uranium particles found at undeclared sites and even re-install removed monitoring equipment, the watchdog said on Saturday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran issued a joint statement on IAEA chief Rafael Grossi's return from a trip to Tehran just two days before a quarterly meeting of the agency's 35-nation Board of Governors.

The statement​

The statement went into little detail but the possibility of a marked improvement in relations between the two is likely to stave off a Western push for another resolution ordering Iran to cooperate, diplomats said. Iran has, however, made similar promises before that have yielded little or nothing.

"Iran expressed its readiness to ... provide further information and access to address the outstanding safeguards issues," the joint statement said. A confidential IAEA report to member states seen by Reuters said Grossi "looks forward to ... prompt and full implementation of the Joint Statement."
Iran is supposed to provide access to information, locations and people, Grossi told a news conference at Vienna airport soon after landing, suggesting a vast improvement after years of Iranian stonewalling.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi holds a news conference on the opening day of a quarterly meeting of his agency's 35-nation Board of Governors in Vienna, Austria, November 16, 2022 (credit: REUTERS/LISA LEUTNER)
Iran would also allow the re-installation of extra monitoring equipment that had been put in place under the 2015 nuclear deal, but then removed last year as the deal unraveled in the wake of the US withdrawal from the deal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump.

Follow-up talks in Iran between IAEA and Iranian officials aimed at hammering out the details would happen "very, very soon," Grossi said.
Asked if all that monitoring equipment would be re-installed, Grossi replied "Yes." When asked where it would be re-installed, however, he said only that it would be at a number of locations.
www.jpost.com

Iran pledges to cooperate with IAEA investigation, re-installs cameras

Iran is supposed to provide access to information, locations and people, suggesting a vast improvement after years of Iranian stonewalling.
www.jpost.com www.jpost.com
Click to expand...
In regard to Grossi's visit to Iran, I have not yet seen posted here something ELSE he said, but which has major ramifications for the building crisis:

"Any military attack on a nuclear facility is outlawed, is out of the normative structures that we all abide by.”

In other words, if Israel pre-emptively attacks to save itself, it is committing an "outlaw" act.

Netanyahu's response:

Israel’s Netanyahu slams IAEA for calling attacks on nuclear sites ‘outlawed’​

i24NEWSMarch 05, 2023 at 09:39 AMlatest revision March 05, 2023 at 11:23 AM

3 min read
An Iranian long-range Ghadr missile displaying Down with Israel in Hebrew at a defense exhibition in the city of Isfahan, Iran.
MORTEZA SALEHI / TASNIM NEWS / AFPAn Iranian long-range Ghadr missile displaying "Down with Israel" in Hebrew at a defense exhibition in the city of Isfahan, Iran.


'Are we forbidden to defend ourselves? Of course we are allowed, and of course we are doing this… nothing will prevent us from protecting our country'
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday criticized the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, for calling any possible attacks on nuclear sites “outlawed” after a visit to Iran.
After returning from Tehran, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Grossi said Saturday that “any military attack on a nuclear facility is outlawed, is out of the normative structures that we all abide by.”

https://gosearches.net/index.php?rg...AVO2mvDrV3FaF4iOGhUpJK2Z2gSDi_FQo07qnwKmortQ7

Last month, Netanyahu said “credible military actions” could be necessary against Iran to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons. The month prior, Israel’s then-army chief Aviv Kochavi said Israel had devised three operational plans to attack Tehran to “neutralize” its nuclear program.

“Rafael Grossi is a worthy person who made an unworthy remark,” the Israeli premier responded. “Outside of what law? Is Iran – which publicly calls for our destruction – to protect its weapons of destruction that will slaughter us?”

“Are we forbidden to defend ourselves?” Netanyahu continued. “Of course we are allowed, and of course we are doing this… nothing will prevent us from protecting our country and preventing oppressors from destroying the Jewish state.”

The two-day visit of Grossi to Iran came as the IAEA seeks greater cooperation with the Mullah regime over its controversial nuclear activities. It also came days after the watchdog reported that uranium particles in an Iranian nuclear facility were enriched to nearly 84 percent – just short of weapons grade.

Grossi announced that Iran had agreed to reconnect surveillance cameras at its nuclear sites and to allow more inspections at the Fordo facility where the alarmingly-enriched uranium was detected. He also touted “constructive” talks with Iranian officials.

www.i24news.tv

Israel’s Netanyahu slams IAEA for calling attacks on nuclear sites ‘outlawed’ - I24NEWS

'Are we forbidden to defend ourselves? Of course we are allowed, and of course we are doing this… nothing will prevent us from protecting our country' - Click the link for more details.
www.i24news.tv www.i24news.tv

Given the "12 Hours to Armageddon" post above--this may shorten that time-window even more.
 
jward

jward

passin' thru

Iran Says It's Discovered What Could Be the World's Second-Largest Lithium Deposit​


Natasha Turak,CNBC


  • "For the first time in Iran, a lithium reserve has been discovered in Hamedan" in the country's west, an official at Iran's Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade said.
  • The ministry believes the deposit holds 8.5 million tons of lithium, which is often called "white gold" for the rapidly growing electric vehicle industry.
Iran says it's discovered a massive deposit of lithium — a key element in batteries for devices and electric vehicles — in one of its western provinces.
"For the first time in Iran, a lithium reserve has been discovered in Hamedan," a mountainous province in the country's west, Mohammad Hadi Ahmadi, an official at Iran's Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade, was quoted as saying on Iranian state television Saturday.
The ministry believes the deposit holds 8.5 million tons of lithium, which is often called "white gold" for the rapidly growing electric vehicle industry. If the claimed figure is accurate, that would make the deposit the second-largest known lithium reserve in the world after Chile, which holds 9.2 million metric tons of the metal, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The lucrative element is a crucial component in the cathodes of lithium-ion batteries in EVs, as well as in rechargeable batteries like those used in cellphones. The metal's price has skyrocketed in the last year due to higher demand for electric vehicle parts, global supply chain problems and inflation, but fell more recently, undergoing a correction amid a drop in EV sales and slow business activity in China, the fastest-growing EV market.
Iran's lithium deposit news, if true, would be a lifeline for the country's battered economy.

Money Report​



Weighed down by several years of heavy international sanctions and faced with a spiraling currency, which hit its lowest point against the dollar in late February, Iran would benefit greatly from the ability to export such valued resources — though its trading partners would likely be limited due to those sanctions.
Isolated from the global financial system, Iran continues to draw penalties from Western nations that accuse Tehran of supplying Russia with weapons that are being used in its war in Ukraine. Iran's government has also spent nearly six months cracking down violently on women's rights and anti-government protesters.
In terms of the global lithium market, such an addition to the world's known reserves could push prices of the metal down further, depending on Iran's capacity to export.

Iran is also one of the world's top producers of oil and gas, but its inability to export widely due to sanctions has slashed its capacity to bring in revenue and foreign currency as well as its ability to contribute to global supply.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs see lithium dropping further in price.
"Over the next 9-12 months, we are progressively more constructive on base metals, whilst expecting a move lower in lithium prices alongside cobalt and nickel," a report from the bank's commodities research desk from late February wrote.
In the next two years, Goldman expects lithium's supply to grow on average by a substantial 34% year on year, led by Australia and China, which hold some of the world's largest supplies of the metal.
"Hence, whilst a recovery in EV sales into 23Q2-Q3 could temporarily lift sentiment and support falling battery metal prices, the likely supply surge and downstream overcapacity are set to bring lithium prices down subsequently in the medium term," the bank wrote.


Also on CNBC​

www.nbcphiladelphia.com

Iran Says It's Discovered What Could Be the World's Second-Largest Lithium Deposit

The ministry believes that the deposit holds 8.5 million tons of lithium, which is often called “white gold” for the rapidly growing electric vehicle industry.
www.nbcphiladelphia.com www.nbcphiladelphia.com
 
jward

jward

passin' thru
EndGameWW3
@EndGameWW3

U.S. : The most worrisome thing is the discovery of uranium particles with enrichment of more than 80% at the Fordow site. Iran should clarify this matter immediately. Tehran's actions, whether intended or unintended, have led to an escalation of tension and crossed the line.
3:15 PM · Mar 7, 2023
·
3,125
Views
 
jward

jward

passin' thru
Jason Brodsky
@JasonMBrodsky
26s

Today the U.S. highlighted: "Last September, #Iran **ended hopes of a swift return to full implementation of the JCPOA** by making demands it knew to be impossible and unrealistic." But the EU says today: "The EU remains committed to the JCPOA."


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