Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Iran

U.S. Says No Plans For Iran Attack

Iranian missiles being tested during exercises in November 2006 (Fars)

February 8, 2007 -- The White House says it has no intention of going to war with Iran.

Iran's Supreme Leader Threatens Retaliation If Attacked

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February 08, 2007

A spokesman for the White House National Security Council, Gordon Johndroe, dismissed statements earlier today from Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who said his country would target U.S. interests around the world if it came under attack over its disputed nuclear program.

Khamenei's statement came as Iran test-fired a land-to-sea missile with a 350-kilometer range. Iran's Revolutionary Guards unit said the missiles were capable of sinking warships off Iran's coast.

Johndroe said Khamenei "often makes these unprovoked statements." He said U.S. President George W. Bush "has made it clear we have no intention of going to war with Iran."

Bush's chief spokesman, Tony Snow, said later no invasion is being contemplated.

"We are not invading Iran," Snow said

Iran is locked in a standoff with the international community over its nuclear program, which Tehran denies is aimed at developing nuclear weapons.

(AFP, AP, Reuters)

Talking Technical

A control panel at the Bushehr nuclear power plant (Fars)

CASCADES AND CENTRIFUGES: Experts and pundits alike continue to debate the goals and status of Iran's nuclear program. It remains unclear whether the program is, as Tehran insists, a purely peaceful enegy project or, as the United States claims, part of an effort to acquire nuclear weapons.
On June 7, 2006, RFE/RL correspondent Charles Recknagel spoke with nuclear expert Shannon Kile of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in Sweden to help sort through some of the technical issues involved. "[Natanz] will be quite a large plant," Kile said. "There will be about 50,000 centrifuges and how much enriched uranium that can produce [is] hard to say because the efficiency of the centrifuges is not really known yet. But it would clearly be enough to be able to produce enough [highly-enriched uranium] for a nuclear weapon in fairly short order, if that's the route that they chose to go...." (more)

Tehran Says It Is Working On Advanced Nuclear Fusion

Would Light-Water Reactor Suit Tehran's Needs?

Satellite Images Raise Questions About Iran's Nuclear Program

Centrifuges And Political Spin?

How Close Is Iran To Getting Nuclear Bomb?

Iran: The Worst-Case Scenarios

THE COMPLETE STORY: RFE/RL's complete coverage of controversy surrounding Iran's nuclear program.

CHRONOLOGY

An annotated timeline of Iran's nuclear program.

Many Iranians have been claiming that their access to social networks and Internet-based e-mail sites has been blocked in recent days.

Iran Tightens Internet Control

Iranians are reporting that their access to Facebook and Internet-based e-mail sites like Gmail has been blocked, without any explanation from the government. Not even the strongest antifiltering programs have penetrated the firewall, they say. Some speculate the move is related to Iran's plan to launch a national internet, which might sever Iranians' ability to access the World Wide Web. More

Web-savvy Iranian oppositionists are renowned for their ability to use proxies and other means to circumvent Tehran

Explainer: Iran's National Internet

Reports that Iran has stepped up its Internet censorship in recent days -- as evidenced by a general slowdown of the web, Internet blackouts, and the blocking of sites such as Google -- has raised speculation that the country might be testing its controversial "national Internet." More

A cardboard Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini arrives in Tehran to mark the 33rd anniversary of his triumphant return to Iran following the Islamic Revolution.

Iran's 'Cardboard Khomeini' Faces Criticism, Condemnation

Iran's "Cardboard Khomeini" is fueling a firestorm of criticism in the Middle Eastern country after cutouts of the Islamic republic's founder appeared at a number of events, and photos mocking the mock-up went viral. More