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=> 33°12'30"N 44°31'30"E/Iran Warns Israel Against Attacking Nukes
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- Friday, September 24 2004, 2:58:12 (CEST) from 4.42.18.169 - lsanca1-ar51-4-42-018-169.lsanca1.dsl-verizon.net  Network -  Windows XP -  Internet ExplorerWebsite: Website title: |
Osiraq / Tammuz I Iraq established its nuclear program in the late 1960s when it acquired its first nuclear facilites. Later, in the 1970s, Iraq was unsuccessful in negotiations with France to purchase a plutonium production reactor similar to the one used in France's nuclear weapons program. In addition to the reactor, Iraq also wanted to purchase the reporcessing plant needed to recover the plutonium produced in the reactor. Even through these requests were denied, France agreed to build a research reactor along with associated laboratories. Iraq built the Osiraq 40 megawatt light-water nuclear reactor at the Al Tuwaitha Nuclear Center near Baghdad with French assistance. Approximately 27.5 pounds of 93% U-235 was supplied to Iraq by France for use in the Osiraq research reactor. The reactor was a type of French reactor named after Osiris, the Egyptian God of the dead. The French renamed the one being built in Iraq, "Osiraq" to blend the name Osiris with that of the recipient state, Iraq. French orthography then made it "Osirak." Iraq called the reactor "Tammuz," after the month in the Arabic calendar when the Ba'th party came to power in a 1968 coup. Iraq began to expand its nuclear sector in the 1970's, but made little progress in the early 1980's, when most of its energy and attention were focused on the war against Iran. In September 1980, at the onset of the Iran-Iraq War, the Israeli Chief of Army Intelligence urged the Iranians to bomb Osiraq. On 30 September 1980 a a pair of Iranian Phantom jets, part of a larger group of aircraft attacking a conventional electric power plant near Baghdad, also bombed the Osiraq reactor. Minor damage to the reactor was reported. No further Iranian air attacks against Iraqi nuclear facilities were identified during the rest of the seven-year war. When Israeli intelligence confirmed Iraq's intention of producing weapons at Osiraq, the Israeli government decided to attack. According to some estimates, Iraq in 1981 was still as much as five to ten years away from the ability to build a nuclear weapon. Others estimated at that time that Iraq might get its first such weapon within a year or two. Prime Minister Menachem Begin felt military action was the only remedy. Begin feared that his party would lose the next election, and he feared that the opposition party would not preempt prior to the production of the first Iraqi nuclear bomb. The raid would have to occur before its first fuel was to be loaded, before the reactor went "hot" so as not to endanger the surrounding community. The target was distant: 1,100 km from Israel. Preparations included building target mock-ups and flying full scale dress-rehearsal missions. The aircrews were selected from the cream of the IAFs fighter corps. The IDF Chief-of-Staff, Lt. Gen. Rafael (Raful) Eitan, briefed the pilots personally. Displaying unusual emotion, he told them: "The alternative is our destruction". At 15:55 on 07 June 1981, the first F-15 and F-16's roared off the runway from Etzion Air Force Base in the south. Israeli air force planes flew over Jordanian, Saudi, and Iraqi airspace After a tense but uneventful low-level navigation route, the fighters reached their target. They popped up at 17:35 and quickly identified the dome gleaming in the late afternoon sunlight. Iraqi defenses were caught by surprise and opened fire too late. In one minute and twenty seconds, the reactor lay in ruins. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Iran Warns Israel Against Attacking Nukes Thursday, September 23, 2004 UNITED NATIONS — Iran warned that it will react "most severely" to any Israeli action against its nuclear facilities, after Israel said the United States was selling it 500 bunker buster bombs. Israeli military officials said Tuesday that the Jewish state will receive nearly 5,000 smart bombs, including the 500 one-ton bombs that can destroy six-foot concrete walls. In 1981, Israel bombed Iraq's nuclear reactor before it could begin operating. Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi (search), asked Wednesday about the sale of the bombs, told reporters: "Israel has always been a threat, not only against Iran, but all countries." Kharrazi said the main conflict in the Middle East is Israel's "freedom to produce as much as they need — nuclear bombs as well as other weapons of mass destruction." "But be sure, any action by Israel certainly will be reacted (to) by us, most severely," Kharrazi said after he met British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw (search) on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly's ministerial meeting. The purchase came after the U.N. atomic watchdog agency demanded last weekend that Iran freeze uranium enrichment and related activities, such as the building of centrifuges, within two months. Failure to do so could lead to the International Atomic Energy Agency passing Iran's nuclear file to the U.N. Security Council, which could impose sanctions. Iran vowed Tuesday to continue a nuclear program some suspect is aimed at developing weapons, even if it means ending cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog. Iran maintains its uranium enrichment program is to generate electricity not produce nuclear weapons. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Wednesday that Iran will never abandon plans to develop nuclear weapons and called for quick action by the U.N. Security Council "to put an end to this nightmare." Shalom sidestepped the question of whether Israel would take military action against Iran if it continued to pursue its nuclear ambitions. "They are trying to buy time, and the time has come to move the Iranian case to the Security Council in order to put an end to this nightmare," he told reporters after meeting Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Secretary of State Colin Powell, responding to a question about an Israeli attack on Iranian facilities similar to the Iraqi strike, said: "We're talking about diplomacy and political efforts to stop this movement on the part of the Iranians toward a nuclear weapon. "We're not talking about strikes. But every option always, of course, remains on the table." Kharrazi insisted "there are ways and means to arrive at a compromise" over the demands that Iran halt its enrichment program. Besides the 500 one-ton bombs in the arms sale, Israel will get 2,500 one-ton bombs, 1,000 half-ton bombs and 500 quarter-ton bombs, the Israeli military officials said. Israel's announcement of the sale came after the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible military sale to Israel worth as much as $319 million. The agency said in a June 1 press release that the sale "will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country that has been and continues to be an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East." --------------------- |
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