Israeli DM: Iran’s Use of Uranium for Civilian Purposes ‘Delays’ War Decision

Creation of Medical Isotopes Buys Iran Another 8 Months of Threats

by Jason Ditz, November 09, 2012

From the moment Iran started enriching uranium to 20%, which is far below the level needed to make a weapon in the first place, Iranian officials have been saying it was for civilian purposes. Israel has been threatening war.

Guess who was telling the truth? Iran, as it turns out, actually was using the 20% enriched uranium for exactly what they said all along, producing fuel for the US-built Tehran Research Reactor, which provides the nation with medical isotopes.

So all those Israeli predictions that a war needed to be launched by summer, or then by October, or then by next spring were all nonsense. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak today conceded that they have “another eight months.”

Eight months of threats from Israel, apparently. Iran keeps using its civilian nuclear program for civilian purposes, and that keeps pushing back Israel’s “red line,” but when it comes down to it, the threats are more of an end unto themselves than anything. So Israel has another eight months to “decide” whether to attack Iran for not good reason, which is to say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been wanting to launch this war since 2010, has another eight months to insist that the illusory threat is getting closer, while trying to convince the rest of the nation to embark on a disastrous conflict.

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