Iran
Plans To Nuke Europe, US - Sanctions Urged Iran
and nuclear terrorism. Not a threat, a promise.
By
Joel
Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem
----- February 28, 2007 .... An Israel security official told the Israel News
Agency that the recent launch of a missile from Iran into space illustrated
a direct threat to both Europe's and US national security. On
February 25, Iran launched a missile reaching space. "Iran has successfully launched
its first space missile made by Iranian scientists," the head of Iran's aerospace
research center, Mohsen Bahrami, was quoted as saying. On Saturday, Iran Defense
Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said Iran was planning to build a satellite and
launcher. "Iran
has no plans to land a man on the moon," Col. Adam an Israeli security source
told the INA. "The same technology is used to build intercontinental
ballistic missiles. This Iran space launch is not a threat to Israel. The Iranians
need not reach a space orbit to attack Israel, but such a high orbit would be
needed to deliver a nuclear payload into Europe or the US." Iran
launched its first satellite, Sina-1, into orbit from a Russian rocket in 2005
and has said it planned to modify its Shahab-3 missile, which Iran says has a
range of about 2,000 km (1,250 miles), to launch satellites. Bahrami said the
missile was built by his center in cooperation of the Defense and Science Ministries.
He gave no further details. Despite announcing what would be a major advance in
Iran's missile technology, the news was mentioned only once by the main state
TV news channel and was not carried by other Iranian official media. "Take
a look at the news media, you don't see a word about this launch today,"
said Adam. "Western governments were not prepared for Iran to have a nuclear
delivery system up and running. Intel is hard to come by regarding Iran. It is
very difficult to have real time Intel coming from Iran as it is difficult for
operatives to penetrate Iranian society. Most of our Intel comes from external
sources, and these sources are reactive, passive, not proactive." "If
we don't see severe economic sanctions coming from Europe in the next few weeks,
we will witness a catastrophe," said a source at the Israel Ministry for
Foreign Affairs. The source would not give his name because he would lose his
position, but the matter of urgency had him staring at this writer praying to
get the message out. "Iran
has no plans to land a man on the moon," Col. Adam an Israeli security source
told the INA. "The same technology is used to build intercontinental
ballistic missiles. This Iran space launch is not a threat to Israel. The Iranians
need not reach a space orbit to attack Israel, but such a high orbit would be
needed to deliver a nuclear payload into Europe or the US." -
Israeli security source |
"Iran
is no different than Nazi Germany", the MFA source said. "They too built
up an army, resources and created the V-2." The V-2 was the first man-made
object launched into space, during test flights that reached an altitude of 189
km (117 miles) in 1944. "While Germany was putting the finishing touches
to the V-2 which was eventually used against Britain, the world stood by wanting
to talk. Now we have Iran repeating history, declaring to "wipe Israel off
the map" while planting bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan, one which nearly killed
US Vice President Cherney during his visit there a few days ago." "We
have two options. The West can attack Iran which would provoke both Iran and Syria
to respond with chemical weapons or we can place immediate and severe sanctions
on Iran, thereby reducing their ability to create and use atomic weapons against
the West. One should understand Iranian fundamental mentality. These people are
not threatening the "infidels" of the West, they are promising to attack
as soon as they have both the delivery and nuclear weapons capability." Security
analysts in Europe state that two overriding EU security interests are at stake:
avoiding a war with Iran and preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power. These
two apparently contradictory interests can be reconciled and translated into a
common strategy by adopting a three-pronged approach based on efficient isolation,
effective containment, and direct negotiations. The
U.N. Security Council has recently slapped sanctions on Iran that bar the transfer
of technology and know-how to Iran's nuclear and missile programs, a move that
was pushed for by the West because of fears that Iran is seeking to build atomic
bombs. Tehran says its nuclear program is purely civilian and aims to generate
electricity. The Iran defense minister was quoted by a newspaper as saying: "Building
a satellite and satellite launcher, as well as (previously) launching the first
Iranian satellite called Sina with Russian cooperation, and becoming a member
of the space club, are part of the Defense Ministry's plans." It
is up to Europe to prevent the two worst developments in Iran - war and nuclear
armament - by acting jointly and with determination. Vital European and transatlantic
interests are at stake. It is thus Europe's responsibility - and especially Germany's,
as the current EU president - to act now. Iran
said yesterday it would never suspend uranium enrichment as demanded by the West,
a day after world powers agreed to work on a new UN resolution to pressure Tehran
to back down over its nuclear program. Officials from the five permanent UN Security
Council members - the United States, France, Russia, China and Britain - plus
Germany, who met in London on Monday, also said they were committed to a negotiated
resolution to the standoff. The United States, which says "all options" are on
the table while insisting it wants a peaceful solution, has ratcheted up pressure
by sending a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf. "Suspending
uranium enrichment is an illegal and illegitimate demand ... and it will never
happen," Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted by the official
IRNA news agency as saying. Another agency said he backed atomic talks but without
preconditions. Iran's open refusal to halt enrichment, a process it insists it
only wants to make fuel for nuclear power plants, is echoed by some Iranian officials
in private, suggesting the public pronouncements are more than just rhetoric.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said after the London meeting world
powers would hold phone talks on Thursday to discuss elements of a new resolution. "Iran
which denies that a European Holocaust ever took place, is now planning to create
a second Holocaust in Europe and in the US" -
Israel MFA source |
Clearing
its stand on the Iran nuclear standoff, China has said that it did not favor the
use of sanctions on Iran. Beijing has called for the peaceful resolution of the
Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic means. "Sanctions are not the purpose,"
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Qin Gang said. "Any move of the Security Council
should help resolving the issue through peaceful and appropriate means," he said
adding hat Beijing's stand on the issue is consistent. "We advocate a peaceful
solution through diplomatic negotiation," he added. China
has significant business ties and energy interests in Iran. "Iran
which denies that a European Holocaust ever took place, is now planning to create
a second Holocaust in Europe and in the US," said the Israel MFA source.
"Europe will be first to feel this nuclear suicide bomb, as London, Moscow,
Madrid, Rome and Paris are now in range of Iranian missiles. We no longer have
the luxury of time to implement sanctions. This is not a movie. This is not the
"24" TV series about nuclear terrorism. This is real. Sanctions worked
against North Korea, they can and will work against Iran." "Iran
has over 20 intermediate range missiles that can reach continental Europe," stated
Riki Ellison, President of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance. "These 20 BM-25
missiles were purchased from North Korea in 2005 and are a variant of the Soviet
SS-N-6 (R-27) submarine-launched ballistic missile. With a range beyond 3,000
kilometers, these missiles pose a direct threat to central Europe." Last week
Iran launched a sub-orbit missile that traveled 94 miles into space and declared
their intent to launch satellites in the near future. On last week's launch of
a sub-orbital missile by Iran, Ellison noted that "Having orbital satellite launch
capability, Iran would have access to deliver payloads to anyplace on earth, as
was first powerfully demonstrated 50 years ago by the Soviet Union's launch of
Sputnik in 1957."
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