Ma’ariv, Eli Bardenstein and Tzah Yoked Less than a week after the agreement was signed between Iran and the West, Israeli officials said they believed that the temporary agreement that was reached with Iran would delay Iran’s break-out to a nuclear bomb by just two weeks. Meanwhile, Iran announced last night that it was going to continue activity in the heavy water reactor in Arak. The White House noted in response that Iran was entitled to carry out development work in Arak, but not activity that was connected to nuclear fuel or the heavy water reactor. The Israeli concern is that the Iranians will exploit either an international or a domestic American crisis to break out to a nuclear bomb, working on the assumption that the international community will be unable to stop them. The assessment, which was passed on to foreign diplomats and other top foreign officials, is that if the Iranians feel that they are ready, they will be able to ignore the understandings that were reached with the P5+1 about suspending their nuclear program, will operate all 18,000 centrifuges (only 10,000 of which are currently active) and enrich military grade uranium within 36 days. According to the agreement, the Iranians are obligated to convert all the uranium in their possession that is enriched to a degree of 20% to fuel rods, which the P5+1 say will delay the Iranians’ ability to break out to build a nuclear bomb. The agreement allows the Iranians to continue to enrich uranium to a low-grade level of 3.5%. The only restriction imposed on the Iranians by the agreement is that they will not be allowed to enrich any uranium except the uranium already in their possession—to wit, eight tons of uranium—to a level of 3.5%, which is enough potentially for five nuclear bombs. If the Iranians choose to ignore the understandings that were reached with the P5+1 in Geneva, they will be able, as noted, to enrich the low-level enriched uranium in their possession to military grade level needed to manufacture a nuclear bomb within slightly more than a month. The French representative to the talks in Geneva, Jacques Audibert, has spent the last two days in Israel, as has the British representative to the talks, Simon Gass. The purpose of those visits was to persuade Israel to accept the temporary agreement and to engage in dialogue with the P5+1 about the comprehensive arrangement with Iran. Gass said in the talks: We will ensure that the principal sanctions on the banking system and petroleum are scrupulously maintained. Gass said that the sanctions would be an incentive for Iran to advance towards a comprehensive agreement. Meanwhile, US administration officials exposed troubling information about the joint development of an advanced rocket booster by Iran and North Korea, which is designed for long-range missiles, among others. According to the report, Iranian missile scientists visited North Korea over the course of the past number of months, most recently at the end of October—in other words, while the talks between Iran and the P5+1 were under way. The report also indicates that the Iranian delegation included a group of technicians from the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, which is responsible for the development of the missile systems that use liquid fuel engines. The purpose of the visit, according to the intelligence report, was to examine from up close a North Korea development of an advanced 80 ton booster, which is liable to be used to launch either long-range missiles or space shuttles that might carry chemical warheads.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 10:03:07 +0000
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