Iran rejects demands to abandon enrichment

Iran on Saturday refused to stop uranium enrichment after a U.N. report said it had done little or nothing to prove it was not developing nuclear weapons. Instead, it repeated a long-standing offer to let international inspectors make unannounced checks as long as the U.N. Security Council -- invoked by the West several months ago to put pressure on Iran -- dropped the case. Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), delivered a report on Friday saying U.N. checks in Iran had been hampered and Tehran had rebuffed requests to stop making nuclear fuel. Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, told state television that Iran wanted the Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions, to pass the case back down to the IAEA. "If the case returns to the agency (IAEA) again, we will begin the section that concerns the Additional Protocol," Saeedi said.

West to seek UN action on Iranian bomb threat

Britain and its allies will seek a tough new resolution at the United Nations next week after a report from the world’s nuclear watchdog said that Iran was accelerating its uranium enrichment programme. Britain, acting in concert with France, Germany and the United States, will ask the 15-nation Security Council to pass a mandatory resolution declaring Iran’s nuclear programme a threat to international peace and security and ordering it to suspend its enrichment work. But even as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delivered its report, President Ahmadinejad made clear that Iran would not back down. He told a rally that “we do not give a damn about such resolutions” and said that the Islamic republic could soon become a superpower. “Enemies think that by threatening us . . . they can dissuade our country from obstaining nuclear technology,” he said. “We will not back down.”

Head of Homeland Security visitor tracking program wants global ID system

Jim Williams said he wants to join forces with several DHS agencies to develop a global identification system that would cut wait times, reduce government fees for travelers, fight illegal immigration and, perhaps paramount, better defend nations from terrorists. The US VISIT chief, who already oversees identity inquiries for nearly every visitor who enters the United States, said a worldwide identification system will better link nations in the fight against terrorism. In his speech, he likened al Qaeda operatives and sleeper cells - including the ones that attacked on 9/11 - to "submarines" that must surface to kill. "In order for them to do what they want to do, they have to travel," Williams said. He did not specify when, or how, the proposed global program would be implemented. Williams suggested that a biometrics identification system might be used to better track travelers to the United States. A similar program is being tested in Great Britain, where such physical characteristics as fingerprints or iris scans are being tied to national identification cards. Proponents say it can cut the odds of success for immigration fraud.

Al Qaeda's Suitcase Nukes: A Monumental Possibility

Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and other al Qaeda operatives in custody have testified about Osama bin Laden’s plan for an American Hiroshima, an event that calls for the detonation of seven tactical nuclear weapons in seven major American cities in the near future. These plans have resulted in bin Laden’s acquisition of a fatwa from Saudi clerics that permit the terrorist group to kill ten million American civilians.

Iran hurls defiance as UN braces itself for a nuclear showdown

Iran will be reported to the UN Security Council today for defying the international community and pressing ahead with its controversial nuclear programme. But even as a damning report, prepared by the international nuclear watchdog, was being sent to UN headquarters in New York, Tehran stepped up its inflammatory rhetoric and challenged the world to do its worst. President Ahmadinejad of Iran, who has made confrontation with the West the centrepiece of his tenure, said that his country was impervious to outside pressure. “If you think that by frowning at us, by issuing resolutions . . . you can impose anything on the Iranian nation or force it to abandon its obvious right, you still don’t know its power,” the hardline leader said. “We have obtained the technology for producing nuclear fuel . . . No one can take it away from our nation.”

U.S. privacy campaigners fear mark of the beast has been unleashed

A decision by the Bush administration to proceed with what is believed to be the largest radio frequency tagging programme in history has triggered protests from US privacy campaigners. The US department of agriculture (USDA) wants to keep track of all livestock production and movements in what it claims is an attempt to improve the traceability of disease outbreaks. By 2009, 40m cattle will have been tagged, and the scheme is to be extended to include the billions of chickens and other animals farmed every year in the US. But campaigners are outraged that all agricultural producers, including smallholder farmers, are being pressured into registering their details when the national animal identification system (Nais) becomes fully operational in 2009. They also fear that the technology earmarked for the scheme could be used on people.

Iran Missiles Can Carry Nukes, Hit Europe

Iran has received a first batch of BM-25 surface-to-surface missiles that put European countries within firing range, Israel's military intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, was quoted as saying in the Haaretz daily on Thursday. The missiles, purchased from North Korea, have a range of 1,550 miles and are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, Haaretz reported. The report comes as U.N. members consider slapping sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment. The United States, Israel and other Western countries say Iran is trying to get nuclear arms, but the Islamic regime says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only.

Hamas, Al Qaida Join Forces

The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs said that over the past year Al Qaida and Hamas have been cooperating on strategic and tactical issues. The center said in a report that Al Qaida has ensured funding to Hamas despite threats of a Western aid cutoff to the Palestinian Authority. ‘The Palestinian Authority under Hamas rule is becoming a safe haven for Islamic terror organizations, first and foremost Al Qaida,’ the report, authored by [Res.] Col. Jonathan Halevy, said. ‘Hamas' ideological closeness to Al Qaida and its branches throughout the world -- including Yemen and Pakistan -- also creates a basis for practical cooperation, including sharing of knowledge, as well as in joint training, financial assistance, recruitment of operatives, and terror attacks.’ Over the last few weeks, the PA has acknowledged the growing presence of Al Qaida in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. On March 2, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said he received information of an Al Qaida presence. Two days earlier, Israel had announced the arrest of two Al Qaida operatives in the West Bank city of Nablus.

Paradigm Clock for Official Alien-UFO Disclosure Moved Up to 15 Seconds Before Midnight

The Paradigm Clock, created and published by PRG in 1998 to track the proximity to a formal announcement by the United States Government confirming an extraterrestrial presence engaging the human race, has been reset to 11:59:45 - 15 seconds to midnight. Such an announcement is formally referred to as Disclosure and would mark the end of a 59 year truth embargo imposed by federal authorities. According to PRG Executive Director, Stephen Bassett, "Due to extraordinary circumstances primarily pertaining but not limited to the United States, a window of opportunity has opened for a Disclosure event to take place.

Abbas calls for Mideast peace conference 'immediately'

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas called for an international conference to be held "immediately" to negotiate a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "An international conference should be summoned immediately, in which direct negotiations take place, on the basis of international UN resolutions and signed agreements," Abbas said in a speech at the Nobel Institute in Oslo. "The international group, whether it is the Quartet (the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations), or any other international framework, would play the role of the broker and arbitrator at the same time," he added. "I believe that to resolve the conflict, both sides should not be left alone with this imbalance of occupier and occupied," Abbas said. The Palestinian leader, currently on a tour of Europe, encouraged the international community to "move fast" to secure a negotiated settlement to the conflict and stop a unilateral solution being imposed by acting Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert.

Iran threatens global retaliation if US attacks

Iran's supreme leader has boldly warned the United States that it would be "harmed" across the globe if it decided to attack the Islamic republic over its disputed nuclear programme. The stern warning came as hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed the regime would resist any UN Security Council demands for a halt in uranium enrichment, at the centre of fears the country could acquire nuclear weapons. "The Americans should know that if they launch an assault against Islamic Iran, their interests in every possible part of the world will be harmed," Ayatollah Khamenei was quoted as saying by state television. "The Iranian nation will give a double response to any strike," the top cleric warned in one of his toughest threats ever.

U.S. Says Iran Near Nuke Point Of No-Return

The Bush administration, in what appeared to be a rebuff to the U.S. intelligence community, has asserted that Iran was approaching the point of indigenous nuclear capability. Officials said the State Department has determined that Iran has reached or was close to completing the nuclear fuel cycle. They said this meant that Iran could complete the process that begins with the extraction of uranium from ore, production of feeder gas and the enrichment of uranium to the level required for reactor fuel. ‘We are very close to that point of no return,’ Undersecretary of State Robert Joseph said. ‘And I think that's a view that was shared -- that is shared by many others.’ Joseph, responsible for arms control and international security at the State Department, told an April 21 briefing that the West would soon no longer have the ability to stop Iran's nuclear program. He endorsed Iran's claim of producing 110 tons of uranium hexafluoride, or UF-6, the feeder gas for enrichment in centrifuges.

Iran Could Respond to U.S. Offensive by Attacking Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline

A senior Tehran official accused the United States of using the territory of Iran’s neighbor, Azerbaijan, against the Islamic republic, the Regnum news agency reported. “Reconnaissance units are operating in Azerbaijan, and their activity is directed against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Secretary of Iranian Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani told the Egyptian Al Ahram newspaper. Larijani claimed that U.S. special services were using the territories of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan against Iran. According to him, if a military operation is launched, Iran may respond with an attack on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and oil facilities in Azerbaijan.

Iran says U.S. to be humiliated if it attacks

Iran's defense minister said on Monday that any U.S. military attack over its nuclear programme would result in a humiliating defeat for the United States, the official IRNA news agency reported. He was speaking on the anniversary of an attempt in 1980 by the U.S. military to rescue Americans held hostage in the U.S. embassy in Tehran. The mission failed when the helicopters crashed in a sand storm in the Tabas desert in eastern Iran. "If America chooses the military option a humiliating defeat worse than their failure in the Tabas desert will await them," Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar was quoted by IRNA as saying. Iran says the sand storm was "divine wrath". Iran is embroiled in a dispute with the West over its nuclear program, which the United States says it designed to build bombs. Washington says it wants a diplomatic solution but has refused to rule out military action. "Bringing up the issue of military option, threatening Iran with it ... contradicts the charter of the United Nations and other international regulations," Najjar said.

Russia Tests New Missile Designed to Overcome U.S. Defenses

On Saturday Russia successfully test-launched a missile designed to penetrate missile defenses. The commander of Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces, Nikolai Solovtsov, quoted by AP, said the K65M-R had been launched from a testing ground at Kapustin Yar in the southern Astrakhan region. The main purpose of the launch was to test “a uniform warhead for land- and sea-based ballistic missiles” and newly-developed elements of a system designed to penetrate missile defenses. The commander added that plans for a U.S. missile-defense system “could upset strategic stability.” He suggested that the test was part of an effort to ensure that Russian missiles are capable of foiling any U.S. shield. He said the test involved optic and radar measurement systems that reproduce similar U.S. systems. “The planned scale of the United States’ deployment of a ... missile defense system is so considerable that the fear that it could have a negative effect on the parameters of Russia’s nuclear deterrence potential is quite justified,” Solovtsov said. He added that the system being tested Saturday would make missiles more difficult to spot and their trajectories more difficult to predict.

New Russian bombers recently flew undetected across Arctic

Russian military planes flew undetected through the U.S. zone of the Arctic Ocean to Canada during recent military exercises, a senior Air Force commander said Saturday.
The commander of the country's long-range strategic bombers, Lieutenant General Igor Khvorov, said the U.S. Air Force is now investigating why its military was unable to detect the Russian bombers. "They were unable to detect the planes either with radars or visually," he said. Khorov said that during the military exercises in April, Tu-160 Blackjack bombers and Tu-95 Bears had successfully carried out four missile launches. Bombing exercises were held using Tu-22 Blinders. By the end of the year, two more Tu-160s will be commissioned for the long-range strategic bomber fleet, Khorov said. Both new planes will incorporate numerous upgrades from the initial Soviet models, the commander said. The bombers will be able to launch both cruise missiles and aviation bombs, and communicate via satellite.

Iran's President Recruits Terror Master

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, attended a meeting in Syria earlier this year with one of the world’s most wanted terrorists, according to intelligence experts and a former national security official in Washington. US officials and Israel intelligence sources believe Imad Mugniyeh, the Lebanese commander of Hezbollah’s overseas operations, has taken charge of plotting Iran’s retaliation against western targets should President George W Bush order a strike on Iranian nuclear sites. Mugniyeh is on the FBI’s “Most Wanted Terrorists” list for his role in a series of high-profile attacks against the West, including the 1985 hijacking of a TWA jet and murder of one of its passengers, a US navy diver. Now in his mid-forties, Mugniyeh is reported to have travelled with Ahmadinejad in January this year from Tehran to Damascus, where the Iranian president met leaders of Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and Hamas. The meeting has been dubbed a “terror summit” because of the presence of so many groups behind attacks on Israel, which Ahmadinejad has threatened to wipe from the map.

School District Accused Of Equating Bible With Profanity

Students at a Pennsylvania high school have filed a federal lawsuit against a district policy they say results in equating religious viewpoints with profanity. The Alliance Defense Fund, representing Christian students at Downingtown High School East Campus in Exton, Pa., says it has numerous examples of the district barring religious views unconstitutionally. ‘To consider religious speech – including the word 'Bible' – in the same class of speech as profanity is outlandish,’ said ADF-allied attorney Randall Wenger of the Lancaster law firm Clymer & Musser, P.C. ‘If this weren't such a serious offense, you'd think it was a joke.’ In one example, according to the complaint, the Downingtown Prayer Club was censored by school officials when one of its members submitted for official approval posters for ‘See You at the Pole.’ The annual event features Christian students gathering at the beginning of the day at the school's flagpole to pray for their school and nation. One poster included a Bible verse from Jeremiah 33 which refers to prayer. The school's principal insisted the Bible verse and picture of a cross would need to be omitted along with any reference to God.

Missile exports to Iran alarm U.S.

Washington has asked Moscow to reconsider selling Iran anti-aircraft missiles as the crisis over its nuclear programme continues. Russia plans to sell Tehran 29 TOR M1 mobile surface-to-air missile defence systems in a deal said to be worth about US $700 million (£392m). "This is not time for business as usual with the Iranian government," a top US state department official said. The US also urged other states like China to review defence sales to Iran. "There are a lot of countries that allow the export of dual-use technologies, and the position of the United States is that should be prohibited," said Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns. Speaking about the Russian missiles, he said:
"We hope and we trust that that deal will not go forward because this is not time for business as usual with the Iranian government." Russia and China are both strongly resisting attempts to impose United Nations sanctions on Iran, which the US and other Western states believes is pursuing nuclear weapons.

The Pentagon's New Domestic Spies

The Pentagon has already assembled a nationwide domestic spying machine that goes far beyond the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance of telephone and e-mail traffic. Operating in secret, the Defense Department is systematically gathering and analyzing intelligence on American citizens at home -- and a new Pentagon agency called Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA) is helping to coordinate the military's covert efforts with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

New Palestinian Police Chief Calls On Factions To Fight Israel

Ha’aretz reports: “A militant leader who has been appointed to a senior security position in the Hamas-led Palestinian government and is wanted by Israel said Friday he would not abandon the fight against Israel. Jamal Abu Samhadana, high on Israel's most-wanted list as leader of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), was appointed Thursday to supervise the Interior Ministry and set up a new police force from militants to crack down on anarchy and chaos. He said his first order of business would be amalgamating militants in the security forces: ‘Factions and security services should unite in one trench against the daily Israeli aggression against our people.

Osama alive, well and armed with nukes

Rumors of Osama bin Laden's death are greatly exaggerated and the al-Qaida leader is preparing his next video broadcast to be aired on al-Jazeera, reports an acclaimed Pakistani journalist who has interviewed him. In an exclusive interview with Paul L. Williams, author of the new book, The Dunces of Doomsday, and David Dastych in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin, Hamid Mir says bin Laden is not only alive and well but in the process of preparing a video-taped appearance for al-Jazeera, the Qatari Arabian news network. Mir, who conducted the only post-9/11 interviews with bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, says that he remains in sporadic indirect contact with the elusive emir and other al-Qaida officials. During one of Mir's interviews, bin Laden announced that he had managed to acquire nuclear weapons for use in the great jihad against the United States. "It is not difficult [to obtain tactical nukes]," the al-Qaida chieftain said, "not if you have contacts in Russia with other militant groups. They are available for $10 million and $20 million.

Russia rejects U.S. call to quit Iran power plant

Russia on Thursday rejected a request from the United States for its engineers to halt work on Iran's Bushehr nuclear power station. Russia's state atomic energy agency is contracted to help Iran build the $1 billion reactor. A senior U.S. official said on Wednesday that a Russian withdrawal would help persuade Iran to abandon a separate uranium enrichment program. "Every country has the right to decide for itself with whom and in what way it cooperates with other states," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said in a comment posted on the official web site www.mid.ru. Only the United Nations Security Council has the power to require a state to halt cooperation and the U.N. body has never made any such ruling on Bushehr, Kamynin said.

Iran dismisses talk of U.S. attack

The prospect of the United States using force to halt Iran's nuclear program is empty talk, Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said on Thursday. President Bush says he is using diplomacy to curb Iran's atomic ambitions, but has not ruled out military options, even including a nuclear strike, to prevent the Islamic Republic from acquiring nuclear weapons. "The United States has been threatening Iran for 27 years and this is not new for us. Therefore we are never afraid of U.S. threats," Najjar told reporters during a visit to neighboring Azerbaijan. "If you take into account the fact that they are not doing anything, this shows it is just talk," he said. "We are ready to resolve all issues through negotiations (but) if we are confronted with something, we are ready to deal with it," the minister added.

Israel: Iran, Syria, PA sowing seeds of WWIII

Israeli envoy to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman, has warned that Iran, Syria and the Palestinian Authority are an "axis of terror", and are "sowing the seeds of the first world war of the 21st century" by recent statements that have come out of these three nations. With the President of Iran's desire to "wipe Israel off the map", coupled with Hamas' refusal to recognize Israel and Syria's backing of terrorist groups operating in the region, Gillerman stated that unless the international community intervenes, it will eventually boil over into a third world war. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has described the situation as "very worrying".

Bush Won't Rule Out Nuclear Strike On Iran

President Bush refused on Tuesday to rule out nuclear strikes against Iran if diplomacy fails to curb the Islamic Republic's atomic ambitions. Asked if options included planning for a nuclear strike, Bush replied: "All options are on the table. We want to solve this issue diplomatically and we're working hard to do so.

Iran Plans To Rapidly Expand Enrichment

Officials said Iran has been testing an advanced centrifuge designed to accelerate the process of nuclear fuel production. They said Teheran has been testing the P-2 centrifuge, deemed a significant improvement over Iran's P-1 model. On April 12, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad disclosed the P-2 tests. In an address to students in Khorasan, Ahmadinejad said P-2 contained four times the enrichment capacity of P-1. ‘Our centrifuges are P-1 type,’ Ahmadinejad said. ‘P-2, which has quadrupled the capacity, is currently under the process of research and testing in the country.

‘Mark of the beast’ seen in national ID

A group of Christian conservatives is urging Gov. Joe Manchin to reject a federally mandated digitized driver’s license law, comparing the bar-coded national ID program to the “mark of the beast.” Fourteen members of the group that opposes the federal Real ID Act of 2005 met with Division of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Joseph Cicchirillo, governor’s office lawyer Joe Ward and Manchin legislative aide Jim Pitrolo for more than an hour on April 5. Pastor Ervin “Butch” Paugh, a 57-year-old Nicholas County preacher who heads the group, said last week that the new driver’s licenses are unconstitutional, invade people’s privacy and conflict with Christian beliefs. He said the federal government is trying to create a “police state” with the new ID law. “This is a total takeover by the beast system and a plan to ID everyone on the planet,” said Paugh, who has a nationally syndicated radio show called “Call to Decision.” “This will make someone a criminal if they don’t sacrifice their Christian convictions.”

UN pouring millions into rebuilding Babylon

Emad Lafta al-Bayati, Hilla's mayor, has big plans for Babylon. "I want restaurants, gift shops, long parking lots," he said. God willing, he added, maybe even a Holiday Inn. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is pumping millions of dollars into protecting and restoring Babylon and a handful of other ancient ruins in Iraq. Unesco has even printed up a snazzy brochure, with Babylon listed as the premier destination, to hand out to wealthy donors. "Cultural tourism could become Iraq's second biggest industry, after oil," said Philippe Delanghe, a United Nations official helping with the project. But before Iraq becomes the next Egypt, he said wryly, "a few little things have to happen." Looks like "Babylon the Great" is soon to be restored, Saddam or no Saddam. Remarkably the region around the city is relatively calm, and US troops are planning to pull out of Camp Babylon next month. Once Iraq gets on its feet, as they say, tourism - and more importantly the commerce tourism will bring, will help rebuild this great monstrosity who's judgement is already declared by God through the prophets.

Iran vows to ignore world pressure

Iran told world powers on Tuesday it would pursue its right to develop nuclear technology, whatever they decide at a meeting in Moscow later in the day. The United States, which accuses Iran of seeking atom bombs, was expected to push for targeted sanctions against Tehran when it meets the U.N. Security Council's other permanent members -- Britain, France, China and Russia -- plus Germany in Moscow. Deputy foreign ministers from the six nations are meeting ahead of an end-April deadline for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to report on whether Iran is complying with United Nations demands that it halt uranium enrichment. "I recommend that they do not make hasty decisions, be prudent and study their path in the past," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said, IRNA news agency reported. "Any time they have pressured Iran they have got adverse results." Hamid Reza Asefi later told state television: "Whatever the result of this meeting might be, Iran will not abandon its rights (to nuclear technology).

Messianic Fervor Grows Among Iran's Shiites

Each Tuesday, thousands of people arrive here at dusk by car and bus. Beneath the twinkling lights of the blue-tiled mosque, they sit on carpets, following prayers broadcast over loudspeakers: families, pilgrims from distant provinces, young men frantic with expectation, women hoping for cures. The devout make their way to the back of the shrine. There, they write their hopes, dreams and prayers onto slips of paper that they drop into two wells — one for the men, one for the women. They pray, eyes squeezed shut, until moved along politely by mosque workers. For many devout Shiite Muslims, this is a place of miracles — the place of the Mahdi, the messiah. From lowly carpet weavers to Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, devotion to the Mahdi and anticipation of his return appears to be crescendoing in Iran. Particularly on Tuesdays, the day most associated with the Mahdi's blessings, the night here is filled with fervent prayers, a reflection of the ardent faith that gave rise to the Islamic Revolution, and which conservative supporters of Ahmadinejad hope will sustain the nation in any confrontation with the West over Iran's nuclear program. All Muslims await the appearance of the Mahdi; the largest branch of Shiites, those known as Twelvers, await his return.

Iran to continue enriching uranium

Iran will continue to enrich uranium, influential former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said on Monday, as concerns grow over possible U.S. military action against Tehran's nuclear program. "The Islamic Republic of Iran does not intend to stop," he said when asked about Iran's success at enriching uranium. "The Islamic Republic wants to continue along its path," he told reporters in Kuwait during a visit to the Gulf state. Last week, Iran announced it had enriched uranium for use in its power stations, stoking a diplomatic row with the West which suspects Tehran is trying to build an atomic bomb. Iran says it is seeking nuclear power to generate electricity.

Iranian group signing up potential martyrs

Some 200 Iranians have volunteered in the past few days to carry out "martyrdom missions" against U.S. and British interests around the world if Iran is attacked, a hard-line group said Sunday. The United States and other Western nations accuse Iran of seeking to master enrichment technology to build atomic weapons, a charge Iran denies. Washington says it wants a diplomatic solution, but has not ruled out a military option. The news of potential martyrs came as The Institute for Science and International Security, a U.S. think tank, said Sunday that Iran has expanded its uranium conversion facilities in Isfahan and reinforced its Natanz underground uranium enrichment plant.
The fresh fears over a possible U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear sites helped attract volunteers during its latest recruitment drive, Mohammad Ali Samadi, spokesman for the Committee for the Commemoration of Martyrs of the Global Islamic Campaign, said. "Because of the recent threats, we have started to register more volunteers since Friday," Samadi told Reuters by telephone. "Some 200 people have registered to carry out operations against our enemies. America and Britain are definitely considered enemies." Chanting "Death to America" and "Nuclear technology is our right", volunteers registered their names at the former American Embassy in southern Tehran on Sunday. "We will give a good lesson to those who dare to attack our country," said Ali, a 25-year-old masked volunteer, after filling out registration form.

Iran warns against US attack

Iran has expanded its uranium conversion facilities in Isfahan and reinforced its Natanz underground uranium enrichment plant, a U.S. think tank said, amid growing concern over possible U.S. military action. Talk of a U.S. attack has topped the international news agenda since a report in New Yorker magazine said this month that Washington was mulling the option of using tactical nuclear weapons to knock out Iran's subterranean nuclear sites. Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said on Sunday that any U.S. attack on Iran over its nuclear programme would plunge the region into instability. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan also warned that U.S. military intervention in Iran was not the best solution to resolve the nuclear standoff. The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) said in an email with commercial satellite photos attached sent to news media that Iran has built a new tunnel entrance at Isfahan, where uranium is processed into a feed material for enrichment. Just two entry points existed in February, it said. "This new entrance is indicative of a new underground facility or further expansion of the existing one," said ISIS, led by ex-U.N. arms inspector and nuclear expert David Albright. ISIS also released four satellite images taken between 2002 and January 2006 it said showed Natanz's two subterranean cascade halls being buried by successive layers of earth, apparent concrete slabs and more earth and other materials. The roofs of the halls now appear to be eight meters (26 feet) underground, ISIS said.

Iran issues stark military warning to United States

Iran said it could defeat any American military action over its controversial nuclear drive, in one of the Islamic regime's boldest challenges yet to the United States. "You can start a war but it won't be you who finishes it," said General Yahya Rahim Safavi, the head of the Revolutionary Guards and among the regime's most powerful figures. "The Americans know better than anyone that their troops in the region and in Iraq are vulnerable. I would advise them not to commit such a strategic error," he told reporters on the sidelines of a pro-Palestinian conference in Tehran. The United States accuses Iran of using an atomic energy drive as a mask for weapons development. Last weekend US news reports said President George W. Bush's administration was refining plans for preventive strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. "I would advise them to first get out of their quagmire in Iraq before getting into an even bigger one," General Safavi said with a grin. "We have American forces in the region under total surveillance. For the past two years, we have been ready for any scenario, whether sanctions or an attack."

The state of Israel will soon be history, says Iran's President

The President of Iran further fuelled the flames of confrontation with the West yesterday by saying that the “Zionist regime” in Israel would soon be annihilated. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speech will alarm the US, coming days after he declared that Iran had joined the “nuclear club” by successfully enriching uranium. President Bush has stated that the US would use force to protect Israel from being, in the words of President Ahmadinejad last year, “wiped off the face of the map”. The Iranian leader, appearing at a conference on the Palestinian issue yesterday, said that Israel was “heading towards annihilation”, questioned whether the Holocaust had ever happened, and predicted that the Middle East would “soon be liberated”. He said that the existence of Israel was a threat to the Islamic world, but added that “the Zionist regime is a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm”. Even if the Holocaust were true, he said, “why should the people of this region pay the price? Why does the Palestinian nation have to be suppressed?"

U.S. apologizes to Iraq for damaging Babylon

Colonel Coleman, who lead his troops in the invasion of Iraq in 2003, says he is willing to apologize to the Iraqi government for the damage done to archeological ruins in Babylon. After American and British troops overthrew Saddam, Iraqi gangs looted museums and many artefacts dating back to ancient Persia were destroyed. But Babylon it seems, the ancient city that Saddam started to rebuild, was not touched by the looters. And now it appears we have the reason why, that US forces were involved in protecting the ancient city. Many Christians believe the ancient city of Babylon will once again rise to prominence. Where East meets West, Iraq has become the focus of world attention, and the goal of all nations is that the nation will become a prosperous democracy, and a stabilizing factor in the volatile Middle East. Whether the Babylon mentioned in Revelation is literal Babylon in Iraq, or represents a religious and commercial system - which ancient Babylon was, the fact that Babylon has survived intact despite terrorism and war is significant.

China, Russia Begin Work On Cross-Border Bridge (Key Armageddon Players Becomming Good Friends)

Russia's Amur regional government has agreed with Heihe City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, to begin work on a cross-border bridge. The planned Heilongjiang Bridge will span approximately 1,080 meters above the Heilong River (known as the Amur River in Russia) to connect Heihe and Amur. ‘Russia has endeavored to improve the infrastructure of the Far East to inspire investment. The bridge will expand the capability of the Siberian railway, and accelerate distribution from northeast Asia to Europe,’ said Amur vice-governor Alexander Gordeyev. The bridge has been on the planning board since its proposal in 1996. The Heihe city mayor, Zhang Jingchuan, said the continued increase in cross-border trade had raised the priority of the bridge. ‘The bridge is expected to ease the transport bottleneck of Sino-Russia trade, and reduce trade costs,’ said Zhang.

Iran Leader: Israel Will Be Annihilated

The president of Iran again lashed out at Israel on Friday and said it was "heading toward annihilation," just days after Tehran raised fears about its nuclear activities by saying it successfully enriched uranium for the first time. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Israel a "permanent threat" to the Middle East that will "soon" be liberated. He also appeared to again question whether the Holocaust really happened.

Iran in 'position of power' in nuclear dispute: president

Iranian leaders brushed off the threat of sanctions or military attack over their controversial nuclear drive, insisting the West was powerless to halt the Islamic republic. The tough rhetoric came after the regime dismissed appeals from UN's atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei to freeze its uranium enrichment programme and calm suspicions it is seeking the bomb. "Today, thank God, the Iranian nation is a powerful one and we are going to have a dialogue with the world from a position of power," Ahmadinejad said in a speech in the northeast of the country. "Everything we have is from God, and a few weaklings cannot stand against the Iranian people," he said.

The biochips are coming—first to animals, children, homeless, elderly

Welcome to our brave new world. The RFID age is upon us and our resistance at this time is crucial or this brave new surveillance world is inevitable. When you read bills before the U.S. Congress and bills before the legislatures of the several states, you can see that the lawmakers of this land are in favor of plans to plant biochips in every wild and domesticated animal, every human being and in every product in commerce. In each proposed application of RFID technology—pets, livestock, products, children, the homeless, the elderly—we are being sold on the advantages. Never seriously considered by RFID proponents are the opportunities for abuse or the probabilities for unintended consequences; never intelligently discussed are the health effects upon creatures being bathed in radiation wherever they go. The process is going forward at lightspeed regardless now that electronic hardware and software are coming online with the wi-fi world (The IO, Feb., 2006). If you need proof beyond the snippets gracing this page, just open your eyes: There are RFID readers everywhere now—in stores, public buildings and on the roads of America. Pretty soon there will be an electronically-retrievable record of every place we go and everything we purchase.

New Russian Missiles to Be Unrivalled for Next 15-20 Years

New Russian missiles will easily be able to penetrate any prospective missile shield and will remain unrivalled for the next 15-20 years, the head of Russia’s top missile design institute has said. Yuri Solomonov, the head of the Heat Technology Institute, the top Russian missile-design center, quoted by AP, said the Topol-M and Bulava ballistic missiles would form the core of the nation’s nuclear forces until 2040 and allow Russia to maintain nuclear parity with the U.S. Each Bulava missile is equipped with six nuclear warheads, and Solomonov said Russia would easily be able to maintain at least 2,000 nuclear warheads by 2011. “By 2011, 2016 and even more so by 2020 the number of warheads will be no fewer than 2,000,” he said. “The Russian people can sleep calmly through 2040,” Solomonov said when asked to comment on allegations that a slow pace of replacement of Russia’s Soviet-built nuclear arsenals with new strategic weapons systems was eroding the nation’s nuclear deterrent capability. He said Russia would soon unveil specific plans to adapt the Bulava missile being developed for Russian nuclear submarines for use with land-based strategic missile forces as well.

Irans Military Believes It's Nuclear Program Is Unstoppable

Regardless of all the threats, scientists continued their efforts and on April 9 managed to enrich uranium to 3.5 percent,’ the Iranian armed forces' joint chief of staff, General Hassan Firouzabadi, was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency. ‘When a people masters nuclear technology and nuclear fuel, nothing can be done against the people. This science is indigenous, and we are capable of making hundreds of (uranium) conversion factories and thousands of centrifuges,’ he said. ‘The West can do nothing and is obliged to extend to us the hand of friendship.

Al-Qaida No. 2: Eliminating Israel is the duty of every believer

Al-Qaida's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri said that the elimination of Israel is the duty of every believer in a video posted Thursday on the Internet. Al-Zawahri denounced U.S. President George Bush as the "caesar of Washington" and accused him of lying about progress in the war on terror. "Bush, son of Bush, eliminating Israel is the duty of every believer," al-Zawahri said. "Beggarly clerics ... and every bankrupt propaganda machine is trying to convince the people to bring change by peaceful means, but the Islamic nation knows that its path is jihad (holy war) and the bearing of arms.

North Korea threatens to boost nuclear arsenal

North Korea said on Thursday it might boost its nuclear deterrent if six-country talks on ending its atomic programs remained deadlocked, but said it would return if Washington met a demand to unfreeze it assets. Pyongyang's top envoy to the stalled negotiations told a news conference in Tokyo the United States must lift what the North considers to be financial sanctions against it. "I told them the minute we have the funds or I have the funds in my hand I will be at the talks. But if they continue to come with pressure and sanctions, we will respond with extremely strong measures," envoy Kim Kye-gwan said. "There is nothing wrong with delaying the resumption of the six-party talks. In the meantime we can make more deterrent. If the United States doesn't like that, they should create the condition for us to go back to the talks." In an official media report on Thursday, North Korea reiterated it has been building a nuclear deterrent to counter what it views as Washington's hostile policy toward it.

U.S. Attack On Iran Mulled For Summer

Western defense sources and analysts said Britain and the United States were preparing for the prospect of air strikes against Iran in late 2006. They said both London and Washington agreed to complete a diplomatic effort at the United Nations Security Council before they seriously consider plans to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities. ‘In just the past few weeks I've been convinced that at least some in the administration have already made up their minds that they would like to launch a military strike against Iran,’ Joseph Cirincione, director of the Washington-based Non-Proliferation Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said.

Israel reacts warily to Iran's nuclear progress

Israel reacted cautiously on Wednesday to news of Iran's successful enrichment of uranium, saying that while a threat to the Jewish state existed, diplomacy remained the best way of trying to rein in Tehran. Elder statesman Shimon Peres described Iran's announcement as "worrying and frustrating", but said patience was needed. "The United States has placed this issue at the top of its agenda. I do not recommend that we should be involved," he told Israel Radio. "I am sure the United States is aware of the expected danger and the matter is in its hands." Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who announced on Tuesday that Iran had produced low-grade enriched uranium suitable for power stations, threatened last year to "wipe Israel off the map", provoking international condemnation. Iran's latest move is a serious setback to efforts by the U.N. Security Council to have Tehran halt its enrichment work. The development could now prompt Western powers, who fear Iran is planning to build nuclear weapons, to consider imposing sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Iran joins the Nuclear Club

Iran said on Tuesday it had produced low-grade enriched uranium suitable for power stations and wanted to achieve industrial-scale production, setting itself on a collision course with the West. The United Nations has said Iran must halt uranium enrichment, a process Western nations fear Tehran wants to master so that it can develop nuclear weapons. Tehran insists its aims are entirely peaceful. The United States, which has been leading the charge against Iran, said Tehran was "moving in the wrong direction" with its nuclear program and if it persisted, Washington would discuss possible next steps with the U.N. Security Council. "I am officially announcing that Iran has joined the group of those countries which have nuclear technology. This is the result of the Iranian nation's resistance," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a televised address. "Based on international regulations, we will continue our path until we achieve production of industrial-scale enrichment," he told officials and some ambassadors from regional states gathered in the northeastern city of Mashhad. Iran's Atomic Energy Organization head said earlier that Iran had enriched uranium to a level used in power plants, a major step forward in the country's nuclear program. "I am proud to announce that we have started enriching uranium to the 3.5 percent level," Gholamreza Aghazadeh said, adding that the pilot enrichment plant in Natanz, south of Tehran, was now working. Iran's announcement is a serious setback to U.N. Security Council efforts to have Tehran halt enrichment work and it could escalate a confrontation with Western powers leading to consideration of sanctions against the Islamic Republic.