Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Says It Will NOT Halt Uranium Enrichment

Iran’s influential former president Ali Akbar Rafsanjani leads prayers at Tehran University. Iran insisted that a nuclear freeze was not on the agenda and showed off its latest weaponry, two days before it is to respond to an international offer aimed at ending the long-running crisis.

Reuters: Iran says it won’t halt atomic work

Iran said on Sunday it would not suspend uranium enrichment, ruling out the main demand in a nuclear package backed by six world powers that aims to allay Western fears Tehran is seeking to build atomic bombs.

Iran says it will formally respond by Tuesday to proposals made by the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany. The six have offered incentives for Iran to suspend enrichment, a process that has both military and civilian uses.

Tehran, which insists its nuclear aims are purely civilian, shows no sign of accepting the package.

“We are not going to suspend (enrichment). The issue was that everything should come out of negotiations, but suspension of uranium enrichment is not on our agenda,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told a weekly news conference.

Well, there the world has it. A NO to the P-5-Plus-1 proposal.

What a SURPRISE?

NOT

The international community has wasted months waiting for Iran to respond to a non-starter proposal – as the Iranian centrifuges enriched uranium at Natanz. Now it is time to move onto economic and diplomatic sanctions.

But, will any meaningful sanctions ever be imposed?

Doubtful……

Why?

The Europeans are afraid of an oil crisis precipitated by Iran. The Russians need oil currency from Iran to bolster their sagging economy – remember they are selling Iran military materials and nuclear technology to build nuclear reactors. The Chinese need Iran’s oil to drive their growing populations need for energy.

So, who is left to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons?

The United States and Israel

In the meantime, Iran is making military threats to thwart any thoughts of United Nations sanctions.

AP: Iran test-fires 10 short-range missiles

Iran test-fired 10 surface-to-surface short-range missiles on Sunday, a day after it launched a series of large-scale military exercises throughout the country, state-run television reported. The Saegheh missile had a range of between 50 and 150 miles, the report said. It did not specify whether the missile was capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, but it was not believed to be.

State-run television said the missile was built based on domestic know-how, although outside experts say much of the country’s missile technology originated from other countries.

Iran said it launched the new military exercises Saturday to introduce a new defensive doctrine.

“We have to be prepared against any threat and we should be a role model for other countries,” local newspapers quoted army spokesman Gen. Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, as saying earlier this week.

A TV grab taken from Iran’s state television shows the test firing of a new short-range missile. Iran test-fired a short-range missile during the second day of nationwide military exercises in a demonstration of its readiness to “respond to any threat,”

Iran, make no mistake about it, is playing the “OIL CARD.”

President Ahmadinejad and the Iranian Mullahs are telling the world that they will disrupt the flow of oil if United Nations sanctions are imposed on them. So, will the United Nations have the WILL to prevent Iran from continuing to enrich uranium and manufacture a nuclear bomb?

Probably NOT

Iranian military forces alight from a helicopter during a training exercise in Zahedan, in the southeastern province of Sistan va Baluchistan, Iran, on Saturday Aug. 19, 2006. Iran on Saturday launched a series of large-scale military maneuvers aimed at introducing, what is being called, the country’s new defensive doctrine, state-run television reported.

The question is WHEN NOT IF the United States and Israel bomb Iranian nuclear facilities?

Stay tuned……