WarSclerotic

Arrow sharp | JPost | Israel News.

Is Iran outsourcing its nuclear program to North Korea?

By Pamela Browne

Published February 28, 2013

FoxNews.com

Is it possible Iran has paid for and outsourced their nuclear program to North Korea?

One leading expert say yes. And Iran might be providing their best nuclear scientist as well.

Reports that Iran’s leading nuclear scientist, Dr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was present for North Korea’s third nuclear test on Feb. 11 are raising further concerns. Particularly since the latest international negotiations over Iran’s nuclear ambitions concluded this week in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with little more than an agreement to meet again.

The London Times first reported on Feb. 17 that Fakhrizadeh, who despite the terms of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1747, may have traveled “evidently to Pyongyang, most likely via China” to witness North Korea’s third and successful nuclear test. This despite the U.N. calling upon member states to “exercise vigilance and restraint” and “notification” in allowing him entry or transit.

Iran has refused to make Fakhrizadeh available for interviews by investigators from the International Atomic Energy Agency. No confirmed image of him has been made public.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr, who has advised five U.S. presidents as a world renowned authority on arms control and nuclear non-proliferation, noted “If the assessments are correct as to his (Fakhrizadeh’s) role in the Iranian nuclear program, if China knowingly permitted him transfer from Iran across China to witness the North Korea test … then it would appear that China or at least some element in China are cooperating with nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran.”

The Feb. 11 test has been described by experts as a miniaturized atomic bomb test of a relatively small yield of 6-7 kilotons, mounted on a Nodong missile.

This latest demonstration shows Pyongyang has not changed its strident military posture despite its new leader Kim Jong-un’s higher profile. North Korea has been working on warhead designs in its highly secretive program for approximately 25 years.

Ambassador Graham added: “The objective of this test has said to be the development of a compact highly explosive nuclear warhead mated with a North Korean missile. ranian missiles were developed from North Korean prototypes. It could appear that North Korea is building nuclear weapons for transfer to Iran.”

Graham also drew attention to North Korea’s completed uranium enrichment plant, which when visited by American experts in 2010, was described as “stunning and to be better than anything the Iranians have.”

He added, “This opens the door via technology sold to North Korea years previously by Pakistani proliferator A.Q. Khan to build a significant number of weapons.”

Sanctions are not working. Confronting the “triangular trade,” which refers to the cooperation among Iran, China and North Korea on nuclear programs, is a growing challenge. In addition, Iran may have more than one plan to obtain full nuclear weapons capability.

“Indeed, the West could have it all wrong, says Graham. “The Iranians perhaps in fact are going to use their enrichment facilities at Natanz and Qom to fabricate peaceful reactor grade uranium, and have outsourced their nuclear program to North Korea. North Korea might even agree to store the Iranian weapons produced with Iranian money.”

Graham currently serves as the Executive Chairman of the Board of Lightbridge. He is scheduled to speak Friday at Drexel University in Philadelphia, at the “Conference on Global Challenges.”

via Is Iran outsourcing its nuclear program to North Korea? | Fox News.

Iran’s nuclear plan: Arak’s air defences revealedOf all Iran’s nuclear plants, none is more heavily defended against air attack than Arak.Air defence positions highlighted around the Arak heavy water production plantAir defence positions highlighted around the Arak heavy water production plant Photo: Image ©2013 DigitalGlobe Inc. / Analysis by McKenzie Intelligence LtdDavid BlairBy David Blair9:55PM GMT 26 Feb 2013Satellite imagery shows that three surface-to-air missile sites and at least 50 batteries of anti-aircraft guns protect this research reactor and heavy water production plant. Only one missile battery guards the uranium enrichment facility at Fordow, by contrast.Arak’s defences are carefully arrayed on the high ground surrounding the facility, with an outer ring of anti-aircraft guns deployed along possible attack routes and an inner circle placed around the installation’s perimeter.The missile batteries are found on three sides of Arak, with one crowning the highest mountain above the facility.Arak’s defences have to be strong because this plant is the most vulnerable of Iran’s sensitive nuclear sites. Unlike Fordow, which is buried inside a mountain, and Natanz, the other uranium enrichment plant which is largely underground, the entire complex at Arak appears to be above the surface.Whether these defences would trouble the air forces of Iran’s most likely adversaries, Israel and the US, is another matter. the anti-aircraft missiles at Arak are obsolete models known as the Shahin.Related Articles Iran agrees to hold new nuclear talks 27 Feb 2013 Iran’s ‘Plan B’ for a nuclear bomb 26 Feb 2013 Spies, bombs, and a virus: heading off nuclear Iran 26 Feb 2013 West offers underground complex sanctions deal 26 Feb 2013 Analysis: two paths to making a nuclear weapon 26 Feb 2013 Iran’s nuclear developments: the satellite images 26 Feb 2013Under the Shah, America sold Iran Hawk surface-to-air missiles, a 1960s design. Iran’s current rulers inherited this system after the Revolution of 1979. They upgraded the Hawk, modernising its radar guidance system and renaming it the Shahin. But this weapon is decades out of date.As for the guns, they would be capable of filling the sky above the plant with a hail of lead, making a close range attack extremely perilous. But the Israeli and US air forces would not launch that kind of strike. Both have long range “stand-off” missiles, which would be fired hundreds of miles away from Arak and well beyond the reach of its defences.

via Iran’s nuclear plan: Arak’s air defences revealed – Telegraph.

Netanyahu blasts Erdogan for ‘dark and slanderous’ remarks on Zionism | The Times of Israel.

The Turkish prime minister on Wednesday described Zionism as a ‘crime against humanity’ on par with anti-Semitism and fascism

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (photo credit: AP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comparison of Zionism to Nazism, calling it a “dark and slanderous remark, the likes of which we thought had passed from the world.”

The Foreign Ministry issued a statement regarding Erdogan’s “hollow” remarks as well, charging that they “stem from ignorance.”

Erdogan on Wednesday described Zionism as a “crime against humanity” on par with anti-Semitism and fascism.

Speaking in Vienna at a United Nations event devoted to dialogue between the West and Islam, Erdogan decried rising racism in Europe and the fact that many Muslims “who live in countries other than their own” often face harsh discrimination.

“We should be striving to better understand the culture and beliefs of others, but instead we see that people act based on prejudice and exclude others and despise them,” Erdogan said, according to a simultaneous translation provided by the UN. “And that is why it is necessary that we must consider — just like Zionism or anti-Semitism or fascism — Islamophobia as a crime against humanity.”

The Turkish leader’s comments, made at the official opening of the fifth UN Alliance of Civilizations Global Forum, drew harsh criticism from UN Watch, a Geneva-based watchdog group monitoring anti-Israel bias and human rights abuses at the organization.

“Erdogan’s misuse of this global podium to incite hatred, and his resort to Ahmadinejad-style pronouncements appealing to the lowest common denominator in the Muslim world, will only strengthen the belief that his government is hewing to a confrontational stance, and fundamentally unwilling to end its four-year-old feud with Israel,” UN Watch said in a statement.

Erdogan was also criticized by the Anti-Defamation League and B’nai B’rith International.

“We are appalled and horrified by Mr. Erdogan’s linkage of Zionism and anti-Semitism at a conference devoted, ironically enough, to improving understanding of other cultures,” said the ADL’s national director Abraham Foxman. B’nai B’rith strongly condemned “Erdogan’s effort to revive inflammatory language, by equating Zionism with racism.”