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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Diplomatic sources say radioactive materials discovered in Tehran facility, but not enriched to level needed for weapons
Samples taken by the United Nations nuclear watchdog at a facility in Tehran showed traces of uranium that Iran has yet to explain, two unnamed diplomats told Reuters news agency, although they could not say whether the materials predated the 2015 nuclear deal, or were more recent.
The news comes as Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif called on Cornel Feruta, acting chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency and his inspectors "to observe the principles of professional work, maintain confidentiality of activities, and keep doing its duties impartially".
Tehran has not yet responded to the IAEA's specific request for answers, according to the diplomats interviewed by Reuters, stoking more tensions between Washington and Tehran. Reuters did not identify the nationalities of the two diplomats.
Reuters first reported in April that the IAEA, which is policing the nuclear deal, had inspected the site - a step it had said it takes "only when necessary" - and environmental samples were taken there were sent for analysis.
Those traces were of uranium, the diplomats said - the same element Iran is enriching and one of only two fissile elements that can make the core of a nuclear bomb.
But since Iran has not yet given any to the IAEA it is hard to verify the particles' origin, and it is also not clear whether the traces are remnants of material or activities that predate the landmark 2015 deal or more recent, the diplomats say.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Thexalon on Monday September 09 2019, @11:40PM (2 children)
Iran has committed the heinous crime of having oil and not just giving it away to oil companies based in the UK and USA. That's also the reason behind the push to overthrow the government of Venezuela yet again. And also related to this simple cause of controlling the fossil fuels is Syria's civil war, which was all about getting oil and gas pipelines from Iraq through Syria and Turkey to Europe. Contrast this to the EU strategy, which has been all about reducing their dependence on fossil fuels entirely so that the Russians can't cause them trouble by cutting off their natural gas supply (which they've done a couple of times).
And of course there's also the simple fact that Iran isn't US-aligned, and the Cold Warriors who never stopped fighting the USSR see Iran as a salient on the southern front. I can guarantee you that in the event that the Iranian government is destroyed, the people who advocated an attack on Iran will immediately turn their attention to Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan, and from there through to the Caucusus (which also have oil and gas, of course). Along with continuing to push along the western front in Ukraine, of course.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 10 2019, @12:46AM (1 child)
And then Canada?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 10 2019, @02:14AM
Alberta is pretty much giving away [www.cbc.ca] their oil and gas, British Columbia is giving away their water, until those change, why bother with an expensive war?