Tensions Mount over the Arab Bomb- Iran Nuclear Weapons
Iran Missile bears slogan "Israel
should be wiped off the map" Iran's final
solution for Israel
Iran produced 3.5 percent enriched
uranium Iranian President Ahmadinejad
Iran to Construct a 2nd Nuclear Power Plant Iranian Nuclear Program
Map and information on key Iranian
Nuclear Facilities
Prelude to Sept 11, 2001 Hostages
under the Carter Administration Iran Embassy
Non-Muslims who preach to followers of
Islam put their lives at risk Iran Christian Persecution
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
urged that Israel be "wiped off the map."
MOSCOW - Russia's Defense Minister confirmed reports that short-range, surface-to-air
missiles will be sold and shipped to Iran. Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov didn't give
details. But Russian media have said that Moscow agreed in November to sell $1 billion
worth of weapons to Iran, including up to 30 Tor-M1 missile systems over the next two
years.
"A contract for the delivery of air defense Tor missiles to Iran has indeed been
signed," Ivanov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. "This
unequivocally will not change the balance of forces in the region," Ivanov added. Tor
M1 missiles are short-range, surface-to-air missiles already used by several other armed
forces, including China.
The reports prompted expressions of concern from the U.S administration and Israel, which
considers Iran to be its biggest threat. Israeli concerns recently were heightened after
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged that Israel be "wiped off the map."
Top politicians in Israel have ratcheted up the tough talk against Iran, led by former
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called for a pre-emptive strike against Iranian
nuclear installations. Such a strike would be similar to a 1981 attack, ordered by
then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin, that destroyed an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor.
"I will continue the tradition established by Menachem Begin, who did not allow Iraq
to develop such a nuclear threat against Israel, and by a daring and courageous act gave
us two decades of tranquility," Netanyahu told the daily newspaper Maariv. "I
believe that this is what Israel has to do."
Interfax said the Tor-M1 system could identify up to 48 targets and fire at two targets
simultaneously at a height of up to 20,000 feet. An influential Iranian official played
down the deal, telling the official Islamic Republic News Agency that Tehran has been
trading arms with many countries and would continue to do so.
The Russian Foreign Ministry, without commenting on the reported missile sale, also said
that all Russian weaponry supplied to Iran is purely for defensive purposes.
However, a senior Bush administration official, who declined to be named because he was
not authorized to speak publicly on the subject, said last week that any arms sale to Iran
is a source of concern. The official would not say whether Russia had advised the United
States of any negotiations with Iran.
The United States and Russia are supporting efforts by the European Union to persuade Iran
to halt development of nuclear weapons in exchange for economic incentives, such as trade
opportunities.
Russia, which has a long and lucrative relationship with Iran, has offered to try to
resolve a key dispute by offering to enrich uranium for an Iranian civilian nuclear energy
program as a safeguard against Iran using enrichment for weapons purposes.
More information on Iranian policies on this site Iran Freedom Foundation.org
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Some say Iran has enough uranium gas to make 10 nuclear weapons
Map, News and Photos of key Iranian Nuclear Facilities Click Here
ISFAHAN - Uranium conversion plant- Iran is building a plant here to convert
uranium ore into three forms:
Hexafluoride gas - used in gas centrifuges
Uranium oxide - used to fuel reactors, albeit not the type Iran is constructing
Metal - often used in the cores of nuclear bombs. The IAEA is concerned about the metal's
use, as Iran's reactors do not require it as fuel
Iran suspended work on an uranium enrichment plant at Natanz in 2003 but has recently
reopened the facility.
In 2003, a leaked International Atomic Energy Agency report said that weapons-grade
uranium had been found in samples taken from the site, although Iran blamed contaminated
imported equipment, and an independent report later confirmed this. |
