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JPost Middle East- Analysis: Why has the West Bank been quiet? January 6, 2009
- Lebanon doubts Hizbullah will open second front January 6, 2009
- UNSC to meet on Gaza resolution January 6, 2009
- Hamas opens hospital for gunmen January 6, 2009
- Sarkozy urges Assad to press for truce January 6, 2009
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- Rice says US supports Mubarak proposal on Gaza January 7, 2009
- Saddam wouldn't have allowed Israel's Gaza raid, says aide January 7, 2009
- UK voices support for Egyptian ceasefire initiative January 7, 2009
- France, Turkey willing to give monitors for Gaza January 7, 2009
- US says supports Egyptian initiative on Gaza January 7, 2009
- Haaretz.com - News
- Abbas says supports Egyptian ceasefire proposal January 7, 2009Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday he supports a proposal by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for an immediate truce between ...
- Olmert to set up 'humanitarian corridor' for Gaza StripIsrael will set up a "humanitarian corridor" to counter a crisis caused by its offensive in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office ...
- IDF shell kills 30 in Gaza UN school; Israel mulls appeal over Hamas fire from UN facilitiesIsrael is considering submitting a complaint to the United Nations of Hamas' use of the world body's facilities for terror purposes, after 30 people were killed when an Israeli army artillery shell struck a UN school in Gaza. Israeli troops say that they were fired on from the building. ...
- French TV claims photos from 2005 showed damage from Israel's Gaza operation January 6, 2009French public television network France 2 on Tuesday revealed they had aired photographs that allegedly showed destruction caused by the Israel Air Force during Operation Cast Lead, which were in fact taken during a different incident in 2005, one in which Gaza civilians were killed by an explosion caused by militants in the Strip. ...
- Obama breaks silence on Gaza, calls civilian deaths 'a deep concern' January 6, 2009Barack Obama, who takes over as U.S. president from George W. Bush on January 20, broke his silence about the violence in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, calling the loss of civilian lives in Gaza and in Israel a "source of deep concern for me." ...
- Abbas says supports Egyptian ceasefire proposal January 7, 2009
Israel willing to go it alone on Iran attack
Defence sources told the Jerusalem Post they were considering going it alone in a strike on Iran.
Conventional military thinking states that Israel would need America’s backing if only to allow Israeli warplanes to reach Iran by overflying Iraq, where the airspace is controlled by the United States Air Force.
But the paper said Israeli planners had come up with ideas that did not require support from the United States.
This comes after Ehud Olmert, the outgoing Israeli prime minister, failed to persuade President George W Bush to support an Israeli air attack in the last few months of his presidency.
It is always better to co-ordinate,” a source, described by the Jerusalme Post as a top Defense Ministry official, said.
“But we are also preparing options that do not include co-ordination.”
Israeli officials have said it would be difficult, but not impossible, to launch a strike against Iran without clear support from America.
One option would be to use Israeli submarines firing cruise missiles from off the Iranian coast in the Gulf.
Another might be to use Israel’s close links with Turkey to persuade Ankara to allow Israeli attack aircraft, air refuelling jets and pilot rescue helicopters to use Turkish airstrips.
“There are a wide range of risks one takes when embarking on such an operation,” the Jerusalem Post said.
In September, an article in ‘Defense News’ said America had recently agreed to supply an improved early warning radar system to Israel precisely because this sent a signal to Iran about Washington’s close military links with Israel.
“First, we want to put Iran on notice that we’re bolstering our capabilities throughout the region, and especially in Israel,” the article said.
“But just as important, we’re telling the Israelis, ‘Calm down, behave.
We’re doing all we can to stand by your side and strengthen defences, because at this time, we don’t want you rushing into the military option.’” In a related article at about the same time, TIME magazine raised the possibility that through the deployment of the radar, America wants to keep an eye on Israeli airspace, so that the US is not surprised if and when the IAF is sent to bomb Iran, a scenario Washington wants to avoid.
Last week, Iran’s nuclear chief Gholam Reza Aghazadeh revealed that the country was operating more than 5,000 centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant in Natanz and would continue to install centrifuges and enrich uranium to produce nuclear fuel for the country’s future nuclear power plants.
“At this point, more than 5,000 centrifuges are operating in Natanz,” said Aghazadeh, who is also the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
This represents a significant increase from the 4,000 Iran had said were up and running in August at the plant.
The Islamic republic has said it plans to move toward large-scale uranium enrichment that will ultimately involve 54,000 centrifuges.
Iran expands nuclear operations
Iran has expanded its controversial nuclear programme and now operates more than 5,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges, the country’s nuclear chief has said.
The figure released on Wednesday is a significant rise from the 4,000 Tehran said were operational in August at the Natanz plant in central Iran.
Gholamreza Aghazadeh, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, said Tehran had no intention of halting its nuclear operations over Western pressure and would continue to install centrifuges to produce fuel for future nuclear power plants.
US and EU leaders have accused Iran of using a civilian energy programme as a front to develop atomic weapons, despite a collective assessment made by 16 US spy agencies last year that it had ceased such activity in 2003. Tehran has denied the claims.
Uranium enriched to low level is used to produce nuclear fuel but further enrichment can make it suitable for weapon use.
‘Good progress’
Iran has said it plans to move towards large-scale uranium enrichment that will ultimately involve 54,000 centrifuges, with a target of 9,000 operational by next year.
Aghazadeh said Iran aims to start electricity production at its first nuclear power plant - the Russian-built Bushehr facility - in mid-2009.
He said “good progress” has been made in constructing a 40 megawatt heavy-water reactor near Arak in central Iran.
“The heavy water plant is experiencing a production beyond its capacity,” Aghazadeh said without elaboration.
“The Arak complex will be used to make isotopes for medical and agricultural ends,” he said.
The West has repeatedly called on Iran to stop construction of the reactor, fearing it could be used as a second track toward building an atomic warhead.
Rocket launch
Iran also announced on Wednesday that it had successfully launched into space its second rocket - the Kavoshgar (Explorer) 2.
“The rocket was launched to register and send correct environmental data and [to test] separation of the engine from the body,” state radio said.
It said after reaching the lower reaches of space, the rocket returned to Earth on a parachute.
The first Kovoshgar rocket was launched in February.
The West fears Iran’s space programme may form part of a bid to build missiles that could carry warheads.
Iran’s refusal to halt its programmes has drawn three rounds of UN sanctions since 2006, as well as separate US measures.
Israel expects Iran to make big strides in nuclear program
Weakening international pressure on Iran will embolden Teheran to make major strides next year toward developing a nuclear bomb, according to assessments from Israeli intelligence officials obtained Monday by The Associated Press.
Delays in activating Iran’s nuclear reactor will not hold up its development of nuclear weapons, because Teheran’s main focus is enriching uranium, the officials said. The intelligence officials agreed to be interviewed only on condition of anonymity because the information is classified.
Meanwhile, the chief US delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency said that the change in administrations in Washington would be a good opportunity for Iran to enter new negotiations to end its uranium enrichment program.
With the new administration, Iran should not expect a drastic change in the US position, said Gregory L. Schulte, who was in Berlin to meet with German officials before the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors’ meeting in Vienna on Thursday and Friday.
But Schulte expressed hope Iranian leaders would view the change in leadership at the White House as a new chance.
“We’ll see if they take advantage of this - I mean, it would be good if they said, ‘Okay, now is an opportunity for us to get into negotiations and to take concrete steps that the world expects,’ to give us assurances of the peaceful nature of their nuclear program,” Schulte told reporters.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has already sent congratulations to US President-elect Barack Obama, the first time an Iranian leader has offered good wishes to a US president-elect since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Obama has also indicated his willingness to talk with leaders such as those in Iran, Syria and North Korea.
But Schulte underlined that Obama has echoed President George W. Bush’s stance that a nuclear-armed Iran was unacceptable.
“The president-elect has also talked about the need for reinforced diplomacy, the need for direct tough diplomacy, and the need for that diplomacy to be sustained, to be backed by the prospect of economic sanctions and political isolation,” he said.
At this week’s IAEA meeting, Schulte said a major focus would be on a report about Syria’s Al Kibar facility, which said satellite imagery and other evidence showed it had the characteristics of a nuclear reactor.
Syria allowed the IAEA to visit the site near the desert town of Al Kibar in June but has since turned down requests for more inspections.
“It’s very clear to us that Syria has a lot of explaining to do,” Schulte said, but added that “Syria is not Iran, and we don’t want to make Syria into Iran.”
He also said he hoped Syria would take the approach Libya did when the country renounced its efforts to make nuclear weapons in 2003.
“Libya was caught with an illicit nuclear weapon’s program - Libya admitted that program, and at our last board meeting we actually passed a resolution where we welcomed the full cooperation by Libya,” Schulte said.
We must consider killing Ahmadinejad
Ex-IDF Chief Ya’alon: We must consider killing Ahmadinejad
By Haaretz Service
Former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Moshe “Boogie” Ya’alon told an Australian newspaper this week that the West must consider all options necessary to stop Tehran’s nuclear program, including assassinating Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
“We have to confront the Iranian revolution immediately,” Ya’alon said in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, published Monday morning Australia-time. “There is no way to stabilize the Middle East today without defeating the Iranian regime. The Iranian nuclear program must be stopped.”
When asked whether “all options” included a military deposition of Ahmadinejad and the rest of Iran’s current leadership, Ya’alon told The Herald: “We have to consider killing him. All options must be considered.”
Ya’alon, who served as IDF chief from 2002 through the final year of the Palestinian Intifada in 2005, also told The Herald that a military strike on Iran would be welcomed by regional elements as quelling the most divisive conflict in the Middle East today.
“Any military strike in Iran will be quietly applauded by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Gulf states,” he told the paper.
“It is a misconception to think that the Arab-Israeli conflict is the most important in the Middle-East. The Shiite-Sunni schism is much bigger, the Persian-Arab divide is bigger, the struggle between national regimes and jihadism is much bigger,” he was quoted as saying. “And I can’t imagine the U.S. will want to share power in the Middle East with a nuclear-armed Iran.”
The former army chief told the paper he has long seen Iran as the source of regional terrorism and was surprised the United States chosen to invade Iraq in its stead.
“I was chief of staff during Operation Iraqi Freedom and I was surprised the US decided to go into Iraq instead of Iran,” The Heral quoted him as saying. “Unfortunately, the American public didn’t have the political stomach to go into Iran.”
Ya’alon made headlines last week when he announced that he would be running for the Knesset on hardliner Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud list, after weeks of being courted by the opposition leader. 
Syria dismisses IAEA report
UN watchdog report on alleged secret Syrian nuclear site bombed by Israel in 2007 ‘proves nothing’, country’s nuclear energy chief says
Reuters
Syria’s nuclear energy chief said on Friday a UN watchdog reporton an alleged secret Syrian nuclear site bombed by Israelproved nothing and the investigation should be closed.
Ibrahim Othman said he expected Syria would stick by a written agreement with UN inspectors that permitted only one visit to the Al-Kibar site - which took place last June -
and “we will not allow another visit”.
An International Atomic Energy Agency report issued on Wednesday said a Syrian complex destroyed in a 2007 Israeli air strike bore a number of characteristics resembling those of a nuclear reactor and UN inspectors had found a significant number of uranium traces in desert sands there.
The findings, based on satellite pictures and soil and water samples taken by UN investigators, were not enough to conclude a reactor was there but the findings were serious and warranted more investigation and Syrian transparency, the IAEA said.
Iran has enough nuclear material for a single A-Bomb
Iran has now produced roughly enough nuclear material to make, with added purification, a single atom bomb, according to nuclear experts analyzing the latest report from global atomic inspectors.
This is the conclusion contained in the report leaked by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna Wednesday, Nov. 19, for submission to the agency’s board Nov. 27-28. This alarming development is headlined by the New York Times and Bloomberg website Nov. 20, but does not rate Israeli official comment or a mention in the its media.
In the last few weeks, Iran has doubled or even trebled the pace of its uranium enrichment process. Nuclear watchdog sources report that in October, Iran was known to have accumulated 480 kilos of low grade 5 percent enriched uranium, a short step from “break-out” to weapons grade (90 percent) material.
By mid-November, the Iranians topped this up to 630 kilos, adding 150 kilos in six weeks. By the end of 2009, Iran will have enough enriched uranium for 2-3 nuclear bombs.
Tehran has thus jumped three months ahead of US and Israeli intelligence estimated timeline of February 2009 as the timeline for a sufficiency of enriched uranium to build a bomb. The experts ask how long until Iran has the know-how for further purifying the fuel and perfecting the design for an atomic warhead. DEBKAfile’s sources report that Tehran acquired this technology some years ago from the Pakistani nuclear smuggler Dr. A.Q. Khan.
Iran using ‘fraud and evasion’ to promote nuclear agenda
Foreign Ministry warns international community against complacency, says recent IAEA report on Islamic republic’s nuclear program does nothing to lessen concern over Tehran’s nuclear program
Israel accused Iran of continued “fraud and evasion,” pursuant to a recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and said that “there is nothing in Iran’s response that should lessen the concern of the international community vis-à-vis its nuclear program.”
According to the IAEA report, the Islamic republic was continuing to defy United Nations demands to suspend uranium enrichment - a process used to make both nuclear fuel and the fissile material for an atom bomb.
“Regrettably, as a result of the lack of cooperation by Iran in connection with the alleged studies and other associated key remaining issues of serious concern, the agency has not been able to make substantive progress on these issues,” said the restricted report.
“This report emphasizes again that Iran is repeatedly violating UN Security Council decisions. It underscores the military elements in Iran’s nuclear activities,” the Foreign Ministry said in an official statement.
“Despite the fact that the IAEA takes the information presented to it at face value, Israel once again calls on members of the international community to increase the pressure on the Iranian government in order for it to abandon its threatening program to achieve nuclear energy,” the statement read.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert , who will set out for Washington on Sunday, is expected to spend much of his time discussing the issue of a nuclear Iran. He hopes to be able to convince the American administration to advance sanctions against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government.
Senior Israeli officials believe there is still time to stop the Iranian nuclear program in its tracks and are exploring all options to do so. In addition to diplomatic appeals to the US and European nations, including Russia, they hinted that non-diplomatic options are “still on the table.”
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