INTEL CHIEF: IRAN HAS NOT DECIDED TO BUILD NUCLEAR WEAPONS

"... James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence, in prepared testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee... reiterated the American intelligence assessment that “Iran is keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons, in part by developing various nuclear capabilities that better position it to produce such weapons, should it choose to do so.” He added, “We do not know, however, if Iran will eventually decide to build nuclear weapons.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/world/intelligence-chief-sees-al-qaeda-likely-to-continue-fragmenting.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2

INDIA AND CHINA TO CONTINUE TO BUY IRANIAN OIL

"... EU foreign ministers this week agreed to a ban on oil imports from Iran as of 1 July... (But) India has no intention of following suit... officials in Delhi made clear they intended to carry on importing oil from Iran, despite the imposition of Western sanctions against Tehran... India buys 12 per cent of its oil from Iran, which is its second largest supplier after Saudi Arabia... China is the Islamic Republic’s largest customer, accounting for around 20 per cent of its exports, and has already made clear it has no plan to alter this arrangement..."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/india-pledges-to-continue-buying-oil-from-iran-6294530.html

ISRAEL SAYS IRAN HAS NOT DECIDED TO MAKE NUCLEAR BOMB

"... Defense Minister Ehud Barak said... Israel believes Iran itself has not yet decided whether to make a nuclear bomb... (and) that Israel was "very far off" from a decision about an attack on Iran over its nuclear program..."
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/barak-israel-very-far-off-from-decision-on-iran-attack-1.407953

U.S. ADDS 2nd CARRIER STRIKE GROUP AGAINST IRAN

"The U.S. military is now "fully prepared" to deal with any Iranian effort to close the Strait of Hormuz... The Navy this month added a second aircraft carrier strike group in the Middle East... The carriers are the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Abraham Lincoln, under the control of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain..."
http://news.yahoo.com/panetta-us-fully-prepared-iran-challenge-193126193.html

NUCLEAR SCIENTISTS ASSASSINATED - 3 DEAD, 1 WOUNDED IN 2 YEARS
State-sponsored terrorism

"... In January, 2010, a remote-controlled bomb attached to a motorcycle killed Masoud Ali Mohammadi, 50, who “taught neutron physics at Tehran University.” In November, 2010, two separate car bombs exploded within minutes of each other on the same day, one that killed nuclear scientist Majid Shahriar and wounded his wife, and the other which wounded another nuclear scientist, Fereidoun Abbasi, along with his wife. Then, in July of last year, Darioush Rezaei, 35, was shot dead and his wife was wounded by two gunmen firing from motorcycles... Rezaei “did his doctorate in neutron transport – which lies at the heart of nuclear chain reactions in reactors and bombs” and “was a member of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the country’s official atomic energy commission.”

"And now... a 32-year-old university professor, Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, died when an assailant riding on a motorcycle attached a magnetic bomb to his car, which then detonated and killed him... the young scientist “was believed to be involved in procuring materials for Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz.”

"... Does anyone doubt that some combination of the two nations completely obsessed with Iran’s nuclear program — Israel and the U.S. — are responsible?"

http://www.salon.com/2012/01/11/more_murder_of_iranian_scientists_still_terrorism/?source=newsletter

IRANIANS SEE PURPOSE OF OIL SANCTIONS AS REGIME CHANGE
Not nuclear negotiations

"... the U.S. and its European partners move to throttle Iran’s economy by cutting off its ability to export oil... stated goal is to bring Iran to the table to negotiate a deal that would end international concerns over a nuclear program that has given Iran the means to build nuclear weapons—even though, as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta emphasized... U.S. and allied officials believe Tehran has not yet decided to build the bomb...

"Regardless of the Administration’s intent, the new measures, which are explicitly designed to throttle the Iranian economy, are being read in Tehran as further evidence that Washington’s goal is to force regime-change. That’s hardly likely to convince Iran’s leaders that they don’t need nuclear weapons; on the contrary, Iran appears to be bracing itself for war.

http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2012/01/09/why-new-sanctions-raise-danger-of-iran-building-nuclear-weapons/

SECDEF SAYS IRAN NOT BUILDING NUCLEAR WEAPON

"Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta... declared... that Iran is not currently trying to build a nuclear weapon... Iran says its nuclear program is only for energy and medical research, and refuses to halt uranium enrichment.."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/01/08

U.S. SANCTIONS ON IRANIAN OIL WILL ONLY HURT THE WEST

"... A key amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act signed by United States President Barack Obama on the last day of 2011... imposes sanctions on any countries or companies that buy Iranian oil and pay for it through Iran's central bank. Starting this summer, anybody who does it is prevented from doing business with the US. This amendment - for all practical purposes a declaration of economic war - was brought to you by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), on direct orders of the Israeli government... The price of oil may be destined to soon reach $120 a barrel and even $150 a barrel by summer...

"(But)... everyone... will be bypassing this Israeli-American declaration of economic war:
- Russia already said it will circumvent it.
- India is already paying for Iranian oil via Halkbank in Turkey.
- Iran is actively negotiating to sell more oil to China. Iran is China's second-largest supplier, only behind Saudi Arabia. China pays in euros, and soon may be paying in yuan. By March they both will have sealed an agreement about new pricing.
- Venezuela controls a bi-national bank with Iran since 2009; that's how Iran gets paid for business in Latin America.
- Even traditional US allies want out. Turkey - which imports around 30% of its oil from Iran - will seek a waiver exempting Turkish oil importer Tupras from US sanctions.
- And South Korea will also seek a waiver, to buy around 200,000 barrels a day - 10% of its oil - from Iran in 2012..."

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NA07Ak01.html

ISRAEL TRYING TO INVOLVE U.S. IN ATTACK ON IRAN

"... Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu... is exploiting the extraordinary influence his right-wing Likud Party exercises over the Republican Party and the U.S. Congress on matters related to Israel in order to maximise the likelihood that the United States would participate in an attack on Iran. Obama, meanwhile, appears to be hoping that he can avoid being caught up in a regional war started by Israel if he distances the United States from any Israeli attack..."
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106361

IRAN WARNS U.S. NOT TO RETURN CARRIER TO GULF

"... Army chief Ataollah Salehi said the United States had moved an aircraft carrier (USS John C Stennis) out of the Gulf because of Iran's naval exercises, and Iran would take action if the ship returned.
"Iran will not repeat its warning ... the enemy's carrier has been moved to the Sea of Oman because of our drill. I recommend and emphasize to the American carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf," army chief Salehi said.
"I advise, recommend and warn them over the return of this carrier to the Persian Gulf because we are not in the habit of warning more than once..."
http://news.yahoo.com/iran-threatens-action-u-carrier-returns-irna-082124042.html

IS A VOTE FOR ROMNEY A VOTE FOR WAR?

"...No one can say that a war with Iran would be a certain consequence of Mitt Romney becoming president. But... He has promised a more confrontational military policy towards Iran. His advisers include people who have been cheerleaders for war with Iran, and were cheerleaders for the Iraq war. He has pledged to increase the military budget. His advisers include people directly affiliated with military contractors who stand to profit if there were a new war and the military budget were increased.

"Furthermore, he opposes withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan, and he opposes the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, although the Iraq withdrawal is supported by eight in ten Americans, including the majority of Republicans. (Also)... he is a "chickenhawk", someone who loves war so much that he never served when he had the opportunity to do so, but wants to send other people's children off to die and be maimed... (So) is it not reasonable to infer that if Mitt Romney became the next President of the United States, the probability of war with Iran would significantly increase?..."

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/12/28-4

IRAN DISPLAYS U.S. DRONE

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5MCTJ80ZSA

"... (Iran) released the first images of the highly advanced US stealth spy drone which was downed through a cyberattack by Iranian military forces... the RQ-170 Sentinel drone... was part of a fleet of secret aircraft that the CIA has used for several years in an escalating espionage campaign targeting Iran's nuclear facilities..."
"Among the United States' main concerns is that Iran could use an intact aircraft to examine the vulnerabilities in stealth technology and take countermeasures with its air defense systems. Another is that China or other US adversaries could help Iran extract data from the drone that would reveal its flight history, surveillance targets and other capabilities."
"The drone was programmed to destroy such data in the event of a malfunction, but it failed to do so. The blow has been so heavy that the US officials do not still want to accept that Iran brought down the plane by a cyberattack. Instead, explanations have focused on potential technical failures..."
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9007276579

SENATE PASSES SANCTIONS THAT MAY BENEFIT IRAN

"... the Senate unanimously passed legislation to force the President to impose sanctions on countries and companies that do business with Iran’s central bank or purchase Iranian oil... “The irony of this amendment is…there’s absolutely a risk that in fact the price of oil would go up, which means that Iran would in fact have more money to fuel its nuclear ambitions, not less, ” Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee... it could increase the cost of gas and threaten economies in Europe and Asia... (and) has the potential to actually increase revenues to Iran..."
http://www.niacouncil.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7764&security=1&news_iv_ctrl=-1

IRAN WILL TARGET TURKISH NATO MISSILE BASES IF ATTACKED
Also Israeli nuclear facilities.

"Iran will target NATO's missile defense installations in Turkey if the U.S. or Israel attacks the Islamic Republic... (and also) will target Israel's nuclear facilities should the Jewish state attack Iran..."
http://news.yahoo.com/iran-threatens-hit-turkey-us-israel-attack-153655802.html

IAEA REPORT MAKES WAR LESS LIKELY
Nuclear knowledge cannot be destroyed by airstrikes

"... there was nothing in the IAEA report that makes military action more likely. If anything, it points to the limits of the effectiveness of a military campaign, which would have to be weighed against the risk of starting a potentially catastrophic regional war. The report was mainly based on information already known to Western intelligence agencies. It did not reveal the sort of new evidence of immediate danger that would lead Israel or the United States to take a decision now about whether they can live with an Iranian atomic bomb or must take urgent military action to prevent it. Instead, Western states are likely to stick to diplomacy and economic measures, while keeping a vigilant eye out for as-yet-untaken steps - such as expelling international monitors or diverting nuclear material from known sites - that might show Iran was embarking on an all-out bid to build a bomb."

"... The IAEA report, like earlier U.S. intelligence estimates, suggested Iran had been pursuing the science needed to make an atomic bomb at least until 2003. But that interest mostly took the form of research, rather than building actual bomb-making infrastructure. Experts refer to that knowledge as a "nuclear intangible," and you can't destroy it by air strikes, said Andrea Berger of Britain's Royal United Services Institute: "Because it would be a nuclear intangible, it's something that can't be rectified with a military strike."

http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-irans-nuclear-showdown-west-still-short-war-144321024.html;_ylt=AjoxSqEngJ7Z12_XGglq05zNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTRvOTlpY3IxBGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDTmV3cyBmb3IgeW91BHBrZwNjZGExOTk0OC1jZTVhLTNmN2QtYWM0NS1kYzVmMTI4NTgwOTMEcG9zAzkEc2VjA25ld3NfZm9yX3lvdQR2ZXIDODE4ZTEzYzAtMTUyOS0xMWUxLWJkZmEtOTY4M2FjYzhiYTVj;_ylg=X3oDMTNobW90YmFoBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDNWY5MmU4MTAtNWRiNi0zZTVkLWJjZmQtYWU1NWY4NGI2ODgwBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xkZXN0aW5hdGlvbjIwMTIEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdlBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3

U.S. SECDEF WARNS AGAINST ATTACKING IRAN

"... US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has said a military strike against Iran could have "unintended consequences". He said it would only delay Iran's nuclear efforts by three years at most... (and) might fail to deter Iran "from what they want to do. But more importantly, it could have a serious impact in the region, and it could have a serious impact on US forces in the region."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-middle-east-15688042

IAEA REPORT SHOWS IRAN NUCLEAR ACTIVITY IS LEGAL

"... the evidence... shows that Iran wants the knowledge and equipment that would let it build a nuclear weapon very quickly if necessary... The evidence does NOT show that Iran is actually building a nuclear weapon now, or has any present intention of doing so. And having the knowledge and equipment that would let you do so fast in an emergency is entirely legal under IAEA rules..."
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/11/10-0

IRAN ONLY SEEKS NUCLEAR LATENCY

"... the International Atomic Energy Agency’s report on Iran... reinforced the reigning assessment of the Iranian nuclear program: Tehran is, and has been for decades, seeking nuclear latency—the capacity to make nuclear weapons–but the IAEA does not conclude that it currently has an active program to build nuclear weapons... The Obama administration has been careful not to overstate the report’s conclusions. A senior administration official told reporters yesterday that “[t]he IAEA does not assert that Iran has resumed a full-scale nuclear weapons program nor does it [say] how advanced the programs really are.”
http://www.niacouncil.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7710&security=1&news_iv_ctrl=-1

IRAN'S WARNING TO ISRAEL AND U.S.
"Iran's supreme leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) warned Israel and the United States that… "Anybody who takes up the idea of an attack on Iran, should get ready to receive a strong slap and an iron fist… The enemies, particularly the United States and its pawns and the Zionist regime, should know that the Iranian nation does not seek to invade any country or nation. But Iran will strongly respond to any invasion or attack with such power and in a way that the aggressors and invaders will be smashed from the inside..."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/10/ayatollah-khamenei-warns_n_1085925.html

IRAN WILL NOT GIVE UP PROGRAM, IS NOT SEEKING WEAPONS
"President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran won't retreat "an iota" from its nuclear program but is strongly rejecting a U.N. report claiming that Tehran is seeking atomic weapons…"
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ahmadinejad-iran-retreat-nuclear-path-14912292

IAEI SAYS IRAN PURSUING WEAPONS, VIOLATING NUCLEAR TREATY
"… the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency… (says) Iran has been pursuing nuclear weapons since before 2004, testing detonators and other components that have few uses other than for a nuclear bomb… (and that) Iran, which signed the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), is violating the pact…."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2011-11-08/Iran-nuclear-weapons-treaty/51125744/1

ISRAEL ATTACK ON IRAN "CLOSER"

"Israeli President Shimon Peres warned on Sunday that an attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely... (saying that) "The possibility of a military attack against Iran is now closer to being applied than the application of a diplomatic option"... the Haaretz newspaper reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak were seeking cabinet support for an attack... (and) that US officials had failed to secure a commitment from Israel that it would coordinate any attack plans with Washington... Barak denied reports that he and Netanyahu had already decided to attack Iran over the opposition of military and intelligence chiefs..."
http://www.canada.com/technology/Israel+Peres+warns+attack+Iran+getting+closer/5665596/story.html