The Threat of Iranian Nuclear Weapons Development

Regarding Iranian nuke development what is most likely to occur?

  • EU negotiations cause Iran to abandon nuke weapons development.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • UNSC places economic sanctions on Iran forcing the abandonment of nuke weapons development.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Without economic sanctions Iran sees the light and unilaterally stops development of nukes.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • America and its allies militarily intervene and prevent the development of Iranian nukes.

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • America without allies militarily intervenes and prevents the development if Iranian nukes.

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • Israel militarily intervenes and prevents the development of Iranian nukes.

    Votes: 3 27.3%
  • Nothing happens and Iran possesses nuclear weapons sometime in the near future.

    Votes: 6 54.5%

  • Total voters
    11

onedomino

SCE to AUX
Sep 14, 2004
2,677
481
98
"Reformists" have been pounded in a recent election for Iranian President. A hardliner, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has been “elected” President of Iran. The presidency is the second highest position in the Iranian government after the Supreme Mullah. Pundits in the US and EU say that the election of the extreme nationalist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad diminishes the possibility of a negotiated settlement of the Iranian nuke weapons situation.
 
Western Nations Condemn Iran Vote Outcome
Saturday June 25, 2005 8:31 PM
By BETH GARDINER
Associated Press Writer

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5098597,00.html

LONDON (AP) - Governments of Muslim countries offered cautious congratulations in response to Iran's presidential election, while several Western countries Saturday sharply criticized a vote they said showed "serious deficiencies.''

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the conservative mayor of Tehran, defeated his relatively moderate rival and was declared Iran's next president. His triumph extends the conservatives' control in Iran at a time when the nation's nuclear program faces increasing international scrutiny.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said many candidates were excluded and there were widespread complaints that security forces and other arms of the government had interfered improperly in the first round of the elections held June 17.

"For the Iranian people to have a fully free choice about their country's future, they should be able to vote for candidates who hold the full range of political views, not just candidates selected for them,'' he said.

In Washington, White House spokeswoman Maria Tamburri said Saturday the United States also questioned the fairness of the elections.

"We have expressed our clear concerns about the recent elections where over 1,000 candidates were disqualified from running, and there were many allegations of election fraud and interference,'' she said. "We continue to stand with those who call for greater freedoms for the Iranian people.''


In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, a Foreign Ministry spokesman focused on the election itself rather than the winner.

"The people of Iran are to be congratulated for the tremendous support and enthusiasm they have shown for the democratic electoral process,'' spokesman Marty Natalegawa said.

The leader of a radical Islamic group in Indonesia applauded the hard-liner's victory.

"I'm glad and happy to know Iran's result,'' said Irfan Awwas, a leader of Majelis Mujahiddin Indonesia, an extremist group. Its founder, Abu Bakar Bashir, is in jail for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.


A spokesman in Afghanistan - which shares a long border with Iran - refused comment on the choice of Ahmadinejad, saying the vote was an internal decision.

But several governments urged Iran to respond to international concerns about its nuclear program. France, Britain and Germany have been negotiating with Iran on its nuclear program, offering economic incentives in the hope of persuading the country to permanently halt uranium enrichment.

Straw urged the new president to "take early steps to address international concerns about its nuclear program and policies toward terrorism, human rights and the Middle East peace process.''

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said Friday that a permanent suspension was "not in the cards'' whatever the outcome of the vote.

Iran suspended all uranium enrichment-related activities in November to avoid having its nuclear program referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions. Iran insists its enrichment activities are for civilian uses only - not to make nuclear weapons, as the United States claims.

Ahmadinejad signaled during his campaign that he likely would take a much tougher stance in the talks.

In an open letter to be published in the Bild am Sonntag weekly on Sunday, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said he expected the talks to continue and that Iran "must produce objective guarantees that its nuclear program will be used exclusively for peaceful objectives.''

He said the Europeans would continue to push for increased democracy and human rights in Iran.

Russia, which is helping build a nuclear plant in Iran and has offered to build more, said it was ready to keep cooperating as long as international agreements were observed.
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Hey onedomino, I really don't know what is going to happen in Iran. Part of me thinks the people there may take care of the mullahs there, they are very mad as has been noticed since before 9/11.

Will it come from Israel? Depends how close they really are coming. I do know the most the UN will do is send them a very angry letter.
 
I voted for the last one. Call me a pessimist. I voted this way because:

--Iran does not regard the EU as worthy of respect, much like they regarded America during the Carter Administration. Iran knows the EU will keep giving in and appeasing.

--ditto for the United Nations

--Now that the hardliners won their "election", Iran will never see the light, save for the light generated by their first nuke.

--America will not be able to get help to militarily intervene, these allies will be too busy appeasing. See 1 and 2.

--America will not intervene militarily alone. The shreiking anti-War left will be out in force, and it will be worse than Iraq. The president will cover his party's ass politically and not do anything of this nature.

--The Isreali planes almost ran out of fuel during the Iraq mission. Iran is just too far away.
 
Damn those Iranians for electing who they want to rule their country instead of who the U.S. and its Western Allies want!
They just can't be trusted! :ali:
 
Kathianne said:
Hey onedomino, I really don't know what is going to happen in Iran. Part of me thinks the people there may take care of the mullahs there, they are very mad as has been noticed since before 9/11.

Will it come from Israel? Depends how close they really are coming. I do know the most the UN will do is send them a very angry letter.
President Bush has said that Iran will not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. Is that statement is a bluff? The EU negotiation-appeasement is pathetic and allows the Mullahs time to secretly continue nuke development. UNSC sanctions are a non-starter, since a sanctions resolution will draw vetoes from China, Russia, and probably France. Anyway, economic sanctions will not work, since Iran would pay that price to possess nukes. If Bush is to be taken at his word, then the US will be forced to intervene militarily to prevent Iranian nuke development. No allies will help us; except perhaps Australia. I do not think that the UK would help with military strikes against Iranian nuke facilities.
 
Gabriella84 said:
Damn those Iranians for electing who they want to rule their country instead of who the U.S. and its Western Allies want!
They just can't be trusted! :ali:
What a dense remark. You need to do some reading on this subject. For your belated information, the Mullahs disqualified thousands of candidates in the recent elections, including all women. But perhaps you do not care about that and think that the recent "elections" in Iran represented the will of the people. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050619.welection0619/BNStory/Front
 
Gabriella84 said:
Damn those Iranians for electing who they want to rule their country instead of who the U.S. and its Western Allies want!
They just can't be trusted! :ali:


In Iran you would not be allowed to vote. Women have no rights there.

Secondly, imagine voting in this country and all you have to chose from are ultra rightwing conservatives. Are you electing who you want? Just because its called an election doesn't make it one.
 
theim said:
The Isreali planes almost ran out of fuel during the Iraq mission. Iran is just too far away.
Incorrect. The Israelis have been practicing air attack on a scale model of the Iranian Bushehr reactor in the Negev Desert. As of early 2004, the Israelis had 25 F15I (combat radius 2225km) and 25 F16I (combat radius 2100km). The Bushehr reactor is about 1500km from Israel. Additionally, it was announced in September 2004 that the US intended to sell 500 "bunker buster" bombs to Israel. Do not underestimate the Israeli Air Force. In 1985, the IAF attacked PLO Headquarters (in response to the murder of three Israelis on a yacht in Cyprus) in Tunis, Tunisia, 2060km from Israel.

f15i-018.jpg


http://www.christiansciencemonitor.com/2004/0924/dailyUpdate.html?s=ent

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iran-strikes.htm

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Bush Says Iran Nuclear Weapons Pursuit "Unacceptable"

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=atiLzaOhJ9sc&refer=top_world_news

June 27 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush called the pursuit of nuclear weapons by Iran "unacceptable'' and questioned the validity of the country's presidential elections.

"We need to continue working with Great Britain, France and Germany to send a focused, concerted, unified message that says the development of a nuclear weapon is unacceptable,'' Bush said during an appearance at the White House with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Bush also said Iran's election last week, which was won by a founder of the group that stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979, wasn't "free and fair.''

Britain, France and Germany are seeking to defuse a dispute between Iran and the U.S. over Iran's nuclear program, which Iran says is aimed at generating electric power. Schroeder said Germany agrees with the U.S. on the need to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear arms.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who won the Iranian presidency with 62 percent of the vote in a June 24 runoff said the country needs nuclear technology to prepare for the day when Iran's oil reserves, the world's second biggest, are diminished. "We need it for the development of our country and we shall carry on with it,'' he said yesterday at a news conference in Tehran.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the Vienna-based atomic watchdog of the United Nations, is seeking access to sites and people that would verify Iran's claims.

Election

Crude oil today reached a record in New York for a third straight day, approaching $61 a barrel, on concern that foreign investment may suffer in OPEC's second-largest producer as a result of the election. Ahmadinejad said he would favor domestic companies to develop the country's oil reserves. His victory gives supporters of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei control of Iran after they won a majority in Parliament in 2004.

Bush criticized the process that brought Ahmadinejad to the presidency. "It's never free and fair when a group of un-elected people get to decide who's on the ballot,'' he said.
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