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Israel has 'eight days' to hit Iran nuclear site: US envoy

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  • Israel has 'eight days' to hit Iran nuclear site: US envoy

    WASHINGTON: Israel has "eight days" to launch a military strike against Iran's Bushehr nuclear facility and stop Tehran from acquiring a functioning atomic plant, a former USenvoy to the UN has said.

    Iran is to bring online its first nuclear power reactor, built with Russia's help, on August 21, when a shipment of nuclear fuel will be loaded into the plant's core.

    At that point, John Bolton warned Monday, it will be too late for Israel to launch a military strike against the facility because any attack would spread radiation and affect Iranian civilians.

    "Once that uranium, once those fuel rods are very close to the reactor, certainly once they're in the reactor, attacking it means a release of radiation, no question about it," Bolton told Fox Business Network.

    "So if Israel is going to do anything against Bushehr it has to move in the next eight days."

    Absent an Israeli strike, Bolton said, "Iran will achieve something that no other opponent of Israel, no other enemy of the United States in the Middle East really has and that is a functioning nuclear reactor."

    But when asked whether he expected Israel to actually launch strikes against Iran within the next eight days, Bolton was skeptical.

    "I don't think so, I'm afraid that they've lost this opportunity," he said.

    The controversial former envoy to the United Nations criticized Russia's role in the development of the plant, saying "the Russians are, as they often do, playing both sides against the middle."

    "The idea of being able to stick a thumb in America's eye always figures prominently in Moscow," he added.

    Iran dismissed the possibilities of such an attack from its archfoes.

    Foreign MinistryspokesmanRamin Mehmanparast said Tuesday that "these threats of attacks had become repetitive and lost their meaning."

    "According to international law, installations which have real fuel cannot be attacked because of the humanitarian consequences," he told reporters at a news conference in Tehran.

    Iranian officials say Iran has stepped up defensive measures at the Bushehr plant to protect it from any attacks.

    Russia has been building the Bushehr plant since the mid-1990s but the project was marred by delays, and the issue is hugely sensitive amid Tehran's standoff with the West and Israel over its nuclear ambitions.

    The UN Security Council hit Tehran with a fourth set of sanctions on June 9 over its nuclear programme, and the United States and European Union followed up with tougher punitive measures targeting Iran's banking and energy sectors.

    The Bushehr project was first launched by the late shah in the 1970s using contractors from German firm Siemens. But it was shelved when he was deposed in the 1979 Islamic revolution.

    It was revived after the death of revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989, as Iran's new supreme leaderAli Khamenei and his first president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, backed the project.

    In 1995, Iran won the support of Russia which agreed to finish building the plant and fuel it.

    Read more: Israel has 'eight days' to hit Iran nuclear site: US envoy - Middle East - World - The Times of India Israel has 'eight days' to hit Iran nuclear site: US envoy - Middle East - World - The Times of India

    Media Source : Times Of India
    23
    Yes
    39.13%
    9
    No
    56.52%
    13
    Its none of our business
    4.35%
    1

    The poll is expired.


  • #2
    I don't get it. They have a nuclear program, they stopped their nuclear program 5 years ago, they're about to go active in a week. Can someone please make up their damned mind?!
    Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

    Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

    Comment


    • #3
      it's john bolton being john bolton.
      There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

      Comment


      • #4
        I dont know, A spokesmen for Israel on CNN the other night made it pretty clear that if Obama fails to act in either diplomacy or other then Israel herself will. Given the facts that Iran has threatened Israel's destruction numerous times who would we be to criticise the Israeli's when it is their future that is threatened not ours. If you notice, the Saudi's have fallen silent on this matter as well which means one thing given the fact that the Saudis have given the Israeli's the "greenlight" to overfly their airspace. It would pretty much be akin to the times of the Cuban Missle Crisis. And we all know through history just how close they came that time. Iran shows no signs of compliance, so now the ball is on the Israeli's court. Interesting days lie ahead no doubt.

        Maybe we as in the US should just step back, allow the Israeli's to do what they must because we all know that Iran is no doubt in the process of building weapons, they tell enough lies everyday about the west, whats to stop them from lying about a clandestine arms program, past posts on the facility bombing in Syria show that Iran along with Syria and North Korea surely cannot be trusted in being truthfull.

        IMO, The only time these people will ever come clean is when they have a nuclear weapon ready and pointed at someone. Then who do we blame besides ourselves for failure to act when we saw the writing on the wall.

        And just think, Iran being a state sponsor of terrorism just makes the future all that bleaker, particularly if they aqquire such a weapon to use. Damned if you do, damned if you dont. Which do you prefer?

        In contrast, this would be aikin to the Israeli's giving Georgia the very same tech to aim at Russia. Think about it.
        Last edited by Dreadnought; 17 Aug 10,, 18:48.
        Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

        Comment


        • #5
          I voted No.
          Why should Israel or any other nation destroy Bushehr Plant? (not a rhetorical question, inquiring mind wants to know)?
          In what regard Bushehr will let IRI to advance toward nuclear weapons?
          Natanz, Arak, Fredo and Isfahan are different story but Bushehr is a light water reactor and entire fuel rods will be supplied and waste hauled away by Russians. Also there are probably over 1000s Russian scientists, engineers and tech reps. working in and around the plant 24/7, will they be forewarned to evacuate asap before operation begins?

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Aryajet View Post
            I voted No.
            Why should Israel or any other nation destroy Bushehr Plant? (not a rhetorical question, inquiring mind wants to know)?
            In what regard Bushehr will let IRI to advance toward nuclear weapons?
            Natanz, Arak, Fredo and Isfahan are different story but Bushehr is a light water reactor and entire fuel rods will be supplied and waste hauled away by Russians. Also there are probably over 1000s Russian scientists, engineers and tech reps. working in and around the plant 24/7, will they be forewarned to evacuate asap before operation begins?
            Hmm, perhaps I should have been more specific. Medical Isotopes from Bushehr are normal and permitted by the regs, its the other sites that should be targeted provided that Bushehr's not be enriched beyond medical limits, anything above that enrichment level and club that reactor as well.

            With this regime and its backers, its no longer a question of "if" they will produce enough for a weapon its a question of "when".

            Is the civilized world ready for a nuclear armed terror supporting state such as Iran will become? Ask yourself that question.
            And then ask yourself who they will share that tech with in as much as China did with Pak, etc.
            Last edited by Dreadnought; 17 Aug 10,, 19:49.
            Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Dreadnought View Post
              Hmm, perhaps I should have been more specific. Medical Isotopes from Bushehr are normal and permitted by the regs, its the other sites that should be targeted provided that Bushehr's not be enriched beyond medical limits, anything above that enrichment level and club that reactor as well.

              With this regime and its backers, its no longer a question of "if" they will produce enough for a weapon its a question of "when".

              Is the civilized world ready for a nuclear armed terror supporting state such as Iran will become? Ask yourself that question.
              And then ask yourself who they will share that tech with in as much as China did with Pak, etc.
              Dread,
              That was the point I was trying to make. There is no enrichment facility in Bushehr, fuel rods (around 3% enriched AFAIK) will all be supplied by Russia and the waste will be hauled away by them.
              Now Arak is a different story, it is a heavy water reactor with plenty of questionable intentions, and I don't have to ask myself again b/c I know nuclear weapons capable barbaric republic will be a disaster for Iranians and rest of the civilized world as well, but bombing Bushehr facility is not the solution.

              Comment


              • #8
                If Israel bombs Bushehr and kills Russian nationals, what do you think Putin is going to do?

                Hint, he's not going to take it lying down like the French did with Osirak.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by astralis View Post
                  it's john bolton being john bolton.
                  Yep
                  In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

                  Leibniz

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Skywatcher View Post
                    If Israel bombs Bushehr and kills Russian nationals, what do you think Putin is going to do?

                    Hint, he's not going to take it lying down like the French did with Osirak.
                    IMO, Israel is not going to take that chance, they could with their capabilities take it whenever they want it and already have a clear path to do it if prevoked. They would'nt risk causing a crisis with Russia. They are much smarter then that. As Aryajet mentioned above its only a light water reactor, its only capable of so much output. Its the heavy water reactors they are planning (Arak, Nantez etc.) against UN sanctions and in violation of the NPT that would fuel a weapons program. Bushehr could eventually produce enough but it would take much longer then they plan on waiting apparently. They have however greatly increased their cascades as well from what past news reports have shown.
                    Last edited by Dreadnought; 18 Aug 10,, 03:38.
                    Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Don't strike Iran now! That would ruin everything, wait until Iran has nuclear warheads than both sides will be prepared for nuclear war. A nuclear war would be much more decisive, if we (US and or Israel) have conventional war with Iran now, we will only have to fight them again later. It would be much better to have a nuclear war, that way we would never have to fight Iran again.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Hydra View Post
                        Don't strike Iran now! That would ruin everything, wait until Iran has nuclear warheads than both sides will be prepared for nuclear war. A nuclear war would be much more decisive, if we (US and or Israel) have conventional war with Iran now, we will only have to fight them again later. It would be much better to have a nuclear war, that way we would never have to fight Iran again.
                        Well, I guess there won't be an Israel after wards then.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Skywatcher View Post
                          Well, I guess there won't be an Israel after wards then.
                          I would not bet against Israel, they have more than 300 nuclear warheads, nuclear capable sea, air, and land based delivery systems, Arrow ABM system, and a history that includes the Holocaust. Iran would last 15 to 30 minutes. Probable casualties: Israel, five hundred thousand. Iran 25 million.
                          Last edited by Hydra; 18 Aug 10,, 05:16.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Hydra View Post
                            Don't strike Iran now! That would ruin everything, wait until Iran has nuclear warheads than both sides will be prepared for nuclear war. A nuclear war would be much more decisive, if we (US and or Israel) have conventional war with Iran now, we will only have to fight them again later. It would be much better to have a nuclear war, that way we would never have to fight Iran again.
                            You can't be serious. How old are you? How about introducing yourself in the intro section (while you still have time).
                            To be Truly ignorant, Man requires an Education - Plato

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Even if Israel won the nuclear war with Iran, would it ultimately benefit them in the long run? Smothering angry neighbors with massive (or even just surgical) nuclear attacks can have very negative implications for international relations...

                              Consider the massive flak Israel has taken abroad for the "collateral damage" s of a (relatively) small number of Palestinian civilians. Now, magnify that outcry a thousand times.

                              Willingly nuking hunreds of thousands or even millions of Iranian men, women, and children would probably mean the end of US support for Israel, and the animosity of nearly many nations in the region and the world proper.
                              USNA 2014?

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