Per their mutual agree in the wake of the P5+1 nuclear agreement, Iran has provided the IAEA with a collection of information related to their previous nuclear activities, one of the important conditions of the agreement to resolve the IAEA’s questions.
The IAEA confirmed the receipt of the documents, though as they have made a confidentiality agreement with Iran, the contents of much of them are not expected to ever be made public, and will likely just be summarized in future reports.
That’s not sitting well with US Congressional hawks, who were hoping the documents would provide new dirt on Iran to try to undermine the nuclear deal. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R – SC) is leading an effort to defund the IAEA outright to punish them for not “sharing” the information with Congress.
Iran is believed to have had a fledgling nuclear weapons program in the best, though all intelligence agencies agree it’s been long-since abandoned. How far that program progressed before being scrapped remains a matter of considerable speculation, however.
Can't be! We all know Iran cheats and lies!!!! I know because the neocons say so.
Show me. I don't believe, I think if is just emotional hatred, the poorest of all reasons to wage war.
My advice to Israelis is settle in good faith with the Palestinians before sanctions compel you. Everyone will deal if Israel is not a Frankenstein. Get rid of the right wing. They are destroying Israel.
Hamas and Hezbollah will disappear and just be a bad memory. That isn't going to happen with Benny's whack-a-mole security solution. Israel needs to restore the Palestinians equitably..
Relations with Iran could even be normalized. Benny will have to face the war crimes done in Gaza, that baby killer will be made to have remorse and will suffer disgrace.
The right wing and Benny is destroying Israel and has put Israel on a very dark path.
I think the phrasing 'fledgling nuclear weapons etc' confirms the assumption there was a program of some sorts. But a program means an effort with a centralized coordination. If there is no central coordination it's not a program, just some isolated efforts that are related to nuclear weapons. These are likely to happen.
So what happened in 2003? Was the message from the top "stop what you're doing as part of the program" or was it "stop whatever it is you're doing if anything". And did US intelligence bother with the distinction?
All nuclear programs, peaceful and non-peaceful, have begun with theoretical studies including studies of previous theoretical work by others once nuclear fission had been discovered. I would not be surprised to learn that much of Iran's work was of that nature. Since the U235 enrichment technology of Iran requires the use of the chemically very aggressive compound UF6 I suspect that Iran did some chemical studies with UF6. Nothing to be truly concerned about because such work would also be needed for the peaceful use of low-grade U235 enrichment for nuclear reactors and sale. Currently there are factories (URENCO) in the Netherlands, Great Britain, and the USA which produce low-grade U235 for sale by exactly the same method of enrichment that Iran is using. These are also regularly visited by IAEA inspectors. No one else cares.
If that was all Iran did then the UN should retroactively punish the Dutch government for secretly doing "potentially real fledgling nuclear weapons work" in the 1960's and 1970's when it funded U235 enrichment by ultra-centrifuges. In fact, one Dutch newspaper ("De Waarheid") at the time accused the Dutch government of producing nuclear weapons for….Germany! One can safely predict that this will not happen. The Dutch can be trusted. Right?
Since the IAEA is not a branch of the US government Graham's demands are puppy-whelps based on nothing but hot air. The IAEA reports to the UN and not to the US Senate or to the US White House for that matter.
Why this hullabaloo? The nations which supported the sanctioning of Iran need at least a shred of evidence of "nuclear activity by Iran in the past" for their sanctions because if there is none then the sanctions were clear-cut war crimes. In the end everyone will agree on some vague formula such as "there were possibly indications that Iran did studies pertaining to nuclear weaponry" and close that chapter. Graham and others only want to keep an empty pot boiling.
Good use of the phrase 'hullabaloo'. Also, a whelp and a puppy are the same thing; the sound that they make is a 'yelp'.
I'm a helper 😉
It is important to remember that all of the evidence AGAINST Iran is also kept secret, from Iran, and from all of us too.
Iran says they are forgeries. It is hard to check that, when nobody can see it. El Baradei agreed they were likely forgeries, so the US got rid of him, and the guy picked by the US said they were not. But they are all still secret.
We'll hear screams about the IAEA keeping this secret from our Senators. They haven't seen the evidence on their side either, it is all secret.
Know that every possible tactic is used to kill this deal. Why not secret documents, it can't be any more unbelievable then the misinformation coming out of the republicans.
Aug 14, 2015 Iran Deal's Surprising Supporters
Dozens of retired US admirals and generals and a group of former Iranian political prisoners in the US have both come out in support of the Iran agreement recently. How will the neocons write this off? Will they ignore it?
https://youtu.be/ERihbMEKcUo
Lindsay 'Blanche' Graham needs to shut his yap; he has enough nuclear 'hinkiness' going on in his South Carolina bailiwick, including Dick Cheney's 2005 planned nuclear false flag event in Charleston Harbor, à la 9/11. To be blamed on Iran, the next 'domino' in the Neocons' Project, it was stopped only by 4-star General Kevin Byrnes 'falling on his sword' and threatening a military coup of W and cabal.
Israel behaves like the police are coming after creating a crime, panic. I don't think it was realized the Iran caved on all the contentious issues, making this the toughest NPT in the world. It was a huge multi year effort to deliver this excellent negotiated treaty.
Any contract can be rewritten by the writer to be more favourable, but that is not a deal, it's a fantasy and thinly disguised sabotage.
The 'No' vote shows how unfit republicans are to govern. They are already framing the next war. Most think the republicans are a little thick after the Iraq and Afghanistan disasters and have learned nothing. They made their patrons allot of money, they don't see it as a failure only a public management issue. Thus it's easy for them to invite another war, they want it. Thanks Benny for showing us who are marked men next election, I expect the backlash against 'No' voters will be viral. These are issues of congressional integrity and a war posture contrary to the interests of the US voters. It's wise to shut the propaganda machines of Fox and others. There needs to be unbiased reporting then facts become the driving force, not BS. Also it will stop polarizing the voters.
I've got question for this forum, all of the missiles sent into Israeli cities, could have been allot more destructive if Iran were to provide some of the 10,000kg of 20% fissionable material to rain down on Israel. This would be similar to land mines designed to wound and not kill. Since this could have been used as a WMD, answer me, why isn't Israel destroyed already??? You don't need a nuclear detonation, you don't need plutonium as bigger nuclear bombs are not needed. This deal secures Israel safety. Benny is doing nothing but trying to sabotage the deal and gamble with Israel's security, because he wants to escalate and see a US war against Iran.