Confirmed: Iran Has Begun Uranium Enrichment at an Underground Bunker
- Posted on January 9, 2012 at 6:00am by
Billy Hallowell
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VIENNA (AP) — Diplomats on Monday confirmed a report that Iran has begun uranium enrichment at an underground bunker and said the news is particularly worrying because the site is being used to make material that can be upgraded more quickly for use in a nuclear weapon than the nation’s main enriched stockpile.
This image provided by NASA shows the Strait of Hormuz taken from the International Space Station in Sept. 30, 2003. An Iranian newspaper quotes a senior commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guard Sunday Jan. 8, 2012 as saying that Tehran's leadership has decided to order the closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf if the country's oil exports are blocked. (AP Photo/NASA)
The diplomats said that centrifuges at the Fordo site near Iran’s holy city of Qom are churning out uranium enriched to 20 percent. That level is higher than the 3.5 percent being made at Iran’s main enrichment plant and can be turned into fissile warhead material faster and with less work.
The move was expected, with Tehran announcing months ago that it would use the Fordo facility for 20 percent production. Iran began to further enrich a small part of its uranium stockpile to nearly 20 percent as of February 2010 at a less-protected experimental site, saying it needs the higher grade material to produce fuel for a Tehran reactor that makes medical radioisotopes for cancer patients.
But with the time and effort reduced between making weapons-grade uranium from the 20-percent level, the start of the Fordo operation increases international fears that Iran is determined to move closer to the ability to make nuclear warheads – despite insistence by the Islamic Republic that it is enriching only to make reactor fuel. Its dismissal of findings by the International Atomic Energy Agency of secret experimental work on a nuclear weapons program also worries the international community.
Iran recently threatened to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, an important transit route for almost one-fifth of the oil traded globally. Tehran also has been angered by the West’s efforts to sanction Iran over its nuclear program, including a possible ban on European imports of Iranian oil.
Fordo’s location increases concerns.
The facility is a hardened tunnel and is protected by air defense missile batteries and the Revolutionary Guard. The site is located about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Qom, the religious nerve center of Iran’s ruling system. The semiofficial Mehr news agency quoted Iran’s nuclear chief, Fereidoun Abbasi, as saying Sunday that “the enemy doesn’t have the ability to damage it.”
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Built next to a military complex, Fordo was long kept secret and was only acknowledged by Iran after it was identified by Western intelligence agencies in September 2009.
Two diplomats spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because their information was confidential and based on an inspection of Fordo last week by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
They said 348 machines were operating at Fordo in two cascades – the linked up configuration needed to enrich. Two other cascades were nearly assembled but not working, they said. The centrifuges appeared to be the standard old-generation machines in use at the main enrichment site at Natanz and not advanced, more efficient prototype versions.
About 8,000 centrifuges are operating at Natanz, where five years of enrichment have turned out enough material for several nuclear warheads.
The Fordo startup was first reported Sunday by the daily Kaynan, a hardline newspaper close to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final word on all important matters of state. Abbasi was more circumspect, saying Saturday that his country will “soon” begin enrichment at Fordo.
It was impossible to reconcile the two reports. But the diplomats speculated that they could be a further reflection of divisions within Iran’s ruling circles about how upfront the nation should be with nuclear activities that are drawing increasingly severe international penalties beyond four sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions.
Iran – which claims it only seeks nuclear reactors for energy and research – has sharply increased its threats and military posturing against stronger pressures, including U.S. sanctions targeting Iran’s Central Bank in attempts to complicate its ability to sell oil.
A senior commander of the Revolutionary Guard force was recently quoted as saying Tehran’s leadership has decided to order the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic oil route, if the country’s petroleum exports are blocked. Revolutionary Guard ground forces also staged war games in eastern Iran in an apparent display of resolve against U.S. forces just over the border in Afghanistan.
Iranian officials have issued similar threats, but this was the strongest statement yet by a top commander in the security establishment.
“The supreme authorities … have insisted that if enemies block the export of our oil, we won’t allow a drop of oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. This is the strategy of the Islamic Republic in countering such threats,” Revolutionary Guard deputy commander Ali Ashraf Nouri was quoted as saying by another newspaper, the Khorasan daily.
Adding to Iran-U.S. tensions, Iran’s state radio reported Monday that a Tehran court has convicted an American man of working for the CIA and sentenced him to death.
Iran charges that as a former U.S. Marine, Amir Mirzaei Hekmati received special training and served at U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan before heading to Iran for his alleged intelligence mission. The radio report did not say when the verdict was issued. Under Iranian law, Hekmati, a dual U.S.-Iranian national has 20 days to appeal. His father, a professor at a community college in Flint, Michigan, has said his son is not a CIA spy and was visiting his grandmothers in Iran when he was arrested.
In an interview broadcast Sunday, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Iran is laying the groundwork for making nuclear weapons someday, but is not yet building a bomb. Panetta reiterated U.S. concerns about a unilateral strike by Israel against Iran’s nuclear facilities, saying the action could trigger Iranian retaliation against U.S. forces in the region.
“We have common cause here” with Israel, he said. “And the better approach is for us to work together.”
Panetta‘s remarks on CBS’ “Face the Nation” reflect the U.S. administration’s long-held view that Iran is not yet committed to building a nuclear arsenal, only to create the industrial and scientific capacity to allow one if its leaders to decide to take that final step.
President Barack Obama approved new sanctions against Iran a week ago, targeting the central bank and its ability to sell petroleum abroad. The U.S. has delayed implementing the sanctions for at least six months, worried about sending the price of oil higher at a time when the global economy is struggling.
The U.S. and Israel have said that all options remain open, including military action, should Iran continue with its enrichment program.
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cmark
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 10:28pmCheck out the new Iranian Alarm Clock. Complete with a Bright flash and Mushroom cloud. Plus no need for a snooze alarm. Revolutionary Clock comes with a Pre-Alarm Snooze.
Report Post »Love_John_Galt
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 6:23pmHurry… let’s make sure everyone believes we have an immediate crisis… afterall, it’s the election season- we must scare everyone to keep big government in power. Never let a good crisis go to waste, right Glenn?
Report Post »SomeRandomPerson
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 2:40pmUmm, Duh?
Report Post »V-MAN MACE
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 5:43pmIt isn’t weapons grade.
Report Post »PureDrumFury
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 2:10pmJERK, are you really that stupid? Iran is less than two years, maybe now with this report even one, away from nuclear missiles. They’ve already been testing the delivery systems. 40 years? What happy drug are you on? And more importantly, Iran openly states their intentions to destroy Israel and the United States as soon as they have the capability. Add that to the fact that their prophet Mohammed explicitly instructs followers of their faith to LIE to their enemies until the time is right to either convert or kill them. Israel didn’t start the arms race – she did what she needed to in order to defend herself from the enemies at her gates. People like you are asleep at the wheel, man. Why don’t go ahead and vote for Ron Paul just to show how ignorant of foreign policy you really are.
Report Post »WakingSheep
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 2:41pmYeah vote for the WAR mongers.
Report Post »BTW,
Did we ever find those WMD’s the media was talking about in Iraq?
Did we find Al-queda in Iraq at the time of invasion?
And who’s foreign policy is lost?
WD0331
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 10:14pmI have lived in…. and have first hand experience of our current foreign policy and it has FAILED!
Report Post »I will be voting for Ron Paul.
gmoneytx
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 1:39pmwhat’s a “fissile warhead” now with typo’s aside..(thanks Blaze) What is our guvmint gonna do about it>
Report Post »Tower7_TRUTH
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 2:10pmI can’t believe it until General Collen Powell confirms it.
Report Post »gpk
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 1:08pmHow long must we sit by watching this idiot, president ahmuckinadickjar carry on?
Report Post »MiddleAmerica2012
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 12:58pmThis guy is a nut job, wants to bring back the anti-christ. I truly think that the ARAB people have serious mental problems. Perhaps a faulty gene in the ol DNA…. Look at who they choose to lead them, look at how they treat each other, look at how their religon instructs them to act. Mentally Ill
Report Post »rrjenn
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 3:39pmYou say Muslims but then you go on to describe Americans.
Report Post »Tricky
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 4:27pmThey did not choose Ahmadinejad as their president he took over and continues to rig elections.
Report Post »Akbarjonnie Shaheed
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 12:49pmDon’t worry, Ahmadlittlman has a muslim friend in the white house he can negotiate with.
Report Post »GERATMO
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 12:43pmGoing to war with Iran would be a big mistake at this point in time. So whats the plan, borrow from China so we can go to war with Iran? When are we going to realize that we are broke and that we need to take care of the problems at home and get this country back on track? Yes we have to deal with Iran but is starting ww3 the best way to deal with them? I say war should be the last option.
Report Post »WakingSheep
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 2:47pmWow!
Report Post »Somebody on the blaze does have common sense!
palerider54
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 5:49pmWe don’t need to go to war with them, just NUKE their major cities and be done with it.
Report Post »Love_John_Galt
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 12:00pmJust in time for the NH primaries – How convevient.
Report Post »lembrandt
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 11:52amObama will do nothing to stop Iran from getting nuclear devices…nothing.
Report Post »The_Jerk
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 11:59amNor should he.
Report Post »tgthompson
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 12:15pmIranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said on many occasions that Iran must destroy the little Satan (Israel) and the big Satan (American). He can only do this with Nukes. So if you’re ready to get nuked, keep Obama in office and he will let that happen, because he is not going to stop them from making nukes.
Report Post »MEDICINE TO THE DEAD
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 2:01pmIran would need way more than a couple nukes to take out the US and it is only a dream anyway. Even if they were crazy enough and successful at detonating a nuclear warhead in the US, the retaliation would be unimaginable and they know that. Iran would be a scar on the earth and only a memory. This would be the case no matter who the US president is.
Report Post »MEDICINE TO THE DEAD
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 2:04pm@The_Jerk
I second that.
Report Post »nowhereman
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 3:39amI would also concur with @The_Jerk. The President is doing something – sanctions. What more can he do at this point. Air strikes? Madness!. Some of those sites are near “holy cites”, Russia and China are allies. If the Straights of Hormuz are ever shut down Europe would be in turmoil, most of that oil goes to them. No President, democrat or republican can get out of this mess without getting damaged. Its probably not going to end well.for any of us.
Report Post »castyourvote2012
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 10:47amRegardless of what you may think of them, as of this morning Mitt Romney has the most votes for being the next President and Rick Santorum has just barely pulled ahead of Ron Paul for second with votes coming in pretty fast. Who do you think the next President should be? The votes are rolling in and the results are quite surprising. Make a difference. Participate in the 2012 Ebay United States Presidential Election Poll and cast your vote. Go to Ebay and Search for 2012 Ebay Poll, pick your candidate and vote. It is that simple. Proceeds to help benefit the American Red Cross.
Report Post »the point
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 10:45amAnd what is Obama doing ? Going on another vacation, going to a party or golfing ?
Report Post »GBTVFan_Non_American_Overseas
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 8:06pmMaybe celebrating along with Soros, bottles of Champagne running wildly, some BBQ since Michelle Antoinette isn’t near (I know, Dom + BBQ doesn’t mix properly, but is because Bo doesn’t have such opportunities of eating BBQ very often), and maybe Larry Sinclair will join them later for a good old fashioned moment of boy-boy pleasure…
Report Post »Naps
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 10:43amFEAR….It’s a hell of a drug. WHY didn’t we ever invade North Korea when they got nukes? The American people are being manipulated by the biggest money maker in history. FEAR!
Report Post »Tower7_TRUTH
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 2:14pmyes only HATE can muster the same effect as FEAR
Report Post »both come from the reptilian part of the brain
The_Jerk
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 10:34amLook, if it is true that Iran is enriching uranium, then that puts them about 40 years behind their enemy, Israel. If nukes are good for Israel, then nukes should be good for any of Israel’s neighbors. Israel began this weapons race.
Report Post »Tower7_TRUTH
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 2:16pmand What about Pakistan ???? they already have more than 100 nukes
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 10:23am.
Report Post »We Need to Kill them All….in the name of World Peace……..
The_Jerk
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 10:31amYou sound like a graduate of the Hitler Youth program.
Report Post »WakingSheep
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 2:45pmSpoken like a true Progressive!
Report Post »That should be Romney, Gingrich, Santorum, or Obama’s tagline.
BOMB EM ALL!
SpankDaMonkey
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 4:27pm.
Report Post »No I said Kill them All, not bomb………I mean if we end up in a war, We need something to shoot for. Like the end of War, the kind of Peace you get when they are no more……….
WD0331
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 10:21pmYou know why we don’t win wars anymore Spanky? It’s because Congress refuses to DECLARE war. Therefore they won’t set a solid strategy to win. Instead, we keep fighting UNDECLARED wars, and tie the hands of the troops with B.S. rules of engagement. Hmmmmm, Sounds like Ron Paul’s idea might be right after all. Make Congress declare war like the constitution states, Then and only then will we be able to fight to win!
Report Post »Ron Paul 2012!
southernORcobra
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 10:02amJust glass them and get it over with you are gonna have to do it eventually anyway.
Report Post »American Soldier (Separated)
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 10:15amGotta ask, do you call yourself a Christian?
It’s hard to believe that an Agnostic, such as myself, seems to have more value towards human life then some Christians do. War should be a last resort, not first strike. Now you want to nuke an entire NATION, for what?
Pre-emptive nuke option. I’m sure Jesus would be proud.
Report Post »diablosho
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 10:33amI’m Catholic…we love war. Give me the button, and I’ll push it this morning and be celebrating by lunch time.
Report Post »Tower7_TRUTH
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 2:12pmMuslims aren’t really people , so God says it’s ok to Kill them ALL.
Report Post »nowhereman
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 3:41am@Tower7_TRUTH
Report Post »What chapter and verse is that in?
ColoradoMaverick
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 9:17amIt’s time to test one of the new Bunker Buster bombs!!
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 9:09am.
I still think Adycknmyjaw looks like Tarzan and Cheeta’s Love Child…..
Their gonna get the Bomb. If they can’t make one, I’m sure Obama will let them have one of ours…..
Report Post »