Saudi Arabian officials report that Iraqi militia attacked an outpost in the far northwestern part of the kingdom.
Six mortar bombs landed near the border post but caused no damage.
Iraq’s al-Mukhtar Army militia, a group supported by the Iranian government, admitted carrying out the attack.
“The goal was to send a warning message to Saudis to tell them that their border stations and patrol are within our range of fire,” Wathiq al-Batat, commander of the al-Mukhtar Army, told Reuters. He said they wanted the Saudis to stop interfering in Iraq.
He also said that Saudis and Kuwaitis had been insulting the daughter of the Prophet Mohammed.
Iran refused to comment on the attack. Iran and Saudi Arabia have a long history of tension and the Saudis have committed to Iran not obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The head of Iran’s atomic energy organization confirmed long spread rumors that Russia will help the nation build a nuclear reactor.
Akbar Salehi, head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, announced Tuesday that he hopes to see the construction of the country’s second nuclear power station start in 2014 and that it will be lead “by the Russians.”
The plant is one of 34 potential new nuclear sites identified by the Iranian government.
Experts point out that Iran’s building of a new nuclear power plant would allow them more access to plutonium which can be used to fuel a nuclear weapon. Iran also continues to enrich uranium, another nuclear powered fuel.
The White House has asked Congress to not pass a new round of sanctions against Iran for the expansion of their nuclear program. House members said that because Iran has not slowed down their nuclear program the Congress should not slow down increasing sanctions.
A push from the Obama Administration to ease sanctions against Iran even if that country does not stop their nuclear program is causing severe tension between Washington and Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the rare step of blasting the U.S. in public demanding to know why President Obama was in such a hurry to lift sanctions against a country that has sworn to destroy Israel.
Some analysts believe that the current push by the Obama Administration to ease or remove sanctions against Iran for their nuclear program is an indication they’ve given up on attempting to broker a peace deal between Israel and Palestinians.
The White House issued a statement saying that President Obama had called Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Friday to talk about the negotiations with Iran and to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to keeping that country from obtaining a nuclear bomb. However, the statement did not include a reference the two men discussed the peace talks which is the first time a phone conversation between the leaders did not include that topic.
Israeli officials say that Obama’s hurried negotiations with Iran have stripped away most of the goodwill he built up during a March visit to Israel.
Just days after reports that the country is about a month away from having enough material for a nuclear weapon, Iran has announced they are opening 34 new nuclear sites.
Iranian leaders, despite initial attempts at appearing to give ground at talks aimed at ending their nuclear program, boldly said they will build enough nuclear plants to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity by 2020.
“We are considering construction of power plants along the coasts of the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea as well as the Central parts of Iran, but priority is given to the Persian Gulf coasts because we want to pave the way for water desalination facilities to supply drinking water for the Southern provinces of Iran,” said Iran Atomic Energy Organization head Ali Akbar Salehi.
Salehi also implied that those negotiating with western nations to end Iran’s nuclear program do not really have that authority.
Russia reportedly will be helping Iran build some of the reactors.
An estimate from one of America’s top nuclear experts says that Iran is about one month away from having a functional nuclear bomb.
The announcement came as the White House invited Senate staffers to a briefing asking them to delay sanctions against Iran for their refusal to end their nuclear program. Also, Iran has blocked international inspectors from suspected nuclear facilities in violation of agreements the nation has signed.
The Institute for Science and International Security said that the “breakout times”, or the time it takes to enrich uranium to weapons grade, is shortening every day in Iran. Iran’s stockpile of highly-enriched uranium has almost doubled in a year and the nation has built 7,000 more centrifuges in the last year to enrich the nuclear material.
The White House asked for all sanctions to be delayed until after a scheduled negotiation session in Geneva next month.
United Nations inspectors have previously found evidence of a weapons program in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty despite Iran’s claim they are only enriching uranium for nuclear power.
Israel’s prime minister is warning that despite the tone of Iran’s new president regarding their nuclear program their end goal of obtaining a nuclear weapon has not changed.
“When it comes to nuclear weapons the only difference between the two is that Ahmadinejad is a wolf in wolf’s clothing, while Rouhani is a wolf in sheep’s clothing who thinks he can pull the wool over the eyes of the international community,” Benjamin Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly.
Iranian President Hasan Rouhani had downplayed the country’s nuclear aspirations in a speech last week to the U.N. that gained a lot of positive response from world leaders including a personal phone call from U.S. President Barack Obama.
“I wish I could believe Rouhani but I don’t because facts are stubborn things. Iran’s savage record flatly contradicts Rouhani’s soothing rhetoric,” Netanyahu said. “The last century taught us that when a radical regime with global ambitions gets awesome power its appetite for aggression knows no bounds. The world may have forgotten this lesson. The Jewish people have not.“
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is condemning Iran for the country’s refusal to suspend uranium enrichment despite repeated admonitions from the United Nations.
Thirty-one of the 35 members voted in favor of the resolution condemning Iran, who continues to claim their enrichment is peaceful in purpose. Continue reading →
A German citizen and three Iranian-German duel nationals have been arrested for illegally supplying Iran with equipment necessary to build a nuclear reactor. Germany has laws in place prohibiting the sale of any nuclear-related equipment to Iran.
Iran is currently in the process of building a heavy-water reactor that they claim is only for peaceful purposes. Continue reading →