France helped Israel develop nuclear weapons

In bid to end sanctions, Iran accuses France of helping Israel develop ‘inhumane nuclear weapons’

Fredrik Dahl and Marcus George, Reuters  May 2, 2012 – 1:30 PM ET

AFP/Getty Images

A handout photo provided by the office of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him addressing a meeting with members of the Assembley of Experts in Tehran on March 8, 2012

VIENNA/DUBAI — Iran said on Wednesday it would seek an end to sanctions over its nuclear activities at talks with big powers later this month and it sought to turn the tables on its Western foes by accusing France of helping Israel develop “inhumane nuclear weapons.”

An adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the negotiations in Baghdad on May 23 should lead to the lifting of punitive measures on Tehran, Iranian media reported.

The comments reflect a hardening public line in the Islamic Republic that an end to sanctions is vital to the success of the talks. It was also the first time an influential political figure explicitly said he expects progress on the issue.

“At the least, our expectation is the lifting of sanctions,” Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel was quoted by Iranian media as saying.

However, the United States and its allies have made clear Tehran must take action to allay their concerns about its nuclear ambitions before they can consider relaxing sanctions.

They say Iran’s nuclear program is a cover for developing atomic bombs and want verifiable assurances to the contrary from Tehran – for example, by accepting much more intrusive UN nuclear inspections and curbing its enrichment capacity.

Iran denies having a weapons agenda, saying it is enriching uranium solely for peaceful energy purposes.

Western states have imposed expanded, more biting sanctions against Iran’s energy and banking sectors since the beginning of this year. The European Union is preparing to slap a total embargo on the purchase of Iranian crude oil in July.

In Vienna, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Mahdi Akhondzadeh said nuclear weapons have no place in Iran’s defense doctrine, and accused “certain” states of double standards and hypocrisy, in a clear reference to Tehran’s Western critics.

HO/AFP/Getty Images

A picture released by the official website of the Iranian presidency shows President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivering a speech to the Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation scientists during a ceremony to mark National Nuclear Day in Tehran on April 8, 2012

He took aim at France, a pivotal player in tightening sanctions on Iran, accusing it of having assisted Israel in developing nuclear weapons decades ago. The Jewish state is widely reputed to have the Middle East’s only nuclear arsenal.

France, a big exporter of civilian nuclear technology, built in the 1950s an Israeli reactor in the southern desert town of Dimona, a complex widely believed to have produced atomic bombs.

“While certain countries such as France express concerns over peaceful nuclear activities of Iran … they have spared no effort in helping Israel … to develop inhumane nuclear weapons,” Akhondzadeh said.

“Indeed, France is the founder of Israel’s clandestine nuclear weapons program,” he told a meeting convened to discuss the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a voluntary 1970 pact.

Sepah News.ir/ Handout/Reuters files

Members of Iran's revolutionary guard In December 2011 with a captured U.S. RQ-170 unmanned spy plane. Iran says it is close to replicating the aircraft.

IRAN “OPTIMISTIC” ABOUT TALKS

Israel, which is outside the NPT, neither confirms nor denies it has nuclear weapons, under a policy of ambiguity designed to deter regional Arab and Iranian adversaries but avoid arms races.

“The existence of nuclear weapons in the hands of … Israel continues to pose the gravest threat to the stability and security” in the Middle East, Akhondzadeh said.

The United States and Israel regard Iran’s nuclear ambitions as the main threat to peace in the volatile region, prompting persistent speculation they might attack its atomic sites if diplomacy fails to resolve the long-running dispute.

France’s representative at the two-week NPT meeting in Vienna said on Monday Iran, one of the world’s leading oil exporters, for “far too many years” had pursued an enrichment program without “any credible civil purpose.”

Ambassador Elissa Golberg of Canada, a staunch ally of Israel, told delegates on Wednesday that Iranian activities could “only be understood in the context of a nuclear weapons development effort”.

Akhondzadeh said the existence of nearly 23,000 nuclear warheads in the world and their continued modernization was the “most serious threat to the survival of mankind” and the nuclear weapons states should agree a date to eliminate them.

The five recognized nuclear weapons states are the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain – the same powers which together with Germany are putting pressure on Tehran to scale back its uranium enrichment program.

Akhondzadeh said Iran was “optimistic” about progress in the negotiations in Baghdad, but it would never give up its right to the peaceful use of atomic energy. Several UN Security Council resolutions call on Iran to suspend all enrichment-related work.

The talks with the powers resumed in mid-April in Istanbul after more than a year – a chance to halt a deterioration in diplomacy and help avert the threat of a new Middle East war.

Western governments have credited the escalation of sanctions against Iran’s financial institutions as instrumental in forcing Tehran back to the negotiating table.

European diplomats have said an EU oil embargo is a valuable tool and is unlikely to be lifted unless tangible progress is made at the meeting.

“I hope the Baghdad negotiations complete the talks that took place in Istanbul, and the other side should take note that it should use rational behavior with Iran and (the) country will never surrender to pressure,” Fars news agency quoted Haddad Adel as saying.

© 2012 Thomson Reuters

US Air Force Says Israel Has 400 Atomic And Hydrogen Bombs

US Air Force Says Israel Has
400 Atomic And Hydrogen Bombs
WorldTribune.com
7-4-2

A United States Air Force report asserts that Israel is building a nuclear naval force meant to respond to any nuclear strike by such countries as Iran or Iraq.   It is the first time a U.S. military institution has stated that Israel has produced a hydrogen bomb. The number of purported Israeli nuclear weapons cited in the report is double that of previous assessments.   The report, sponsored by the air force's Counterproliferation Center, asserts that the navy can deploy any of what it asserts is Israel's 400 atomic and hydrogen weapons, Middle East Newsline reported. The center is located in the Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.   In a report entitled "The Third Temple's Holy of Holies: Israel's Nuclear Weapons," U.S. Army Col. Warner Farr said Israel's nuclear arsenal has grown from an estimated 13 nuclear bombs in 1967 to 400 nuclear and thermonuclear weapons. Farr said Israel's navy could deploy nuclear weapons on the fleet of three German-built Dolphin-class diesel submarines.   "Israel will then have a second strike capability with nuclear cruise missiles, and this capability could well change the nuclear arms race in the Middle East," the report, which Farr said is based on unclassified sources, read. "Israeli rhetoric on the new submarines labels them 'national deterrent' assets."   The report said these nuclear missiles could have a range of 350 kilometers. Israel would try to base its nuclear naval force near Oman, with which Israel has informal relations, the September 1999 report, which was recently published by the center, said.   "The first basing options for the new second-strike force of nuclear missile capable submarines include Oman, an Arab nation with unofficial Israeli relations, located strategically near Iran," the report said.   The U.S. Air Force Counterproliferation Center was established in 1998. The center is meant to help prepare air force commanders counter the threat from weapons of mass destruction. The report did not deem Israel's purported nuclear arsenal as a direct threat to the United States.   The report said Israel's Defense Ministry has requested from the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon authorization for a retaliatory nuclear strike. Israel could also use Jordanian air space for a nuclear strike on Iran.     Comment   Josh Greenberg 7-4-2   I've been telling my American friends for years not to mess with Israel. We are the world's 4th or 5th strongest nuclear power...nice to finally see it in print. That's why toady Bush is powerless to infleunce the policies of the Sharon government. The US continues to give us many billions a year! ... most of which has gone into building our nuclear weapons, fund our West Bank settlements, and pay for our spies and intelligence services! You don't like Israeli policy? Tough sh*t! You funded it all and we did the rest! 400 nuclear warheads...minimum. Remember that. Now, just imagine what our biological weapons scientists have cooked up and have sitting on the shelf, ready to go. Get this: NO ONE is EVER going to force Israel to do anything against its will. Try it, world, and find out what happens. ------------------------------------------- Tuesday, January 31 2012|Noam Sheizaf Former President Carter: Israel has 300 nuclear bombs Foreign sources debate from time to time the size of Israel’s nuclear arsenal, which is estimated at anywhere between 100 and 400 warheads (*). In a recent interview with Time, ex-president Jimmy Carter – who has read a few intelligence reports over the course his life – said that Israel has around 300 nukes. Asked by the magazine “What do you think it means that Iran seems to have its first nuclear fuel rod?” Carter answers: Well, of course, the religious leaders of Iran have sworn on their word of honor that they’re not going to manufacture nuclear weapons. If they are lying, then I don’t see that as a major catastrophe because they’ll only have one or two military weapons. Israel probably has 300 or so. (*) This information is based on Avner Cohen’s summary of several analyses regarding the size of the Israeli arsenal in The Worst-Kept Secret: Israel’s Bargain with the Bomb, Columbia 2010, page xxvii. According to foreign sources, Israel also has sea-based second strike capabilities (ibid).

IMPORTANT - BBC - How Britain helped Israel get the bomb

How Britain helped Israel get the bomb

Newsnight reporter Michael Crick tells the story of how Britain helped Israel build the bomb - without telling the Americans.

By Michael Crick -- BBC Newsnight
 

Documents uncovered by Newsnight in the British National Archives show how, in 1958, Britain agreed to sell Israel 20 tonnes of heavy water, a vital ingredient for the production of plutonium at Israel's top secret Dimona nuclear reactor in the Negev desert.
Robert McNamara, President John F Kennedy's defence secretary, has told Newsnight he is "astonished" at the revelation that Britain kept this secret from America.

Most computers will open PDF documents automatically, but you may need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader.

In Wednesday's programme, Newsnight reveals how British officials decided it would be "over-zealous" to impose safeguards on the Israelis, and chose not to insist that Israel use the heavy water only for peaceful purposes.

Earlier the Americans had refused to supply heavy water to Israel without such safeguards.

Making money
The documents unearthed by Newsnight also show British officials decided not to tell Washington about it.

“ They seemed to have no idea of the implications of what they were doing ”
Lord Gilmour ---- Former Defence and Foreign Office minister

"On the whole I would prefer NOT to mention this to the Americans," concluded Donald Cape of the Foreign Office. When contacted by Newsnight this week, Mr Cape said he could remember nothing about the episode."I think it is quite extraordinary," says the former Conservative Defence and Foreign Office minister Lord Gilmour. "Whether the civil servants who were involved knew what they were doing, or whether they didn't, I don't know." He thinks they put Britain's economic interests first.[!!!!]
"One must assume they must have known... And what's more they seemed to have no idea of the political or indeed even the technical and foreign-policy implications of what they were doing. They just seemed to be concerned with making a bit of money."[!!!!]

Escaping criticism
Until now both France and Norway have been criticised for helping the Israelis develop the bomb, but Britain has escaped criticism.

“ It's very surprising to me that we weren't told ”
Robert McNamara ---  JFK's defence secretary, pictured in 1961

Frank Barnaby, who worked on the British bomb project in the 1950s, and later debriefed the Israeli whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu, says he had "no idea" that Britain was "involved" in supplying Israel with heavy water."Heavy water was crucial for Israel," he says. "Therefore it was a significant part of their nuclear programme."
More extraordinary, the archives suggest that the decision to sell heavy water was taken simply by civil servants, mainly in the Foreign Office and the UK Atomic Energy Authority.
Newsnight has found no evidence that ministers in the Macmillan Government were ever consulted about the sale, or even told about it.

Surplus

The 20 tonnes of heavy water were part of a consignment which Britain bought from Norway in 1956, but the UK later decided this was surplus to requirements.The papers in the National Archives in London show how officials presented the sale internally as a straight sale from Norway to Israel. But the minutes reveal that the heavy water was shipped from a British port in Israeli ships - half in June 1959 and half a year later.
In 1960 the Daily Express first exposed the Israelis' work at Dimona and the fact that Israel was probably making a bomb.
When Israel asked Britain for a further five tonnes of heavy water in 1961 the Foreign Office decided against a second transaction.
"I am quite sure we should not agree to this sale," advised Sir Hugh Stephenson of the Foreign Office. "The Israeli project is much too live an issue for us to get mixed up in it again," he wrote.
Mr McNamara, who became President Kennedy's defence secretary in 1961, has expressed his surprise to Newsnight that Britain didn't inform the Americans it had sold heavy water to Israel: "The fact that Israel was trying to develop a nuclear bomb should not have come as any surprise... But that Britain should have supplied it with heavy water was indeed a surprise to me.
"It's very surprising to me that we weren't told because we shared information about the nuclear bomb very closely with the British."

Michael Crick's report can be seen on Newsnight on Wednesday, 3 August at 10.30pm on BBC2.Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4743493.stm

IMPORTANT-Former President Carter: Israel has 300 nuclear bombs!

Former President Carter: Israel has 300 nuclear bombs

Noam Sheizaf

January 31, 2012 Foreign sources debate from time to time the size of Israel's nuclear arsenal, which is estimated at anywhere between 100 and 400 warheads (*). In a recent interview with Time, ex-president Jimmy Carter who has read a few intelligence reports over the course of his life, said that Israel has around 300 nukes. Asked by the magazine "What do you think it means that Iran seems to have its first nuclear fuel rod?" Carter answers: Well, of course, the religious leaders of Iran have sworn on their word of honor that they're not going to manufacture nuclear weapons. If they are lying, then I don't see that as a major catastrophe because they'll only have one or two military weapons. Israel probably has 300 or so. ------------------------------------ JERUSALEM POST COMMENTS... Monday Jan 30, 2012 Jimmy Carter Does It Again  When it comes to the Middle East, the former president never ceases to amaze. In an interview published in Time, he was asked: "What do you think it means that Iran seems to have its first nuclear fuel rod?" His complete answer: "Well, of course, the religious leaders of Iran have sworn on their word of honor that they're not going to manufacture nuclear weapons. If they are lying, then I don't see that as a major catastrophe because they'll only have one or two military weapons. Israel probably has 300 or so." There you have it. In 51 words, Carter demonstrates convincingly why he should stay out of the business of Iran analysis. Not that he was much better at it while in the White House. Remember his famous expression of confidence in the Shah -- "an island of stability" -- when one year later the Iranian leader was ousted and had to flee the country? And the catastrophic U.S. attempt, under Carter, to free the 52 American hostages taken by the Shah's successors, that failed for the lack of a working helicopter? And the fact that those hostages languished in Iranian hands for 444 days, only to be released the very first day Carter's successor, Ronald Reagan, took office? Carter did not understand Iran then. Judging by the Time interview, he still doesn't. First, how could any serious observer begin a response by mentioning that "the religious leaders of Iran have sworn on their word of honor that they're not going to manufacture nuclear weapons"? Of what possible relevance is such a comment, other than to suggest that Carter may actually give it credence? A regime that has been found to lie about everything else -- its leaders claimed there were no nuclear enrichment facilities, that there were no homosexuals in the country, that its women were the freest in the world, that the Holocaust never took place, and that its 2009 elections were transparent -- is actually given the benefit of the doubt by the former president. He begins the next sentence with the phrase, "If they are lying." Again, he himself isn't sure. Perhaps he thinks, in contradistinction to the International Atomic Energy Agency, UN Security Council, Obama administration, European and Gulf leaders, and Israel, that all the Iranian leaders really want is peaceful nuclear energy, nothing more. And then comes the clincher. Even if the Iranians by some chance are lying, he said, "then I don't see that as a major catastrophe because they'll only have one or two military weapons." How could anyone possibly know how many bombs Iran might build, if left unchecked? This year, it might be one or two; next year, ten or twenty; and so on. Second, at the end of the day, the real issue is not how many bombs Iran would have, but the very fact that it possessed the weapon. That would change everything in its relations with its neighbors and beyond. Iran would derive incalculable power and confidence from the mere fact that it crossed the line.  Going forward, all other countries would have to factor the nuclear element into their dealings with Tehran -- and, it should be added, with such allies as Syria, and such non-governmental partners as Hamas and Hezbollah. Third, one of the most ominous changes could well be a new arms race in the region, already the most volatile in the world. What countries might, in response, move towards nuclear-weapons programs of their own, driven by fear (think Saudi Arabia) or "prestige" (think Turkey)? Then the risk of catastrophe by design, miscalculation, or accident goes up exponentially. So, too, does the chance of a further spread of the weapons. Remember A.Q. Khan, the Pakistani scientist who ran the Walmart of nuclear-weapons technology? Impossible to conceive of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez seeking nuclear help from his Iranian friends to achieve the same position in Latin America that Iran aspires to in its neighborhood? Not in my book. Fourth, Carter should go back and read the words of Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former Iranian president, who said: "[T]he use of even one nuclear bomb inside Israel would destroy everything." For Carter to imply that Israel is safe and secure from Iranian nuclear designs by dint of having more bombs is, well, naïve, all the more when Iran's defining eschatology is added to the picture. If religious fervor should trump rational behavior in Tehran, all bets are off. And finally, Carter once again displays his misreading of Israel, something he has regrettably made a habit of in recent years and also, incidentally, on vivid display in the same Time interview. Israel still lives with the shadow of the Holocaust. How could it not? A leader set forth a plan to establish a 1,000-year Reich and destroy the Jewish people. Few took him seriously. Indeed, there were those at the time -- all titled, confident and credentialed -- who sounded very much like Carter in his assessment of present-day Iran. They were dead wrong, and the world paid a horrific price for failing to grasp Hitler's intentions earlier. Of one thing we can be certain: Israel will not place its trust in Carter's reading of Iran. Nor should anyone else.  ----------------------------------------- ΠΟΛΛΗ ΟΡΓΗ ΚΑΙ ΣΥΖΗΤΗΣΙ ΚΑΙ ΑΝΑΘΕΜΑΤΙΣΜΟΙ ΣΤΙΣ ΕΒΡΑΪΚΕΣ ΕΦΗΜΕΡΙΔΕΣ ΚΑΙ ΣΤΟ ΔΙΑΔΙΚΤΥΟ, ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΥ "ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΑΡΗ" ΚΑΡΤΕΡ!!!! ΟΜΩΣ ΠΟΥΘΕΝΑ, ΜΑ ΠΟΥΘΕΝΑ, ΔΕΝ ΕΙΔΑΜΕ ΝΑ ΛΕΝΕ ΑΝ ΤΕΛΙΚΩΣ ΕΧΕΙ ΤΟ ΙΣΡΑΗΛ ΠΥΡΗΝΙΚΑ ΚΑΙ ΠΟΣΑ !!!! ΦΥΣΙΚΑ, ΣΕ ΠΟΙΟΝ ΘΑ ΔΩΣΟΥΝ ΛΟΓΟ ΟΙ ΝΙΚΗΤΑΙ ΤΟΥ ΠΟΛΕΜΟΥ ???? ΣΤΑ ΚΟΥΚΛΟΘΕΑΤΡΑ ΑΝΔΡΕΙΚΕΛΩΝ ΤΥΠΟΥ ΟΗΕ ΠΟΥΦΤΙΑΞΑΝ "ΓΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΠΛΑΚΑ ΤΟΥΣ" ??? --------------------------------