 Iran goal: To build a nuclear bomb in 60 days, says Israel minister Iran is working toward a 'threshold status' of being able to produce a nuclear bomb with 60 days notice, says Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Debate in Israel over Iran's nuclear aims continues. By Dan Williams, Reuters / May 4, 2012 Iran's nuclear strategy could eventually allow it to build an atomic bomb with just 60 days' notice, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Friday.
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"They are currently trying to achieve immunity for the nuclear program," Barak told the Israel Hayom newspaper. "If they arrive at military nuclear capability, at a weapon, or a demonstrated capability, or a threshold status in which they could manufacture a bomb within 60 days - they will achieve a different kind of immunity, regime immunity." RECOMMENDED: 5 key sites in Iran's nuclear program Iran insists that its often secretive uranium enrichment is for peaceful energy and medical needs. At higher levels of purification, such projects can yield fuel for warheads, but Israel and the United States agree Iran has not taken that step. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last year issued a report detailing alleged Iranian research and development activities that were relevant to nuclear weapons, lending independent weight to Western suspicions. Barak has said Iran is holding off until it can dig in behind defenses sufficient to withstand threatened Israeli or U.S. air strikes on its nuclear facilities. His 60-day timeline for potential Iranian warhead production appeared aimed at skeptics both at home and abroad of Israel's alarm who say it is too early to rattle sabres. Israeli leaders believe the diplomatic drive, which involves the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, has a low chance of success, and suggest that Iran's rulers seek an atomic bomb as insurance against outside intervention. CONFRONTING SCEPTICS Some prominent Israelis have questioned the strategic value of a pre-emptive strike, with former spy chief Yuval Diskin last week accusing the government of promulgating the "false impression" it had the means of halting Iran. "This is not so. We have been talking all the time about a delay," said Barak, indicating that Israel could not eradicate Iran's nuclear program, but saw value in forestalling it. Israel is reputed to have the region's only atomic arsenal, but many experts - including U.S. military chief, General Martin Dempsey - have voiced doubt that its conventional forces would be able to deliver lasting damage to Iran's distant, dispersed and fortified facilities. The idea that some countries with civilian atomic projects might then use them for military purposes is commonplace, letting states keep their options open while not necessarily violating their non-proliferation commitments. A leaked diplomatic cable from 2008 quoted senior U.S. State Department official John Rood saying Japan was "not a nuclear threshold country...but rather is 'over the threshold' and could develop nuclear weapons quickly if it wanted to" should it feel the need to vie with its nuclear-armed Asian neighbours. Barak, who leads the sole centrist party in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's conservative coalition government, has in the past sounded sanguine about Israel's ability to deter a nuclear-armed Iran from attacking. But with an Israeli election expected in September, and given Iran's nuclear advances as well as Western war jitters, Barak has publicly closed ranks with the hawkish Netanyahu. In Friday's interview with the pro-government daily, Barak said Iran might regard trying to destroy Israel with nuclear weapons as worth the risk of catastrophic retaliation. Under such thinking, he said, "after the exchange of strikes, Islam would remain and Israel would no longer be what it was". (Editing by Crispian Balmer and Angus MacSwan) RECOMMENDED: 5 key sites in Iran's nuclear program Related stories
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Russia threatens preemptive strike over planned US missile shieldBy Ian Johnston, msnbc.com Russia’s chief of defense staff reportedly warned Thursday that his country was prepared to use "destructive force preemptively" to stop the United States from creating a missile-defense system in Europe.
General Nikolai Makarov made the remark as another Russian official said international talks about the plan were near stalemate, although NATO remained optimistic a deal would be reached, BBC News reported. Washington says the missile defense system -- due to be completed in four phases by roughly 2020 -- is meant to counter a potential threat from Iran. Moscow says the system will undermine Russia's nuclear deterrent because it could also give the West the ability to shoot down Russian missiles. Advertise | AdChoices "A decision to use destructive force preemptively will be taken if the situation worsens," Makarov said, according to BBC News. He said Russia would improve its defenses to counter the perceived threat, Russia Today reported. "The deployment of new offensive armaments in southern and northwestern Russia … including Iskander missiles in the Kaliningrad Region, provides for the destruction of the European missile defense infrastructure,” Makarov added. Talks at dead end? Negotiations between the U.S., NATO and Russia began Thursday in Moscow. However, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said the discussions were "close to a dead end," BBC News reported. The Kremlin wants a legally binding guarantee the system will not be used against Russia. The United States says it cannot agree to any formal limits on missile defense. US Ambassador Mike McFaul vents on Twitter about Russian media Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who was in London, U.K., said Thursday he was “hopeful” that a deal could be reached. Rasmussen said a deal would not happen before a NATO summit in Chicago on May 20-21. Report: Russia faced major nuclear disaster in 2011 "We will continue our dialogue with Russia...after the Chicago meeting," he told reporters. The missile shield's first phase is to be declared up and running at the summit. Russia missiles shown heading to U.S. cities The planned system will include interceptor missiles based in Poland and Romania, a radar system in Turkey and missile-defense capable warships at sea. At the conference in Moscow, Makarov told delegates the system will have the potential to intercept Russian IBMs and submarine-launched strategic ballistic missiles by 2017-18. The audience, including U.S. and NATO officials, were shown computer-generated images depicting the reach of radars and interceptor missiles to be deployed as part of the shield. Dome-like designs displaying interceptor ranges and blips of light representing Russian missiles headed for U.S. cities lit up the screen. 
SANAA, Yemen – An airstrike Wednesday killed 15 al-Qaida-linked militants in their training camp in the country's south, Yemeni military officials said. The airstrike resembled earlier U.S. drone attacks, but the U.S. did not comment.
The officials said the air attack targeted the militants' camp north of the town of Jaar in the southern province of Abyan. It coincided with a Yemeni government offensive against the militants. On Monday, 17 al-Qaida militants were killed in a two-pronged attack by military units and civilians who took up arms against al-Qaida south of the town of Lawder. Two civilians and a military officer were also killed in the fighting. The Yemeni officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations. For several weeks, the Yemeni military has been on the attack against al-Qaida, after a year during which the militants were largely unopposed in their takeover of cities and towns in the south. This came while Yemen was preoccupied with an internal power struggle, set off by huge demonstrations against longtime ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh that eventually led to his resignation in February The new government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has made fighting al-Qaida a top priority, but his drive has been hindered by resistance from cronies of Saleh, who are hanging on to key military posts and refusing to step down. Saleh was long considered a U.S. ally in the battle against al-Qaida, but eventually Washington joined the chorus of opponents demanding that Saleh hand over power. Diplomats said Wednesday that a search has been renewed for a country that would accept Saleh in exile, to prevent him from further meddling. The diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, listed Ethiopia and Gulf Arab states as possibilities. The U.S. has been active against the militants for years, tracking and striking al-Qaida operatives with missiles. U.S. officials usually don't comment on airstrikes like Wednesday's, but White House counterterrorism official John Brennan acknowledged on Monday that the U.S. carries out attacks using unmanned drone aircraft against specific al-Qaida terrorists, with the cooperation of a local government. Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen is considered one of its most dangerous and has been linked to several attempted attacks on U.S. targets. The training camp hit Wednesday was set up around an abandoned munitions factory seized last year by the militants. Then it exploded, killing at least 100 people. The blast was ignited when impoverished townspeople entered the factory in the aftermath to try to haul away anything of value that remained. Al-Qaida has held Jaar, about 250 kilometers (160 miles) southeast of Sanaa, for the past year. Parts of the provincial capital, Zinjibar, are also under al-Qaida control, but government troops fought their way into the city's center last week. |
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