WarSclerotic

Iran military official: Only burning White House can make up for burning Koran – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News.

Commander of Iran’s Basij force tell Fars news agency that Muslims worldwide should reject Obama’s apology following the burning of the holy Muslim text in a U.S. base in Afghanistan.

The Muslim world should not accept an apology issued by U.S. President Barack Obama over the burning of Korans in an American base in Afghanistan, a top Iranian military commander said on Saturday, adding that nothing short of “burning the White House can relieve the wound of us.”

Obama’s Thursday apology in a letter to Afghan President Hamid Karzai sought to quell spiraling furor among Afghans, who have been protesting the act for five straight days, after Afghan workers found charred copies of the Muslim holy book on a military base near Kabul.

	Supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf stand on top of a U.S. flag during an anti-American demonstration in Quetta February 25, 2012.
	Photo by: Reuters

According to White House spokesperson Jay Carney, while the apology was “wholly appropriate given the sensitivities” about treatment of the Koran, he said Obama’s primary concern was “the safety of American men and women in Afghanistan, of our military and civilian personnel there.”

Responding to Obama’s apology on Saturday, the commander of Iran’s Basij force Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqd claimed that the holy book was burned by U.S. forces over the heavy slap it has been given by Islam,” urging Muslims worldwide to reject the American apology.

“Nothing but burning the White House can relieve the wound of us, the Muslims, caused by the Burning of Quran in the US,” he said adding: “Their apology can be accepted only by hanging their commanders; hanging their commanders means an apology,” he was quoted by the semi-official Fars news agency as saying.

Naqd’s comments came after, earlier Saturday, a gunman killed two American military advisers inside a heavily guarded government building in the heart of Kabul.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was retaliation for the Koran burnings, and the NATO commander recalled all international military personnel working in Afghan ministries in the capital.

U.S.¬ officials said the assailant remained at large and a manhunt was under way.

At least 28 people have been killed and hundreds wounded since Tuesday, when it first emerged that Qurans and other religious materials had been thrown into a firepit used to burn garbage at Bagram Air Field, a large U.S.¬ base north of Kabul.

Among those dead were two U.S. ¬soldiers who were killed Thursday by one of their Afghan counterparts while a riot raged outside their base in the eastern province of Nangarhar.

PM: IAEA report proves Iran cont… JPost – Iranian Threat – News.

By Marc Israel Sellem

A report by the UN’s nuclear watchdog proves that Israel’s analysis of Iran’s nuclear program is correct, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Saturday.

Netanyahu said the International Atomic Energy Agency report proves that Iran is continuing its nuclear program “without let-up.”

Iran “is enriching uranium to a high level of 20%, while grossly ignoring the demands of the international community,” Netanyahu said in a written statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Netanyahu was responding to the UN nuclear watchdog report which said that Iran has sharply stepped up its controversial uranium enrichment drive.

The IAEA also reported its failed mission to Tehran this week to try and get Iran to respond to allegations of research relevant for the development of nuclear weapons.

The IAEA report to member states showed Iran had carried out a significant expansion of activities at its main enrichment plant near the central city of Natanz, and also increased work at the Fordow underground facility.

Enriched uranium can be used to fuel nuclear power plants, which is Iran’s stated aim, or provide material for bombs if refined much further, which the West suspects is Tehran’s ultimate aim.

At Natanz, the IAEA report said 52 cascades – each containing around 170 centrifuges – were now operating, up from 37 in November.

At Fordow, almost 700 centrifuges are now refining uranium to a fissile concentration of 20 percent and preparations are under way to install many more, the IAEA report showed.

Fordow is of particular concern for the West and Israel as Iran is shifting the most sensitive aspect of its nuclear work, refining uranium to a level that takes it significantly closer to potential bomb material, to the site.

Estimated to be buried beneath 80 meters of rock and soil, it gives Iran better protection against any Israeli or US military strikes.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak has warned that the Islamic state’s nuclear research could soon pass into what he called a “zone of immunity,” protected from outside disruption.

The IAEA report showed Iran had now produced nearly 110 kg of uranium enriched to 20 percent since early 2010. Western experts say about 250 kg is needed for a nuclear weapon.

Electronic Warfare: North Korea Nears Completion of Electromagnetic Pulse Bomb – ABC News.+

hn Young-joon/AP Photo

North Korea Nears Completion of Electromagnetic Pulse Bomb

By JOOHEE CHO

March 9, 2011

North Korea appears to be protesting the joint U.S. and South Korean military maneuvers by jamming Global Positioning Devices in the south, which is a nuisance for cell phone and computers users — but is a hint of the looming menace for the military.

Since March 4, Pyongyang has been trying to disrupt GPS receivers critical to South Korean military communications apparently in protest of the ongoing joint military training exercises between South Korean and U.S. forces. Strong jamming signals were sent intermittently every five to 10 minutes.

The scope of the damage has been minimal, putting some mobile phones and certain military equipment that use GPS signals on the fritz.

Large metropolitan areas including parts of Seoul, Incheon and Paju have been affected by the jamming, but “the situation is getting wrapped up, no severe damage has been reported for the last two days,” Kyoungwoo Lee, deputy director of Korea Communications Commission, said.

The jamming, however, has raised questions about whether the Korean peninsula is bracing for new electronic warfare.

The North is believed to be nearing completion of an electromagnetic pulse bomb that, if exploded 25 miles above ground would cause irreversible damage to electrical and electronic devices such as mobile phones, computers, radio and radar, experts say.

“We assume they are at a considerably substantial level of development,” Park Chang-kyu of the Agency for Defense Development said at a briefing to the parliament Monday.

Park confirmed that South Korea has also developed an advanced electronic device that can be deployed in times of war.

The current attempts to interfere with GPS transmissions are coming from atop a modified truck-mounted Russian device. Pyongyang reportedly imported the GPS jamming system from Russia in early 2000 and has since developed two kinds of a modified version. It has also in recent years handed out sales catalogs of them to nations in the Middle East, according to South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo.

North Korea Jams GPS Signals in Ominous Threat of More to Come

Major Korean newspaper editorials today called the recent jamming a “wake-up call,” pointing out that consequences could be severe if North Korea succeeds in discharging full-fledged electromagnetic waves.

On top of disrupting major communication tools used by both civilians and the military, the waves would affect financial transactions and civilian airplanes dependent on radio signals.

“The problem could be further exacerbated by the fact that our military equipment increasingly relies on commercial GPS standards,” wrote JoongAng Daily, one of South Korea’s largest newspapers.

This is the second time North Korea has sought to interfere with military communications. Pyongyang is thought to have been behind a failure of GPS receivers on some naval and civilian aircraft during another joint military exercise in August.

South Korea’s minister of defense at that time had reported to the Congress, warning that the North poses “a fresh security threat” capable of disrupting guided bombs and missiles by sending signals over a distance of up to 60 miles.

Some modern weapons are equipped with an alternative guided system in addition to GPS, which means the bomb would find its way to the target even if it loses contact with the satellite.

But the Korean military weaponry still largely remains vulnerable to GPS jamming signals, said Kwon Oh-Bong of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, answering questions from concerned politicians at a parliamentary working session Monday.

“Because we have a special code for the military, it is unlikely to be affected by such an attack, but there are some weapons that do not require a special code, so we are researching preventive measures,” he said.

U.S. Forces Korea spokesman David Oten declined to assess the effects, saying it is a matter of intelligence but added in an e-mail response that they are conducting extensive analysis of potential threats and ensured that “United States forces operate using multiple, redundant navigational systems and train extensively to operate in a contested electronic environment.”

Euri Son and Esther Kim contributed to this article.

Don’t Underestimate Israel’s Capability to Strike Iran, Insiders Say – The Daily Beast.

Feb 25, 2012 4:45 PM EST

Skeptics say the Jewish state may not be able to deal a fatal blow to an Iranian nuclear-weapons program. But maybe that’s what Jerusalem wants you to think.

US planning to boost sea and land defences as Iran fears grow – Telegraph.

Iranian navy soldiers take part in a military exercise in the strait of Homruz in the Oman Sea: Gen James Mattis, the head of the US Central Command, has privately informed Congress of his intentions to place mine detection and clearing equipment in and around the Strait and to boost surveillance capabilities in the Gulf Photo: EPA

The Cutting Edge News.

Friendship Under Fire–Netanyahu and Obama Set to Meet

Washington Institute

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next month, U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a key meeting over the Iranian nuclear challenge that will test their sometimes rocky relationship. After a weekend visit by National Security Advisor Tom Donilon to Israel, the White House announced this week that Obama will host Netanyahu in Washington on March 5. This will be an opportunity for the two leaders to synchronize their positions on Iran. Whether they can reach some common ground — now or in the near future — could be a decisive factor in Israel’s decision-making on whether to strike Iran sometime this year.

International pressure on the Islamic Republic has never been higher. In addition to the new, crippling U.S. sanctions enacted on Dec. 31 and Feb. 6, the European Union recently pledged to halt the importation of Iranian oil by July 1. Iran’s economy is reeling.

For their part, Iranian leaders have struck an increasingly aggressive note. They have threatened a preemptive strike against their foes, and warned that they could close the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s traded oil flows daily. In another recent act of defiance, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on Feb. 15 that a “new generation” of Iranian centrifuges had just been activated at the Natanz nuclear site. And this week, IAEA inspectors charged with monitoring Iran’s nuclear program were denied access to a military facility, returning to Vienna after what they termed “disappointing” talks with their Iranian interlocutors.

Despite its saber-rattling, Iran is feeling the heat of international sanctions. Over the past month, the Iranian rial has been devalued by 50 percent. Iran has also indicated that it may even be willing to resume diplomacy, which it has scorned since the last round of negotiations in 2009 and 2010. With the media rife with speculation about a possible Israeli military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities by this summer, tensions between the two countries have risen to an all-time high. Iran is blaming Israel for the recent assassinations of its nuclear scientists, and Israel is accusing Iran of masterminding the Feb. 13 terror attack against Israeli diplomats in New Delhi, as well as attempted attacks in Tbilisi and Bangkok. It is no secret that Netanyahu and Obama have never been close, but now is the time for the two leaders to find common ground over the Iranian nuclear issue.

There has already been some progress in getting top U.S. and Israeli officials to speak about Iran in similar terms. Last week in the Knesset, Netanyahu said it is critical that the world — not just Israel — identify “red lines” when dealing with the Iranian nuclear program. In a CBS appearance last month, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta declared that Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon, as well as closure of the Strait of Hormuz, are “red lines” for the United States. However, the United States and Israel clearly differ in where their red lines lie. The United States has put the focus on Iran actually gaining a nuclear weapon, while Israel — more vulnerable to Iranian missiles due to its geographic proximity — views the threshold as the Iranian regime’s acquisition of enough low-enriched uranium to build a bomb, pending a political decision to convert it to weapons-grade fuel.

The other set of differences between the United States and Israel has to do with how long they are willing to wait before judging the international sanctions of Iran to be a success or failure. On the one hand, this is the first time that the United States and the EU have imposed the type of “crippling” sanctions that Israel has long called for. But on the other, recent statements by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak signal that Israel believes its window for military action is rapidly closing. As a result, Israeli officials fear they might not have the time to wait and see whether the sanctions halt Iran’s nuclear program peacefully. Israeli military capabilities to strike Iran’s proliferating nuclear sites — especially those bunkered deep within a mountain outside the city of Qom — are more limited than those of the United States. The prospect of a new round of Iranian-U.S. diplomacy is another critical component of this equation, as it could further postpone U.S. military action in the event that sanctions fail. Taken together, these circumstances could force an Israeli decision on a preemptive strike under suboptimal conditions.

All this puts Israel on the horns of a dilemma. It can hope that sanctions will ultimately deter Iran’s nuclear program, but this may mean foregoing decisive action against what it sees as an existential threat in the hope that the United States will act further down the road. Barak and Netanyahu are commonly identified as favoring a strike, but based on my recent trip to the region, it is clear that others within the Israeli cabinet and defense establishment still have doubts. As such, the prospect of a strike is not inevitable. If Israel believed that the United States were absolutely committed to handling this issue, it would certainly shift the Israeli debate about whether to strike. But without absolute certainty, holding off on a strike is a tough decision for Israeli officials to make. Many Israeli military leaders are children of Holocaust survivors who joined the Israeli army to ensure Israeli self-reliance in fighting against enemies who regularly pledge to eradicate it. A poignant reminder is the iconic photo of Israeli jets flying over Auschwitz in 2003, which hangs on the walls of many of their offices.

Nonetheless, it is a fundamental misreading of Israel to view this as an ideological issue. Israeli considerations of a strike are rooted not in their ethos of self-reliance, but in the fear that the United States will ultimately fail to strike, even if sanctions fail. Israeli officials’ fears are compounded by their knowledge that the American people are fatigued by conflict, and by the suspicions of some that the United States has not entirely ruled out a strategy of containment, U.S. protestations to the contrary. The Obama administration’s official policy opposes containment, holding that the Iranian nuclear program is too destabilizing for the Middle East. As the president told NBC on Feb. 5, “We are going to do everything we can to keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and creating an arms race — a nuclear arms race — in a volatile region.” Concerns about Iran handing dirty bomb technology to non-state actors, such as the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, along with fears that Iran would seek to dominate the Persian Gulf, are also all too real.

In light of these threats, some analysts could argue that Obama — who is known for his preference for Predator drone strikes in Pakistan and such surgical operations as the one that killed Osama bin Laden — would indeed resort to military action if sanctions failed. And despite tensions between Obama and Netanyahu over the Middle East peace process, sources close to Obama argued to me that these policy differences in no way infringe upon the president’s commitment to Israel’s security. At the same time, U.S. officials have also raised fears of an Israeli strike in the short term — as evidenced by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey’s comments on Feb. 19 that an Israeli attack would be “destabilizing.” Their fears center on the belief that an attack by Israel could unravel international sanctions, and that Iran would be able to reconstitute its program in fairly short order.

How can Obama and Netanyahu win each other’s trust? The two sides should come to a more precise understanding of U.S. thresholds for the Iranian nuclear program and American responses should they be breached, as well as an agreement on a timetable for giving up on sanctions so their Iran clocks are synchronized. In other words, the two sides need to agree on red lines that might trigger action. Israel will probably seek some guarantees from the United States before agreeing to forgo a pre-emptive strike that might not succeed. It may turn out that such guarantees are impossible, given the mistrust between the two parties and the ever-changing regional circumstances. Whatever the mechanism, there is no doubt that the U.S.-Israel relationship could benefit greatly from a common approach toward the Iran nuclear program at this tumultuous time. Their upcoming meeting and the months ahead promise to test the Obama-Netanyahu relationship like never before.

David Makovsky writes for The Washington Institute, from where this article is adapted.

Syrians trapped in Homs say world is failing them | World | Reuters.

By Erika Solomon

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian activists deplored the outcome of an international “Friends of Syria” conference, saying on Saturday that the world had abandoned them to be killed by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

The Syrian military took its bombardment of the rebel-held Baba Amro district of Homs into a fourth week as the Red Cross tried to evacuate more distressed civilians from the city.

“Negotiations have resumed with Syrian authorities and the opposition in order to continue evacuating all persons in need of help,” said Hicham Hassan, spokesman of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva.

“We hope to be able to carry out many more life-saving operations,” he said. “We are hopeful the ICRC will also enter Baba Amro today.”

But activists in Homs were despondent about Friday’s Friends of Syria meeting in Tunis and suspicious of the ICRC’s efforts because they involved the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, viewed as compromised by its links with the government.

“We refuse to work with the local Red Crescent,” said Nadir al-Husseini. “The government’s demand to use the Red Crescent is a dirty trick because this group is not independent, it is under the control of the regime. We have no trust in them.”

The ICRC said the Syrian Red Crescent had evacuated a total of 27 women and children from Baba Amro on Friday.

HUNDREDS OF WOUNDED

Husseini described desperate conditions in Baba Amro, where efforts to extract three Western journalists and the bodies of two others killed there on Wednesday have yet to succeed.

“It would be good if they (the ICRC) could bring in some aid. But even if they brought us some medical supplies how much would it really help? We have hundreds of wounded people crammed into houses all around the neighbourhood,” Husseini said.

“People are dying from lack of blood because we just don’t have the capability of treating everyone. I don’t think any amount they could bring in would really help.”

The Tunis conference of Western, Arab and other countries was intended to ratchet up diplomatic pressure on Assad to end an almost year-long crackdown on opponents of his 11-year rule in which thousands of Syrians have been killed.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned the Syrian leader and his allies at home and abroad that they would be held to account for the bloodshed and the humanitarian “catastrophe”.

Referring to Russia and China, which twice vetoed United Nations Security Council measures against Syria, she said: “They are setting themselves not only against the Syrian people but also the entire Arab awakening.”

But Omar, another activist in Homs, dismissed the gathering as a failure. “It was lawyer talk, not war talk. The message is ‘We’re with you on paper but not more than that’,” he said.

A doctor in the rebellious town of Zabadani, who asked not to be named, said: “I love the people of all countries but it’s clear none of them are very concerned about us or our crisis.

“I’m sorry to be so depressing, but I’m really frightened that after all these efforts we will still end up like Hama in 1982, killed while the world waits and watches.”

Assad’s father crushed an armed Islamist uprising in Hama 30 years ago, killing many thousands of civilians and razing parts of the city with tanks and artillery in a three-week assault.

“I can tell you that the people of Zabadani resent what happened in Tunis,” the doctor said. “We need them to arm the revolution. I don’t understand what they are waiting for. Do they need to see half the people of Syria finished off first?”

CLEAR MESSAGE

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday it was time to stop the killing of Syrians by their own government.

“All of us seeing the terrible pictures coming out of Syria and Homs recently recognise it is absolutely imperative for the international community to rally in sending a clear message to President Assad that it is time for a transition.”

Such talk fails to impress in Baba Amro where hundreds of civilians have been killed in the last three weeks.

“They (world leaders) are still giving opportunities to this man who is killing us and has already killed thousands of people,” said activist Husseini in the battered district.

“I’ve completely lost faith in everyone but God. But in spite of that, I know we will continue this uprising. We’ll die trying before we give up,” he said.

“The shelling is just like it was yesterday. We have had 22 days of this. The women and children are all hiding in basements,” Husseini said.

“No one would dare try to flee the neighbourhood, that is instant death. You’d have to get past snipers and soldiers. Then there is a trench that surrounds our neighbourhood and a few others. Then you have to go past more troops.”

Assad’s forces killed 103 people in Syria on Friday, the activist group Local Coordination Committees said. Most were civilians, including 14 children and one woman, it said.

Diplomatic moves are hamstrung because there is little appetite for military intervention in Syria and because of Russian and Chinese opposition to Security Council action.

Beijing and Moscow refused to attend the meeting in Tunisia.

Some Gulf Arab delegates at the conference called for an international peacekeeping force in Syria. The Saudi foreign minister said arming Syrian rebels was an “excellent idea”.

(Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

‘US to announce aerial blockade on Syria’ – Israel News, Ynetnews.

US readies for possibility of intervention without UN resolution, Asharq Al-Awsat reports, citing US military official; plan to include humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees on Turkey’s border

Roi Kais

The Pentagon is readying for the possibility of intervention in Syria, aiming to halt Syrian President Bashsar Assad‘s violent crackdown on protesters, the newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported Saturday, citing a US military offical.

According to the official, the intervention scenario calls for the establishment of a buffer zone on the Turkish border, in order to receive Syrian refugees. The Red Cross would then provide the civilians humanitarian aid, before NATO crews would arrive from Turkey and join the efforts.

The measure would pave the way for the US to declare an aerial blockade on Syria.

The intercession is to be modeled after NATO’s efforts in Kosovo, which brought an end to the Serbian control of the region. NATO’s plan of action included prolonged aerial shelling.

The US’ diplomatic efforts have yet to yield an effective international resolution that would stop the bloodshed. More than 100 protesters have died over the weekend alone, human rights activists said.

Russia, China to join aid efforts?

According to Asharq Al-Awsat, the Pentagon does not anticipate a change of heart on the part of China or Russia, who have opposed foreign intervention or sanctions against Syria. But the US expects the two nations to join the humanitarian aid efforts, support a ceasefire between the Syrian regime and rebels and send special UN envoys to investigate the developments in the country.

The next step in the reported US Department of Defense plan would be to appoint a team of UN observers to monitor the humanitarian aid, and enter Syria. They would need aerial protection, which would eventually lead to an aerial blockade.

The military official said in the interview that the plan is a cautious one, and takes into account the Syrian air force’s advanced capabilities.

In his most forceful words to date on the Syrian crisis, US President Barack Obama said Friday the US and its allies would use “every tool available” to end the bloodshed by Assad’s government.

“It is time to stop the killing of Syrian citizens by their own government,” Obama said in Washington, adding that it “absolutely imperative for the international community to rally and send a clear message to President Assad that it is time for a transition. It is time for that regime to move on.”

As government troops relentlessly shelled rebel-held neighborhoods in the besieged city of Homs, thousands of people in dozens of towns staged anti-regime protests under the slogan: “We will revolt for your sake, Baba Amr,” referring to the Homs neighborhood that has become the center of the Syrian revolt.

Opposition groups reported that 103 people were killed on Friday by the regime’s forces.

By restraining Israel, Obama is helping Iran get the bomb – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News.

(A very upsetting deconstruction of the Obama administrations recent moves on Iran.  I’m praying Netanyahu EMPs Iran.  I think the removal of Iran as a military threat to anyone is worth whatever fallout occurs. – JW )

For Iran, this is the right time to push for the bomb without fear of an American military sanction.

By Avigdor Haselkorn

IAEA: Iran uranium ‘discrepancy’… JPost – Iranian Threat – News.

By REUTERS

VIENNA – Iran has yet to clarify a discrepancy in uranium quantities at a Tehran research site, a UN nuclear watchdog report said, after measurements by international inspectors last year failed to match the amount declared by the laboratory.

The United States has expressed concern the material may have been diverted to suspected weapons-related research activity.

UN inspectors have sought information from Iran to help explain the issue after their inventory last August of natural uranium metal and process waste at the research facility in Tehran measured 19.8 kg less than the laboratory’s count.

Experts say such a small quantity of natural uranium could not be used for a bomb, but that the metal could be relevant to weapons-linked tests.

“The discrepancy remains to be clarified,” said the latest quarterly report on Iran by the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), issued to member states on Friday evening.

The 11-page IAEA document also showed that Iran had sharply increased its uranium enrichment drive. The report’s findings, which added to fears of escalating tension between Iran and the West, sent oil prices higher.

Iran says it is enriching uranium only as fuel for nuclear power plants, not atomic weapons, but its refusal to curb the activity has drawn increasingly tough sanctions aimed at its oil exports.

In discussions with Iran this month about the discrepancy at the Jabr Ibn Hayan Multipurpose Research Laboratory (JHL), the IAEA said it had requested access to records and staff involved in uranium metal conversion experiments from 1995 to 2002.

“Iran indicated that it no longer possessed the relevant documentation and that the personnel involved were no longer available,” the UN agency’s report said.

Uranium analysis

The IAEA said Iran had suggested the discrepancy may have been caused by a higher amount of uranium in the waste than had been measured by the UN inspectors.

“In light of this, Iran has offered to process all of the waste material and to extract the uranium contained therein,” it said. The IAEA said it had also begun taking additional analysis samples of the material involved.

Iran’s envoy to the Vienna-based UN agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, last year dismissed the reported discrepancy as “absolutely not an issue.”

But a senior US official said in November it required “immediate” resolution, citing information indicating that “kilogram quantities” of natural uranium metal had been available to Iran’s military program.

Enriched uranium can be used to power plants, which is Iran’s stated aim, or provide material for weapons if refined much further, as Western states suspect is Iran’s ultimate aim.

Last November, the IAEA presented a stash of intelligence indicating that Iran has undertaken research and experiments geared to developing a nuclear weapons capability, prompting Western states to ratchet up sanctions on Tehran.

Friday’s IAEA report also gave details of its mission to Tehran this week where Iran failed to respond to allegations of research relevant to developing nuclear arms – a blow to the possible resumption of diplomatic talks that could help calm worries about a new war in the Middle East.