Iran ships rockets to Hezbullah
Sarah | 18.11.2005 10:18 | Anti-militarism
ran has supplied Hezbullah with more than 10,000 short-range rockets and most of the weapons are deployed in southern Lebanon within reach of Israel, an Israeli diplomat said Thursday.
The rockets, some of which were provided by Syria, have a range of up to 110 kilometers, said Jeremy Issacharoff, the new deputy Israeli ambassador to Washington, at a conference on Iran sponsored The Israel Project, a nongovernment advocacy group.
"In Israeli terms, that range can be a heavyweight," Issacharoff said.
Iran is the leading supporter of terror groups in the world, he said.
Besides backing Hezbullah, a Lebanese group that has fought a cross-border conflict with Israel, Iran is supporting Palestinian terror groups, the Israeli diplomat said.
And he said Israel takes seriously a recent call by Iranian Prime Minister Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Israel be "wiped off the map."
At the State Department, spokesman Adam Ereli said Thursday the United States expects the world to speak with one voice at next week's meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in opposition to Iran's nuclear weapons program.
"We have reports, or the IAEA has confirmed, that Iran has resumed conversion of uranium into hexafluoride," Ereli said. "This is an unwelcome move, one that we view with concern.
"It is the latest in a series of moves by Iran that, frankly, go against what they, themselves, have committed themselves to and what the international community has asked of them."
Iran broke off negotiations in August with Britain, France and Germany, representing the European Union, and said they had the right to enrich uranium.
"I would say that none of this inspires confidence in Iran," Ereli said. "It contributes to the confidence gap and the trust deficit that we all have when looking at Iran's pattern of behavior over the last couple of years."
At the Iran conference, Rep. Brad Sherman of California recommended diplomatic and economic pressure on Iran and said he was proposing legislation to ban Iranian imports into the United States. He said his main aim was to stop Iran's nuclear program, and that an economic squeeze would undercut the government.
"The people of Iran need to be convinced that Iran's nuclear program is costing them development and jobs," Sherman said.
But Sherman said he doubted the UN Security Council would impose political and economic sanctions on Iran if it takes up Iran's nuclear program. China, for one, would veto any such resolution, partly to protect its oil interests in Iran, Sherman said.
"In Israeli terms, that range can be a heavyweight," Issacharoff said.
Iran is the leading supporter of terror groups in the world, he said.
Besides backing Hezbullah, a Lebanese group that has fought a cross-border conflict with Israel, Iran is supporting Palestinian terror groups, the Israeli diplomat said.
And he said Israel takes seriously a recent call by Iranian Prime Minister Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Israel be "wiped off the map."
At the State Department, spokesman Adam Ereli said Thursday the United States expects the world to speak with one voice at next week's meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in opposition to Iran's nuclear weapons program.
"We have reports, or the IAEA has confirmed, that Iran has resumed conversion of uranium into hexafluoride," Ereli said. "This is an unwelcome move, one that we view with concern.
"It is the latest in a series of moves by Iran that, frankly, go against what they, themselves, have committed themselves to and what the international community has asked of them."
Iran broke off negotiations in August with Britain, France and Germany, representing the European Union, and said they had the right to enrich uranium.
"I would say that none of this inspires confidence in Iran," Ereli said. "It contributes to the confidence gap and the trust deficit that we all have when looking at Iran's pattern of behavior over the last couple of years."
At the Iran conference, Rep. Brad Sherman of California recommended diplomatic and economic pressure on Iran and said he was proposing legislation to ban Iranian imports into the United States. He said his main aim was to stop Iran's nuclear program, and that an economic squeeze would undercut the government.
"The people of Iran need to be convinced that Iran's nuclear program is costing them development and jobs," Sherman said.
But Sherman said he doubted the UN Security Council would impose political and economic sanctions on Iran if it takes up Iran's nuclear program. China, for one, would veto any such resolution, partly to protect its oil interests in Iran, Sherman said.
Sarah
Comments
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Middle-eastern rogue nuclear state
18.11.2005 10:49
Whoopdy-do, I can name one rogue middle-eastern state that has nuclear tipped missiles with a range of 4800km. A country that invaded Lebanon and committed massacres of unarmed civilians - and made the war-criminal who allowed the massacres to become head of state.
Try and show some balance in your comments and people might take you a bit more seriously.
"
Israel, like Iran, has desires of regional power. The 1956 alliance with France and Britain might have been a first attempt at regional hegemony. Current debate in the Israeli press considers offering Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and perhaps Syria (after a peace agreement) an Israeli nuclear umbrella of protection.[134] A nuclear Iran or Iraq might use its nuclear weapons to protect some states in the region, threaten others, and attempt to control oil prices.[135]
Another speculative area concerns Israeli nuclear security and possible misuse. What is the chain of decision and control of Israel's weapons? How susceptible are they to misuse or theft? With no open, frank, public debate on nuclear issues, there has accordingly been no debate or information on existing safeguards. This has led to accusations of “monolithic views and sinister intentions.”[1360] Would a right wing military government decide to employ nuclear weapons recklessly? Ariel Sharon, an outspoken proponent of “Greater Israel” was quoted as saying, “Arabs may have the oil, but we have the matches.”[137] Could the Gush Emunim, a right wing religious organization, or others, hijack a nuclear device to “liberate” the Temple Mount for the building of the third temple? Chances are small but could increase as radicals decry the peace process.[138] A 1997 article reviewing the Israeli Defense Force repeatedly stressed the possibilities of, and the need to guard against, a religious, right wing military coup, especially as the proportion of religious in the military increases.[139 ]
Israel is a nation with a state religion, but its top leaders are not religious Jews. The intricacies of Jewish religious politics and rabbinical law do affect their politics and decision processes. In Jewish law, there are two types of war, one obligatory and mandatory (milkhemet mitzvah) and the one authorized but optional (milkhemet reshut).[140] The labeling of Prime Minister Begin's “Peace for Galilee” operation as a milchemet brera (“war of choice”) was one of the factors causing it to lose support.[141] Interpretation of Jewish law concerning nuclear weapons does not permit their use for mutual assured destruction. However, it does allow possession and threatening their use, even if actual use is not justifiable under the law. Interpretations of the law allow tactical use on the battlefield, but only after warning the enemy and attempting to make peace. How much these intricacies affect Israeli nuclear strategy decisions is unknown.[142]
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Danny
Corporate repost
18.11.2005 11:06
Write your own article. This isn't a bin for spamming corporate press crap.
Fuck the corporate press
previously deleted
18.11.2005 11:45
Whoopdy-do, I can name one rogue middle-eastern state that has nuclear tipped missiles with a range of 4800km. A country that invaded Lebanon and committed massacres of unarmed civilians - and made the war-criminal who allowed the massacres to become head of state.
(I'm assuming this comment was previously deleted due to me cutting and pasting text from the link rather than because I infer Sharon is a war-criminal. Sharon is a war-criminal and he can have my name and address if he wants to sue.)
Danny
Off Topic -IM enters temporal flux
18.11.2005 12:00
Danny