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| | Post New Topic | | Iran shows might of missiles | Views: 18 | | Oct 30, 2009 3:53 am | | Iran shows might of missiles | # | 
Peter Boaz Jones | | From The Times September 28, 2009
Iran shows might of missiles days before nuclear plant showdown
Catherine Philp, Diplomatic Correspondent
Iran began test-firing missiles yesterday, starting days of war games before a confrontation with foreign powers over a previously undisclosed secret nuclear facility.
The revelations about the enrichment plant, at a military base near the holy city of Qom, has dramatically upped the stakes for the meeting in Geneva on Thursday between Iranian representatives and those of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany.
The US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany had demanded that Iran offer a “serious response” to questions about a military dimension to its nuclear programme, which Tehran insists is purely peaceful.
President Obama announced on Friday the discovery of a previously unknown uranium enrichment plant in a mountain, at a Revolutionary Guard base 20 miles from Qom.
The plant was declared to the UN nuclear watchdog only a week ago, after Tehran learnt of the foreign surveillance and decided to pre-empt its exposure with a cryptic note to the agency saying it was a “pilot plant”.
On Thursday Western officials will demand that Iran allow inspectors access to the site and the personnel who worked on it “within weeks”. American intelligence agencies estimate that the plant is designed to house 3,000 centrifuges, far too few to be used for energy production but enough to produce about one bomb’s worth of material a year. They will demand that Tehran submit to a much tougher inspections regime, a stiffer requirement than the present Security Council resolution insisting Iran halt uranium enrichment until questions about its programme are cleared up.
On Saturday Iran’s nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, said that inspectors would be invited to visit the site but did not mention a date or indicate whether Iran would meet any of the other Western demands. He denounced Mr Obama’s release of the information at the opening of the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh as a “plot” meant to “unite the whole world against us”.
Iran’s military began test-firing short-range missiles yesterday in a show of strength demonstrating its preparedness to see off any military threat. That threat most likely comes from Israel, which has been restrained from carrying out strikes by Washington and remains impatient to do so. Today the air force will test fire the Shahab-3, a medium-range missile capable of hitting Israel and the weapon that Western intelligence agencies believe that Tehran has been modifying to carry a nuclear warhead.
Brigadier General Hossein Salami, air force commander of the Revolutionary Guards, said of the firings: “This exercise has a message of friendship for friendly countries. For greedy countries that seek to intimidate us, the message is that we are capable of a prompt and crushing response.”
For all the military showmanship, there were signs that Iran is feeling the pressure. President Ahmadinejad told reporters in New York that he was planning to start talks with a demand for highly enriched uranium “for medical, humanitarian purposes”.
Diplomats saw that as a ploy to deflect attention away from the real issues and string out negotiations.
With Mr Obama’s tougher stance and Thursday’s deadline, the strategy of diplomatic engagement appears to be coming to an end. Hopes now lie in gathering Security Council backing for tough new sanctions on Iran. President Medvedev of Russia conceded that while he believed that sanctions were rarely productive, “in some cases, they are inevitable”. China has registered deep concern at the revelations.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6851576.ece?&EMC-Bltn=HFLDHB
Pete :-) Moderator of: Exploring Belief Systems, God, & Spirituality
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