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DAILY ALERT

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Iran to Build Enrichment Sites Inside Mountains - Ali Akbar Dareini
Iran said Monday it plans to build two new uranium enrichment facilities deep inside mountains to protect them from attack. Iranian Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi said Tehran intends to use its more advanced centrifuges at the new sites, which will be able to enrich uranium much faster than the old ones. This means Iran could amass more material in a shorter space of time that could be turned into the fissile core of missiles.
    Salehi said the new enrichment sites will be equal to that of Natanz in terms of production capacity but smaller in geographical size. More than 8,600 centrifuges have been set up in Natanz, but only about 3,800 are actively enriching uranium, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The facility will eventually house 54,000 centrifuges. (AP-Washington Post)

    See also U.S.: Iran Plan Is Further Evidence It Rejects Engagement
The U.S. said Monday that Iran's plan to build two new uranium enrichment plants is "further evidence" it rejects engagement with the international community. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley added that the U.S. and other powers were reviewing Iranian targets for sanctions and Washington would offer specific proposals to the UN in the coming weeks. President Obama's administration has increasingly turned its attention to sanctions after its first-year bid to engage Iran in talks over its nuclear program yielded nothing concrete. U.S. officials say Iran's behavior shows it does not want to cooperate with the world community. (AFP)

Gen. Mullen: Iran Concerns Middle Eastern Neighbors - Donna Miles
Just back from a trip to the Middle East, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Monday cited widespread concern about Iran's nuclear program, but emphasized the importance of diplomatic and economic pressure, rather than military action, to stem it. Mullen cited concern about Iran as an overarching theme during his recent visit to Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. All share the U.S. belief that Iran's nuclear program is headed on a path to achieve weaponization - a pursuit Mullen said further destabilizes the region.
    "Like us, it isn't just a nuclear-capable Iranian military our friends worry about," he said. "It's an Iran with hegemonic ambitions and a desire to dominate its neighbors. This outcome drives many of the national security decisions our partners there are making, and I believe we must be mindful of that as we look to the future, post-Iraq and post-Afghanistan."  (American Forces Press Service-U.S. Defense Department)

Archaeologist Finds Jerusalem Wall Matching Biblical Story - Nir Hasson
A team of Israeli archaeologists has announced the discovery of a massive wall they say dates to the 10th century BCE in Jerusalem's Ophel Park on the slope between the Temple Mount and the village of Silwan. The dig director, Dr. Eilat Mazar, dates the wall according to potshards found nearby to the period of King Solomon and the major period of construction in Jerusalem in the First Temple period, as described in the Bible. The dig is a joint project by the Hebrew University, the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.
    Along with the wall, which is 10 meters high and 70 meters long, other structures were found, including a monumental gatehouse and a tower. "This is the first time a structure has been found that could conform to descriptions of King Solomon's construction in Jerusalem," Mazar says. (Ha'aretz)

    See also Tenth Century BCE Jerusalem City Wall Uncovered (Hebrew University of Jerusalem-Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
    See also Photos of the Wall (Hebrew University of Jerusalem-Facebook)

Iran at History's Fork in the Road - Richard N. Haass
One future for Iran would be mostly an extension of what already exists, i.e., an Iran run by conservative clerics and an aggressive Revolutionary Guard. The emergence of such a future would present the world with a stark choice: either acquiesce to an Iran that possesses or could quickly assemble a nuclear device, or launch a preventive military attack designed to destroy much of the Iranian nuclear program.
    While a preventive strike would delay Iran's nuclear efforts, it would not stop the regime from rebuilding, and it might also create conditions that cause problems for the regime's domestic opponents. Despite these potential drawbacks, an armed attack on Iran's nuclear facilities will and should remain a distinct possibility given the enormous strategic costs of a nuclear-armed Iran.
    If history is a guide, even strong sanctions may not be enough to persuade Iran's rulers to negotiate constructively and accept meaningful constraints on their nuclear activities. These considerations raise the prospect of trying to bring about an alternative future: an Iran with a political leadership that is more moderate at home and abroad, and that forgoes developing a nuclear weapon or anything close to it. The writer is president of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Korea Times)

The Best of the Bad Options on Iran - Leslie H. Gelb
No one has a magic bullet for the Iran puzzle. What can be done is to work very closely with our Arab friends in the Gulf to strengthen them in the face of increasing Iranian pressure. This would include efforts to bolster the legitimacy of friendly regional governments plus very public upgrades of U.S. capabilities to defend them, as the Obama administration is doing with missile defenses. It also means proceeding with sanctions against the Revolutionary Guard. It entails continuing to try to sabotage Iran's uranium-enrichment and other nuclear programs as well. Finally, it also means preserving present negotiating proposals, but not pushing them. The writer is president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Daily Beast)

The Case for Gasoline Sanctions on Iran - Reuel Marc Gerecht and Mark Dubowitz (Wall Street Journal)

• Are gasoline sanctions against Iran a bad idea? The White House worries that without plentiful petrol, Iranians might grow angry and rally around the regime.
• Sanctions hitting the energy sector could also be viewed by Tehran as outright war. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could counter in Iraq and Afghanistan. And to make these sanctions effective, Washington might need to coerce our European allies, whose companies have the lion's share of the gasoline import and import-related insurance business. (Without insurance, tankers never leave harbor.)
• For sanctions to be a game changer, they have to be crushing. And sanctions must complement the only thing that has so far rattled the regime: the pro-democracy Green Movement. Gasoline and insurance sanctions tied to the cause of democracy might - just possibly - work.
• Iranians who are fed up with theocracy are certainly not going to embrace it if Obama declares gasoline sanctions the midwife of representative government. If sanctions are waged in the name of the Iranian people, we are much more likely to see Western opinion remain solidly behind them.