Iran admits cyber attack on nuclear plants | Reuters
Iran admits cyber attack on nuclear plants | Reuters.
TEHRAN |
TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran admitted Monday that its controversial uranium enrichment centrifuges had been affected by a malicious computer virus, as reported by Western diplomats last week.
Hours earlier, car bombs killed a top Iranian nuclear scientist in Tehran and wounded another.
Both events may color a resumption of talks on nuclear issues next week with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a news conference Iran would attend the talks on December 5, but restated its position that its uranium enrichment program, which it says is purely for power generation, was not negotiable.
Major Western powers as well as Israel and Russia have become increasingly concerned that Iran’s program may soon give it the capacity to build and launch a nuclear bomb, despite four rounds of U.N. sanctions.
Israel and the United States have not ruled out pre-emptive military strikes. But the emergence of Stuxnet, which some experts believe was aimed specifically at Iran’s nuclear installations, shows Tehran’s foes may no longer be restricted to conventional diplomatic and military options.
CENTRIFUGE PROBLEMS
Ahmadinejad did not specify whether he was referring to the Stuxnet virus identified by Western security experts, but said:
“They succeeded in creating problems for a limited number of our centrifuges with the software they had installed in electronic parts. But the problem has been resolved.”
International talks on Iran’s nuclear program have made little or no progress and been stalled for more than a year.
Russia’s RIA news agency quoted Iran’s ambassador to Moscow as saying the latest round would be held in Geneva.
Ahmadinejad said Iran was ready to discuss nuclear cooperation and international problems, but not enrichment.
“The complete enrichment cycle and the production of fuel are basic rights of (IAEA) member states and are non-negotiable,” Ahmadinejad said.
A senior Western diplomat in Tehran whose country is involved in the talks said no major breakthrough was expected.
“Iran has always tried to evade pressure by expressing its readiness for talks. But we want to discuss sensitive issues like enrichment,” the diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
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WarSclerotic 
November 30, 2010 at 7:34 AM
AHMADINEJAD WILL SOON ACHEIVE HIS MOST INNER ALTEREGO AND PROCLAIM TO BE THE PERSON WHOM ALLAH HAS APPOINTED TO SECURE HIS RETURN AND CLAIM THIS EARTH FOR HIS PURPOSE AND WE NEED TO HAVE DESTROYED HIS MOST SENSITIVE ACCOUNTINGS FOR ACHEIVING THIS BY LITERALY DESTROYING HIS CAPACITY TO RULE THE WORLD WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS. FOR THIS HIS MOST SACRED PURPOSE AS A MODERATE WORLDLY LEADER AND MAKES HIM A VERY IMPRESSIVE HUMBLY IMPORTANT MESSIAHS FRIEND TO HAVE MANAGED TO DO THIS IN SPITE OF SUCH GREAT OPPOSITION. FOR THE U.S. IS THE GREAT SATAN IN HIS MIND AND ACCORDING TO THE KORAN WE AS CHRISTIANS AND JEWS OR ANYOTHER THAN MUSLIM WALK OF MANKIND ON THIS EARTH ARE AN APOSTATE REGIME WORTHY OF ONLY DEATH AND ANY FAVORS ANYONE LIKE US WOULD SHOW BY HELPING THEMWOULD ONLY ADVANCE THEIR BELIEFS ONLY FOR THE KORANHAS BUILTIN CODES TO ADVANCE THEIR UNDERSTANDING AND ABANDON ANY OLD OUTDATED BELIEFS THAT WOULD COMPROMISE THEIR NEWLY INSPIRED RESULTS FORMED BY THE OPINIONS OF THE HIERARCHY OF THIS EVIL SATANIC CULTS END.