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Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Iran: Israel's Nemesis and Their Nuclear Advancement

Nadene Goldfoot
Wednesday brought news about Iran's advancements in technology in producing nuclear energy.  They said they'd talk about their nuclear program with officicals but would continue their drive toward nuclear self sufficiency.  In the past Iran has just angered the West by appearing to buy time with opening talks and weighing proposals while all the time they were hurrying along with their nuclear program.

The big news was that they just inserted their first homemade fuel rods into their research reactor in northern Tehran.  A new generation of centrifuges were installed and are in operation at Natanz, which is in central Iran.  They are producing nuclear fuel on their own.  On February 10th, they advanced their methods and produced almost 20% enriched uranium up from the 5% they were at,  showing they are getting around sanctions. 

Israel is most concerned because of the threats made to them.  Back on October 26, 2005, Iran's Broadcasting told of Ahmadinejad's speech to a conference in Asia: Ahmadinejad: Israel must be wiped off the map.  The speech was to the "World Without Zionism" conference.   He announced that the Ayatollah Khomeini said Israel must be wiped off the map and this was wise.  They are backing Arabs wanting to create a Palestine without coming to terms with Israel.  To do so would be a defeat in their eyes and it would mean a defeat of the Islamic world. 

Ahmadinejad continued saying that the issue with Palestine would be over "the day that all refugees return to their homes and they come into power".  Therefore, they are against normal relations with Israel and condemn all Muslim leaders who accept the existence of Israel.  To them this is a surrender and defeat of the Islamic world. 

Israel withdrew from Gaza on August 15, 2005 with its completion by September, and Ahmadinejad thought this was a trick to gain recognition or acknowledgment from Islamic states.  Two days later he held a rally and said that he spoke for his people and what the West thought didn't matter. 

Hamas, who took over Gaza and kicked out Fatah's Abbas, reflects the Iranian philosophy, but Abbas seemed to want to make peace.  However, he's now in cahoots with Hamas, perhaps with the theory that if you can't beat them you join them. 

It's no wonder that Israel has said that if sanctions and all other forms of stopping Iran's wiping Israel off the map with nuclear power doesn't work, they will feel they will have to try to stop their attempts, even alone if necessary.  Computer viruses managed to attack Iran's computers that were working on the nuclear program, but must have been cleared out.  It helped to stall their progress for awhile, and naturally the first people Iran blamed was Israel. Mostafa Ahmadi Rashun, 32, nuclear scientist was killed and Israel, CIA and the opposition faction in Iran, the People's Mujahedeen of Iran (MEK) have been blamed. 

In 1981 Israel hit the Osiraq nuclear reactor in Iraq to squelch their nuclear goals of making a bomb to use on them.  It's thought that they also attacked a similar site in Syria in 2007.  Both had reactors above ground, and it was much easier than any attack on Iran's facilities, which are now spread across Iran and are underground.  Israel is very creative, but this may be an impossible task if they wait past the window of opportunity.  At any rate, they will need a miracle to accomplish this, and they have the USA telling them to keep holding off.     

On Monday Iranians planted bombs to harm Israelis, injuring an Israeli diplomat's wife in India who was in their minivan.  Another attempt was foiled in Georgia on the same day, and one in Thailand on Tuesday.  Israel is not retaliating over this.

Resource: http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120215/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_nuclear
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad_and_Israel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel's_unilateral_disengagement_plan
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2106855,00.html
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-02-13/israel-iran-attack/53083160/1http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=257168
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/caught-in-his-own-blast-an-iranian-targeting-israel-6917547.html

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