Netanyahu: Iran seeking not one or two but 200 bombs

PanARMENIAN.Net - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the demand from Iran to halt its uranium enrichment is not his own condition, but the one set by the United Nations Security Council.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Netanyahu said: "They’re minimal demands — that Iran remove all enriched nuclear material, that they stop all enrichment and that they shut down the illicit nuclear facility in Qom. I think they should be held to this. It’s an acid test of whether they are serious. We shouldn’t put style over substance."

Netanyahu downplayed hopes over the election of Hassan Rouhani as Iran's president.

"The elections reflect a deep dissatisfaction of the Iranian people with its regime. Unfortunately, this result doesn’t have the power to change Iran’s nuclear ambitions. These are determined not by the elected president but by the so-called supreme leader, (Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei. He remains committed to pursuing the path of arming Iran with nuclear weapons, and I’m afraid the elections are not going to change that," Netanyahu said.

“We can’t let the Iranian regime play this game. They play for time. They continue to enrich. They broaden the base of their nuclear program. What Iran is seeking is not one or two bombs but 200 bombs. They’re building ICBMs parallel to developing their nuclear weapons program,” he said and added, addressing the U.S.: “The ICBMs are not intended for us; they’re intended for you. Within six to eight years, they intend to be able to reach the continental United States.”

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Iran “very close” to red line, could soon produce 30 nuclear bombs a year, says Israeli intelligence minister

(Ottawa, Canada) — For the last two days, I’ve been in Ottawa, the capital city of Canada, and the invitation of various Members of Parliament and Cabinet Members in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government. I’ve come to thank these leaders for Canada’s extraordinary international support for the State of Israel – I have long argued that PM Harper is the most pro-Israel leader in the world — and to discuss with them the dangers ahead with regards to Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas and most serious Iran and its nuclear weapons program. More on that in a few days when my meetings are complete.

For now we have new developments to process — namely that Israel’s Minister for Intelligence and Strategic Affairs is publicly saying that Iran is “very close” to crossing the red line, and is preparing to build 30 nuclear warheads a year. Such analysis undoubtedly reflects the view of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as Steinitz is a very close friend and confidante of the PM.

This development gives new credence to the view that Israel is waiting for the Iranian elections on Friday to be over, and may in fact be coming to the decision that a massive preemptive military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities is the Jewish State’s only option to prevent a second Holocaust. In my recent novel, Damascus Countdown, I lay out a scenario of how an Israeli first strike could look, as well as what might happen if Iran draws Syria into a full-blown retaliation.

Let us not grow weary of praying for the peace of Jerusalem, and the region, according to Psalm 122:6. This is more important than ever as war clouds build on the horizon.

Here are more details:

“Iran is working round the clock to enlarge its nuclear infrastructure with the eventual aim of developing an industry capable of building up to 30 bombs a year, an Israeli minister charged on Monday,” reports Agence France Presse. “Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem, Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said Tehran was ‘very close’ to crossing the red line laid out by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year. But he said it was biding its time and building uranium-enrichment facilities before making the final push for weapons-grade material.”

“The Iranians are getting very close now to the red line… They have close to 200 kilos — 190 kilos (418 pounds) — of 20 percent enriched uranium,” Steinitz said. “Once they have 250 kilos, this is enough to make the final rush to 90 percent,” the level of enrichment required for a nuclear warhead, he said in a presentation to the Foreign Press Association, AFP reported.

“It is a matter of weeks or maybe two months to jump from 20 percent to 90 percent with so many centrifuges,” he said. “What they are doing now — instead of crossing the red line, they are widening and enlarging their capacity by putting in more centrifuges, faster centrifuges.”

“Iran’s aim, he charged, was to build a nuclear arsenal, not just a single bomb,” noted AFP.

“Many people are saying it’s a question of the Iranian bomb — whether they will have it or not. No. We are speaking about an Iranian arsenal.”

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