AP: Iran nuke plant 7 years old

Marinka Peschmann at November - 13 - 2009 Under Iran, Obama, Terrorism/World, U.S. News

As evidence mounts of Iran’s nefarious nuclear intentions, one wonders how many times this must be said: “Every passing day brings Iran’s totalitarian regime closer to building the bomb,” for people to start believing it. Back in 2006, I had reported on this very topic at the Western Standard, The Devil’s Advocate.

VIENNA — Iran’s recently revealed uranium enrichment hall is a highly fortified underground space that is a year away from completion after fitful construction that first started seven years ago, diplomats told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The diplomats also said that a recent inspection of the facility near the holy city of Qom by the International Atomic Energy Agency has reinforced suspicions that it could have been planned as part of a secret military nuclear program. Iran says it wants to enrich only to make atomic fuel but the West fears it could retool its program to churn out fissile warhead material.

One of the diplomats — a senior official from a European nation — says the hall is too small to be able to house the tens of thousands of centrifuges needed for peaceful industrial nuclear enrichment but the right size for the few thousand advanced machines that could generate the amount of weapons grade uranium needed for a military nuclear program.

The construction timeline of the facility, near the holy city of Qom is also important because it could help shed light on Tehran’s ultimate nuclear aims and reflect its determination to keep its activities secret as far back as the initial revelation seven years ago that Iran had a clandestine nuclear program. Iran says it wants to enrich only to make nuclear fuel but the West fears it could turn its program toward making fissile warhead material.

The diplomats said Thursday that Iran started building the plant near Qom in 2002, then paused for two years in 2004 before resuming construction in 2006.

Full report.

Remember, it was not that long ago when a 2007 U.S. National Intelligence Estimate claimed Iran had stopped nuclear weapons work in 2003.

During a televised speech made from Ilam province in western Iran, Ahmadinejad said earlier reports from the United States had been based on “shoddy intelligence.”

The Bush administration has for years warned that Iran’s development of nuclear power plants and enriched uranium masked an effort to produce an nuclear bomb.

Top U.S. officials have called the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran “unacceptable.”

But in a report released Monday, U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Iran had suspended nuclear weapons work in 2003 and was unlikely to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a bomb until at least 2010. The assessment reverses a 2005 National Intelligence Estimate that found the Islamic republic was “determined to develop nuclear weapons despite its international obligations and international pressure.”

The revised U.S. conclusions come after months of accusations that the Bush administration was attempting to maneuver the United States into a conflict with Iran, which it also accuses of meddling in the war in Iraq. In October, the United States designated elements of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps as supporters of terrorism.

This is an interesting “documentary” I stumbled across called Iran’s industrial nuclear program by IranBebin. Is it true? Take a look.

Finally, a constructive move.
Feds Move to Seize 4 Mosques, Skyscraper

NEW YORK (Nov. 12) — Federal prosecutors took steps Thursday to seize four U.S. mosques and a Fifth Avenue skyscraper owned by a nonprofit Muslim organization long suspected of being secretly controlled by the Iranian government.
In what could prove to be one of the biggest counterterrorism seizures in U.S. history, prosecutors filed a civil complaint in federal court against the Alavi Foundation, seeking the forfeiture of more than $500 million in assets.