IAEA Denies Report Iran Has Ability To Create Nuclear Bomb

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The U.N. nuclear agency has no proof that Iran has or once had a covert atomic bomb program, it said on Thursday, dismissing a report that it had concluded Iran was on its way to producing nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency reaffirmed IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei’s September 9 comment that allegations the agency was sitting on evidence of Iranian bomb work were “politically motivated and baseless.”

“With respect to a recent media report, the IAEA reiterates that it has no concrete proof that there is or has been a nuclear weapons program in Iran,” an IAEA statement said.

The IAEA received information from a variety of sources that might be relevant to verifying that a state was not hiding nuclear bomb research or development, it said.

All information on Iran that the IAEA had vetted has already been shared with its 35-nation Board of Governors in reports by ElBaradei.

Diplomats close to the IAEA have told Reuters it has no “smoking gun” evidence of Iran currently trying to apply nuclear technology to its ballistic missile program. Two diplomats repeated that position after Thursday’s media report.

via IAEA denies report it is sure Iran seeking atom bomb | International | Reuters.

However… There Is This Story

Experts at the IAEA are in agreement that Teheran has the ability to make a nuclear bomb and is on the way to developing a missile system able to carry an atomic warhead, according to a secret report seen by The Associated Press on Thursday.

The document drafted by senior officials at the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency is the clearest indication yet that the agency’s leaders share Washington’s views on Iran’s weapon-making capabilities. It appears to be the so-called “secret annex” on Teheran’s nuclear program that Washington says is being withheld by the IAEA’s chief.

According to the document, the Islamic republic has “sufficient information” to build a bomb. Iran is likely to “overcome problems” on developing a delivery system, according to the report.

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Military Chief Mullen Says Clock Ticking On Iran Nuke

The top U.S. military officer warned on Tuesday that time is running out for dialogue with Tehran to avoid either a nuclear-armed Iran or a possible military strike against the Islamic Republic.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it is critical for diplomatic efforts to reach a solution before Iran develops a nuclear weapon or faces an Israeli or U.S. strike to turn back its nuclear program.

“That window is a very narrow window,” Mullen told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

“There’s a great deal that certainly depends on the dialogue and the engagement,” he said. “I’m hopeful that that dialogue is productive. I worry about it a great deal if it’s not.”

Mullen noted that some forecasters believe Iran could be as little as a year away from developing a nuclear bomb, adding: “The clock has continued to tick.”

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North Korea May Launch Missile Toward Hawaii in July

North Korea may launch a long-range ballistic missile toward the U.S. state of Hawaii in early July, Japan’s Yomiuri daily said on Thursday, citing Defense Ministry analysis and U.S. intelligence.

The paper said the Defense Ministry believes the launch is most likely to take place between July 4 and July 8. The ministry has declined to comment on the report.

The paper also said that the missile was likely to fly over Japan’s Aomori Prefecture toward Hawaii, but would not be able to reach the main islands.

The missile, thought to be a long-range Taepodong-2, would be launched from the country’s Dongchang-ni site on the northwestern coast, said Japan’s best-selling newspaper.

North Korea tested a nuclear weapon on May 25, accusing the U.S. and South Korea of aggressive intentions. Pyongyang said on Wednesday that it would meet any attack with “one thousand-fold retaliation.”

Following the underground test, the United Nations widened an arms embargo and authorized ship searches in an attempt to disrupt the communist state’s nuclear and missile programs.

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Pentagon: NKorea Missiles Could Threaten US

North Korea’s missiles could hit the United States in as few as three years if the reclusive rogue nation continues to ramp up its weapons system, Pentagon officials said Tuesday.

[...]

“We think it ultimately could — if taken to its conclusion — it could present a threat to the homeland,” Lynn told McCain during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

“That’s assuming a lot of luck on their part in moving forward,” Cartwright said during questioning by Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.

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Obama: N.Korea Nuclear Program Grave Threat

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs posed a grave threat to the region and to the world and called for a sustained effort to enforce international sanctions.

Obama was speaking at a news conference after meeting South Korean President Lee Myung-bak at the White House. North Korea said at the weekend it would start a uranium enrichment program and weaponize all its uranium in response to new U.N. sanctions.

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N. Korea Warns of Nuclear War Amid Rising Tensions

North Korea’s communist regime has warned of a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula while vowing to step up its atomic bomb-making program in defiance of new U.N. sanctions.

The North’s defiance presents a growing diplomatic headache for President Barack Obama as he prepares for talks Tuesday with his South Korean counterpart on the North’s missile and nuclear programs.

A commentary Sunday in the North’s the main state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, claimed the U.S. has 1,000 nuclear weapons in South Korea. Another commentary published Saturday in the state-run Tongil Sinbo weekly claimed the U.S. has been deploying a vast amount of nuclear weapons in South Korea and Japan.

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North Korea Threatens Response Within 48 Hours

Kim Jong-il’s embattled regime is expected to deliver a tough, belligerent response to Friday’s imposition of a raft of new UN sanctions.

North Korea is expected to launch another long-range test missile over the next 48 hours according to US intelligence, as the region is on a heightened state of alert.

Pyongyang is also planning another underground nuclear test according to leaked briefings given to President Obama, US reports say.

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North Korea Threatens Merciless Nuclear Offensive

North Korea today said it would use nuclear weapons in a “merciless offensive” if provoked — its latest bellicose rhetoric apparently aimed at deterring any international punishment for its recent atomic test blast.

The tensions emanating from Pyongyang are beginning to hit nascent business ties with the South: a Seoul-based fur manufacturer became the first South Korean company to announce Monday it was pulling out of an industrial complex in the North’s border town of Kaesong.

The complex, which opened in 2004, is a key symbol of rapprochement between the two Koreas but the goodwill is evaporating quickly in the wake of North Korea’s nuclear test on May 25 and subsequent missile tests.

Pyongyang raised tensions a notch by reviving its rhetoric in a commentary in the state-run Minju Joson newspaper today.

“Our nuclear deterrent will be a strong defensive means…as well as a merciless offensive means to deal a just retaliatory strike to those who touch the country’s dignity and sovereignty even a bit,” said the commentary, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

It appeared to be the first time that North Korea referred to its nuclear arsenal as “offensive” in nature. Pyongyang has long claimed that its nuclear weapons program is a deterrent and only for self-defense against what it calls US attempts to invade it.

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U.S. Preps for Possible Showdown With North Korea

The U.S. military is stepping up training and reviewing target sets in case the North Koreans decide to go to war.

As we learned last week, North Korea looks to be prepping for another long-range missile test, and South Korea has reportedly outlined plans to strike back if North Korea targets its warships. The U.S. military is also preparing for the worst; Aviation Week ace reporters Amy Butler and Dave Fulghum have an excellent rundown of stepped-up military preparations in the event North Korea follows through on its belligerent rhetoric.

Fulghum, reporting from Osan Air Base, South Korea, notes that the U.S. Air Force is identifying critical training fixes for close air support and air-to-air combat — two missions that would be critical in the first 72 hours of the fight. He also takes a close look at a first-day-of-the-war mission for joint tactical air controllers: XATK (pronounced “ex-attack”), the mission to destroy long-range, North Korean artillery.

Pyongyang has a lot of artillery tubes and rocket launchers parked north of the DMZ that could wreak havoc on Seoul. Col. Rick Forster, commander of the 607th Air Support Operations Group, tells Fulghum: “We’ve got a very good idea of where most of their pieces are … We’ve had 60 years to watch [the emplacement of North Korean artillery] and they can only put them in so many places.”

Forster would be the chief air liaison officer in the event of war; it would be his job to help coordinate air strikes before North Korean artillery can concentrating fire on South Korea’s capital.

via U.S. Preps for Possible Showdown with Pyongyang | Danger Room | Wired.com.

Report: North Korea Fueling Long Range Rocket

North Korea has begun fueling a long-range rocket for an impending launch, a news report said, as President Barack Obama warned the liftoff would be a “provocative act” that would generate a U.N. Security Council response.

North Korea says it will send a communications satellite into orbit on a multistage rocket sometime from Saturday to Wednesday. The U.S., South Korea and Japan think the reclusive country is using the launch to test long-range missile technology, and they’ve warned the move would violate a Security Council resolution banning it from ballistic activity.

CNN television reported on its Web site — seen Thursday in Seoul — that Pyongyang has begun the fueling. The report, citing an unidentified senior U.S. military official, said the move indicates final preparations for the launch. Experts say the missile can be fired about three to four days after fueling begins.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it was aware of the report but declined to comment.

At a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in London, Obama denounced the planned launch as “a provocative act” and a breach of the U.N. resolution, a senior administration official told a background briefing, according to the White House Web site.

“He also made clear that we will respond in the event of a launch. The U.N. Security Council is the natural venue for a response since this would be a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions,” the official said.

Obama also discussed North Korea with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the White House said.

The issue is expected to be a key topic at Obama’s summit with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday. Lee has sought to drum up support from world leaders in London for punishing its neighbor if the launch goes forward.

via Report: North Korea fuels its long-range rocket for launch | World | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.

Spy Agencies Believe North Korea Has Nuke Warheads

Intelligence agencies have information that North Korea has assembled several nuclear warheads for its medium-range Rodong missiles capable of targeting Japan, an analyst said Tuesday.

Daniel Pinkston, senior analyst with the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, said the agencies believe that probably five to eight warheads have been assembled.

“Intelligence agencies believe the North Koreans have assembled nuclear warheads for Rodong missiles, which are stored at underground facilities near the Rodong missile bases,” Pinkston told AFP.

“It might be right, it might be wrong — but if others believe it is true, it has implications for the psychological aspects of deterrence,” he said, describing the assessment as “quite significant.”

Pinkston declined to identify his sources and said they had not shared their own sources with him.

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How To Survive A Nuclear Attack

The face of nuclear terror has changed since the Cold War, but disaster-medicine expert Irwin Redlener reminds us the threat is still real. He looks at some of history’s farcical countermeasures and offers practical advice on how to survive an attack.

Dr. Irwin Redlener spends his days imagining the worst: He studies how humanity might survive natural or human-made disasters of unthinkable severity.

After 9/11, Irwin Redlener emerged as a powerful voice in disaster medicine — the discipline of medical care following natural and human-made catastrophes. He was a leading face of the relief effort after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and is the author of Americans at Risk: Why We Are Not Prepared for Megadisasters and What We Can Do Now. He’s the associate dean, professor of Clinical Public Health and director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health.

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