THE STRAIGHT SKINNY ON NEW IRANIAN NUCLEAR SITE
September 29, 2009
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
The Iranians chose to put their newest revealed nuclear site near the most holy city of Qom.
This choice is typical of the Persian gift of cunning.
The Excerpt from the Khaleej Times Online is very interesting. The area chosen by Iranian leaders is one with scattered zones of karst limestone topography with many caves which draw many tourists for their internal beauty. I suspect they chose one that was not a tourist attraction and enlarged it to accommodate their new nuclear facility. It is significant they chose it to be near the very holy city of Qom. Bombing of the type necessary to destroy deeply embedded facilities would cause structures in the surrounding area to crumble. This adds a dimension to bombing to American and Israel planning that I feel sure will be considered and weighted in their final decision to go or no go. Damage to Shiite holy sites could lead to the united jihad so vigorously desired by Ahmadinejad to produce the final war of this age, which he believes would be sufficient to trigger the return of the Islamic Madhi (Messiah).
I suspect the discovery of the site may actually influence Ahmadinejad to give in to Obama’s diplomatic dialog blitz to gain more time to be fully ready for a future war with Israel.
Iran has certainly proven its amazing ability to gain time with its long series of multiple sessions
with the Europeans.
Will Israel attack Iran’s nuclear sites BEFORE the final war of this age? I honestly don’t know! It is going to be interesting to watch worldwide developments over the next few years, one way or the other, because I am convinced the final war of the Age of the Gentiles is waiting in the wings, and will soon come on stage, the major question if not IF, but WHEN and HOW
?
Begin Excerpt from Wikipedia
Qom (also known as Q’um or Ghom) is a city in Iran. It lies 156 kilometres (97 mi) by road southwest of Tehran and is the capital of Qom Province. It has an estimated population of 1,042,309 in 2005. It is situated on the banks of the Qom river.
Qom is considered holy by Shi`a Islam, as it is the site of the shrine of Fatema Mæ’sume, sister of Imam `Ali ibn Musa Rida (Persian Imam Reza, 789–816 A.D.). The city is the largest center for Shi’a scholarship in the world, and is a significant destination of pilgrimage.
In September, 2009 at the Pittsburgh G-20 Summit, U.S. President Obama, Prime Minister Brown of the United Kingdom, and President Sarkozy of France made statements regarding an undisclosed nuclear enrichment facility that is still being built near Qom, in similar circumstances to the discovery of an undisclosed enrichment facility in Natanz.
The Twelve Imams are the spiritual and political successors to Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, in the Twelver or Ithna-‘ashariyyah branch of Shī‘ah Islam. According to the theology of Twelvers, the successor of Muhammad is an infallible human individual who not only rules over the community with justice, but also is able to keep and interpret the Divine Law and its esoteric meaning.
The Prophet and Imams’ words and deeds are a guide and model for the community to follow; as a result, they must be free from error and sin, and must be chosen by divine decree, or nass, through the Prophet. It is believed by Twelver Shi’a Muslims that the Twelve Imams were foretold in the Hadith of the Twelve Successors.
It is believed in Twelver and Ismaili Shī‘ah Islam that ‘aql, divine wisdom, was the source of the souls of the Prophets and Imams and gave them esoteric knowledge called ḥikmah and that their sufferings were a means of divine grace to
their devotees. Although the Imam was not the recipient of a divine revelation, he had a close relationship with God, through which God guides him, and the Imam in turn guides the people.
Imamate, or belief in the divine guide is a fundamental belief in the Twelver and Ismaili Shī‘ī branches and is based on the c
oncept that God would not leave humanity without access to divine guidance.
According to Twelvers, there is always an Imam of the Age, who is the divinely appointed authority on all matters of faith and law in the Muslim community.
‘Alī was the first Imam of this line, and in the Twelvers’ view, the rightful successor to the Prophet of Islam, followed by male descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah Zahra. Each Imam was the son of the previous Imam, with the exception of Husayn ibn Ali, who was the brother of Hasan ibn Ali. The twelfth and final Imam is Muhammad al-Mahdi, who is believed by the Twelvers to be currently alive, and hidden till he returns to bring justice to the world.
Begin Excerpt from Khaleej Times Online via AP and World News
Iran put nuclear site near base in case of attack
(AP)
29 September 2009, 7:32 PM
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s nuclear chief said Tuesday his country built its newly revealed uranium enrichment facility inside a mountain and next to a military site to ensure continuity of its nuclear activities in case of an attack.
Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, who also heads the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, reiterated that Iran is in talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency to set a timetable “soon” for an inspection of the site near the holy city of Qom.
He said the nuclear facility is next to a military compound of the Revolutionary Guard, Iran’s most powerful military force, equipped with an air defense system.
Salehi also said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told him Tuesday he named the enrichment plant “Meshkat,” which means Lantern.
“This site is at the base of a mountain and was selected on purpose in a place that would be protected against aerial attack. That’s why the site was chosen adjacent to a military site,” Salehi told a news conference. “It was intended to safeguard our nuclear facilities and reduce the cost of active defense system.
If we had chosen another site, we would have had to set up another aerial defense system.”
Details about the newly revealed site and the fact that Iran kept its construction secret for years have raised more suspicion among experts and Western governments that Iran’s nuclear program is aimed at producing weapons — something Tehran has long denied. The U.S. and its allies have strongly condemned Iran over the site and demanded it immediately come clean on its nuclear activities or face harsher international sanctions.
Salehi’s disclosures came two days before the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany will meet with Iran in Geneva over the direction of its nuclear program.
President Barack Obama’s administration is planning to push for new sanctions against Iran, targeting its energy, financial and telecommunications sectors if it does not comply with international demands to come clean about its nuclear program, according to U.S. officials.
Israel, which has attacked nuclear sites in Iraq and Syria previously, considers Iran’s nuclear and missile development a strategic threat and Ahmadinejad has made repeated references to Israel’s destruction. Israel has not ruled out a pre-emptive military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.
But Israeli officials have been instructed not to comment on the newly revealed nuclear site or Iran’s missile tests on Sunday and Monday.
Salehi said Iran will officially inform the IAEA of details about the site at a later date.
He said the Qom facility was a “contingency” facility to make sure that Iran’s nuclear activities won’t stop even for a moment.
“This is a contingency plan. It is one of pre-emptive measures aimed at protecting our nuclear technology and human work force. It is a small version of Natanz,” he said. “This is to show that the Islamic Republic of Iran won’t allow its nuclear activities stop under any circumstances even for a moment.”
Natanz is an industrial-scale enrichment plant in central Iran while the Qom facility, according to Salehi, is a semi-industrial facility.”
He gave the location of the site as about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of capital Tehran on the road leading to Qom. That is about 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of Qom. He dismissed a statement by Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday that the facility was near the village of Fordo, which is about 30 miles south of Qom.
A satellite image provided by DigitalGlobe and GeoEye shows a well-fortified facility built into a mountain about 20 miles northeast of Qom, with ventilation shafts and a nearby surface-to-air missile site, according to defense consultancy IHS Jane’s, which did the analysis of the imagery. The image was taken in September.
GlobalSecurity.org analyzed images from 2005 and January 2009 when the site was in an earlier phase of construction and believes the facility is not underground but was instead cut into a mountain. It is constructed of heavily reinforced concrete and is about the size of a football field — large enough to house 3,000 centrifuges used to refine uranium.
Salehi said the site was selected after a careful study by the authorities. He said it was a formerly an ammunition depot before his agency took control of it a year ago and started construction that will eventually house a uranium enrichment plant.
He said the only connection between the Qom nuclear facility and the Guard is the Guard would protect it against possible attacks.
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