Iranian nuclear negotiator Mohammad Saeedi spoke to reporters today in Iran, where officials removed International Atomic Energy Agency seals at the nation’s uranium enrichment facility at Natanz (Getty Images). Iran Reopens Nuclear Facilities Iran today reopened some nuclear research installations after a two-year moratorium on sensitive nuclear activities, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Jan. 9). “Iran has removed the seals at research centers with the (International Atomic Energy Agency’s) agreement,” said Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization. “And as of today these centers resume their activities,” he said. ..Full Story

Resistance Figure Levels New Charges Against Iran By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Iran has begun building platforms in two underground halls on which it could soon begin installing up to 5,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges it has produced, former National Council of Resistance of Iran chief spokesman Alireza Jafarzadeh said here today (see GSN, Nov. 22, 2005)...Full Story

U.S. Vaccine Healthcare Centers Partially Funded By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Vaccine Healthcare Centers, which assess and help treat military personnel potentially sickened by biodefense vaccines, received specific congressional funding for the first time in this fiscal year (see GSN, July 7, 2005)...Full Story

	Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Former British General Calls for Blair’s Impeachment A retired British general is calling for the impeachment of Prime Minister Tony Blair for leading the United Kingdom into war with Iraq on “false grounds,” the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, June 30, 2005). There was no truth to Blair’s claims that prewar Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, said Gen. Sir Michael Rose, who led U.N. troops in Bosnia. “The politicians should be held to account, and my own view is that Blair should be impeached,” Rose said in a documentary to be televised this week. “This would prevent politicians treating quite so carelessly the subject of taking a country into war” (see GSN, Aug. 26, 2004). Rose said in a BBC interview that, “to go to war on what turns out to be false grounds is something that no one should be allowed to walk away from.” “The consequences of that war have been quite disastrous both for the people of Iraq and also for the West in terms of our wider interests in the war against global terror,” he said. A Blair spokesman said Rose is “entitled to his view.” “In terms of the reasons why we went to war, that has been investigated by four inquiries, including two select committees of the Houses of Parliament,” the spokesman said. “The matter has been gone well over and in terms of the outcome which is what matters there have been difficulties, but we have in process the creation of a democratically elected government in Iraq and that speaks for itself” (Associated Press/phillyBurbs.com, Jan. 10). Back to top

Iran Reopens Nuclear Facilities Iran today reopened some nuclear research installations after a two-year moratorium on sensitive nuclear activities, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Jan. 9). “Iran has removed the seals at research centers with the (International Atomic Energy Agency’s) agreement,” said Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization. “And as of today these centers resume their activities,” he said. “The production of nuclear fuel is still in suspension and we hope to reach a conclusion over it in the near future, and also reach a clear agreement with the Europeans in this regard,” Saeedi added. The U.N. nuclear watchdog in Vienna confirmed that its inspectors had witnessed removal of the seals at the Natanz nuclear research facility, according to AFP. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Iran must maintain a suspension of all uranium enrichment-related activities (Agence France-Presse/TurkishPress.com, Jan. 10). A “growing majority of the international community,” McClellan said, is warning Iran to comply with its international obligations and negotiate with France, Germany and the United Kingdom, as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency “in good faith about the way forward.” “If those negotiations run their course and Iran does not act in good faith and does not come into compliance, then there is no other option but for the international community to look to the [U.N.] Security Council,” he said (State Department release, Jan. 9). Russia, however, remained opposed to Security Council referral. “This problem ... must be resolved primarily within the political and diplomatic framework, and on the current stage, within the IAEA framework,” said Foreign Minister Sergei Ivanov (AFP, Jan. 10). Meanwhile, a senior Iranian official notified the agency over the weekend that Tehran planned to feed uranium hexafluoride into centrifuges at Natanz, ABC News reported yesterday. Some experts expressed surprise at the audacity of the move. “When we learned last week that Iran was going to resume some ‘research and development’ work at Natanz, we assumed there would be some modest initial activity, such as the production of centrifuge components, but this is a much bigger step,” said Robert Einhorn of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Becoming adept in the operation of its 164-centrifuge cascade at Natanz would be a “significant milestone” in Iran’s nuclear efforts, Einhorn said. The Natanz centrifuges, however, are not yet ready for UF6 feeds, ABC reported.  It could take anywhere from two years to more than a decade to produce 25 kilograms of highly enriched uranium using those centrifuges, according to a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (Jacqueline Shire, ABC News, Jan. 9). Iran nevertheless plans to begin nuclear fuel production at Natanz, one European Union diplomat told Reuters yesterday. British, French and German diplomats said they would probably seek an emergency session of the IAEA Board of Governors, Reuters reported (Reuters, Jan. 10). All five permanent members of the Security Council have warned Iran against resuming sensitive nuclear activities, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said yesterday. “We are working very closely with Russia, China and France and Britain on sending a clear message to the Iranians,” he said. Officials from France, Germany and the United Kingdom plan to meet soon to discuss the issue, said French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy. “We call on Iran to go back on its decision without delay and without conditions,” Douste-Blazy said. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said yesterday that Tehran was sending “very, very disastrous signals” on its nuclear program (Anne Gearan, Associated Press/San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan. 10). China today urged Iran to continue talks with the European powers, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported. Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said Chinese officials had relayed the same message to Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Safari in Beijing yesterday (Deutsche Presse-Agentur/MonstersandCritics.com, Jan. 10). Israeli military chief of staff Dan Halutz said yesterday that Iran was moving to the “brink of the abyss” by deciding to resume nuclear work, AFP reported. “International pressure on Iran proves that (its nuclear activities) are not only Israel’s problem,” Halutz added (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Jan. 9). Back to top       Resistance Figure Levels New Charges Against Iran By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Iran has begun building platforms in two underground halls on which it could soon begin installing up to 5,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges it has produced, former National Council of Resistance of Iran chief spokesman Alireza Jafarzadeh said here today (see GSN, Nov. 22, 2005). Jafarzadeh, now a private consultant in Washington, cited sources in the Iranian government in leveling this latest allegation, which came at a briefing at the National Press Club. His resistance group became prominent in 2002 when its information led the International Atomic Energy Agency to suspicious nuclear work at Natanz, the site about which Jafarzadeh spoke today, and at another Iranian facility, Arak. “In addition to preparing the foundations for the centrifuge machines, Iran has already manufactured as many as 5,000 centrifuge machines ready to be installed in Natanz, which is a clear breach of its agreement with the IAEA and the European Union,” Jafarzadeh said, alluding to Iran’s promise to freeze enrichment activity while in talks on its controversial programs. Construction should be completed in the underground halls by the middle of this year, and all “side tasks,” such as bringing water and gas lines to the facility, are expected to be finished by March 2007, Jafarzadeh said. The allegations came as concerns about Iran’s activities reached new highs in Western capitals with the removal, under IAEA supervision, of seals on nuclear equipment at Natanz (see related GSN story, today). Tehran announced this week that it would resume nuclear research and that talks with Moscow over the possibility of uranium enrichment in Russia for Iran’s programs — a setup that would remove a sensitive part of the nuclear fuel cycle from Iranian hands — would be put on hold for a month. Jafarzadeh said the latest news from Iran “confirms” and “strengthens” his case about the dangers of work being conducted at Natanz. He said Iran has “for months” been working toward “jump-starting” enrichment at Natanz despite its freeze pledge. “The operation in Natanz was really never frozen,” he said. Jafarzadeh said Iran’s announcement that it would resume research at Natanz was a “cover” for nuclear-weapon work, which he said is being carried out by two companies — the Tose’eh Silo Co. and Sazeh Pardaz Co. — that report to the Iranian military. “My information suggests that what Iran is planning to do is to restart, or to jump-start, the actions at Natanz step by step,” he said. The first step, he said, was the announcement of resumed work at Natanz, and the second step would be the introduction of uranium hexafluoride into centrifuges. Iran has argued that its nuclear program is meant only to produce energy, and is its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Nuclear Control Institute founder Paul Leventhal said at the briefing that in light of Jafarzadeh’s information, the International Atomic Energy Agency should “demand immediate access to the areas where these secret activities allegedly are taking place.” That step, Leventhal indicated, should set in motion a sequence of events that, unless Iran cooperated, would end with a prompt referral of the case to the U.N. Security Council. “In November, Iran’s parliament voted to resume uranium enrichment if the IAEA board referred Iran to the U.N. Security Council,” Leventhal said. “Now, Iran appears ready to resume enrichment work … and thereby precipitate the crisis it was presumably seeking to forestall.” “Recall also that the Iranian parliament also voted to kick out IAEA inspectors in the event of referral of Iran to the Security Council. Perhaps that is now to be the next step for the regime in its reckless pursuit of direct confrontation with Europe and the United States and its defiance of the international community at large,” Leventhal said. Former U.S. National Security Council member Raymond Tanter illustrated his view of the danger posed by Iran by projecting two photographs side-by-side: a smiling British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain meeting in 1938 with German Chancellor Adolf Hitler, and a smiling U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan meeting last year with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Tanter said he was comparing Annan neither to Hitler nor to Chamberlain but that “appeasement” was a danger in the Iran case. “It looks as though the hard-landing option will probably be the most likely one” to work for the United States in confronting Iran, he said, because the “mullahs going back to the mosques” is unlikely to occur. Examples of the “hard-landing option” could include confrontational strategies such as a naval blockade or economic sanctions, Tanter said. The Iran Policy Committee, a group that favors forcing out the Iranian government and of which Tanter is a founder, sponsored today’s briefing. Back to top       U.S. Dismisses North Korean Protests on Sanctions The United States yesterday dismissed North Korea’s protest against sanctions imposed on entities Washington has accused of illicit financial dealings, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Jan. 9). “The Treasury Department’s very careful in going through, accumulating and analyzing this evidence in coordination with other parts of the U.S. government,” said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack. McCormack said that the sanctions were an issue separate from multilateral efforts aimed at persuading Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons programs. “We are focused on returning to the six-party talks at the earliest possible date. And we hope that the North Korean government shares that view,” he said. The United States and its negotiating partners remain in contact in hopes of drawing Pyongyang back to negotiations. “I’d expect in the coming days we would also be in further contact with them on this issue to get them back to the table,” McCormack said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Jan. 10). White House spokesman Scott McClellan said yesterday that progress on the disarmament effort is being ignored, the Yonhap News Agency reported. “You now have every country in the region saying to North Korea that you need to dismantle your nuclear weapons programs and get rid of any nuclear weapons,” McClellan said. “You now have a six-party process in place that spells out very clearly what is expected of North Korea, and we expect North Korea to move forward on the principles that they agreed to at the last round of talks,” he said (Yonhap I/Yahoo!News, Jan. 9). Meanwhile, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has reportedly traveled to Beijing to meet with Chinese leaders. South Korea’s National Intelligence Agency told AFP it was attempting to verify accounts of Kim’s train passage across the Chinese border (Agence France-Presse, Jan. 10). China, however, would not confirm today Kim’s reported trip, according to the Associated Press. Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said he had “no specific information” about the report but confirmed that Kim had unspecified plans to visit Beijing. “Of course, Kim Jong Il plans to visit China. There’s definitely such a plan.  But as for the exact time of the visit, I will release information when I am authorized,” Kong said (Associated Press, Jan. 10). Chinese President Hu Jintao yesterday called worsening relations between the United States and North Korea “a major obstacle” to resolving the nuclear issue, Yonhap reported. “There must be no change to the principle that the North Korean nuclear dispute has to be resolved through dialogue,” Hu said. “China will work closely with South Korea” toward that goal, he added (Yonhap II, Jan. 9). Beijing also said today that the six-party talks were facing a “difficult situation” in the sanctions dispute between Pyongyang and Washington, Reuters reported. Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong called the sanctions a “new, complicating factor,” but would not say if China believes they should be considered alongside the nuclear issue. “The Chinese government attaches importance to the combat of money laundering and other financial crimes,” Kong added, however. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing announced that the top U.S. envoy to the six-party talks, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, was scheduled to arrive in China on Thursday, following visits to Tokyo and Seoul (Reuters, Jan. 10). Japanese Defense Agency chief Fukushiro Nukaga is expected to travel to Russia on Friday to discuss North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs with Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, AP reported yesterday (Associated Press, Jan. 9). Back to top       First Trident Submarine Converted The USS Ohio has become the first of four Trident nuclear-armed submarines to undergo conversion to conventional weapons capability, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 14, 2005). The Ohio is now armed with 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles instead of 24 nuclear-tipped missiles, according to AP. General Dynamics Electric Boat is scheduled to complete the remaining three conversions by September 2007, according to company spokesman Robert Hamilton (Associated Press/WAVY 10, Jan. 9). Back to top

U.S. Vaccine Healthcare Centers Partially Funded By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Vaccine Healthcare Centers, which assess and help treat military personnel potentially sickened by biodefense vaccines, received specific congressional funding for the first time in this fiscal year (see GSN, July 7, 2005). While helping to ensure their continuity, the authorized funding is only $3 million of the $6 million sought, leaving the centers to appeal to the Army or other military services to make up the difference. Key senators and congressmen finalizing the $453 billion fiscal 2006 defense appropriations bill approved the money last month. President George W. Bush signed the bill into law Dec. 30. Congress in 2000 created the Vaccine Healthcare Centers’ headquarters, located at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., as a place for personnel who might have been made ill by anthrax vaccinations to receive specialized assessment, treatment and study. Three other locations opened in 2004, at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Va., the Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg, N.C., and the Air Force’s Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. None of the armed services, however, has specifically budgeted for the centers. Despite the efforts of Senators Joseph Biden (D-Del.) and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), congressional authorizers until now have also refused to fund them directly, leaving Walter Reed to transfer some of its resources. Meanwhile, the military since 2002 has been conducting mass vaccinations for anthrax and smallpox.   The centers in fiscal 2003 and fiscal 2004 combined treated approximately 1,200 recipients of the anthrax and other vaccines presenting a range of side-effects, from muscle pain and chronic fatigue to multiple sclerosis (see GSN, May 6, 2005). Many personnel are believed eligible for treatment but unaware that the centers exist. Back to top       Japan to Ban Import of Select Pathogens Japan is preparing to revise its customs law to more strictly limit the import of 12 deadly pathogens, including anthrax, Ebola, plague, SARS and smallpox, the Daily Yomiuri reported today (see GSN, Oct. 21, 2005). The Finance Ministry expects this month to submit to lawmakers a bill amending the Customs Tariff Law. If passed, it would take effect in this fiscal year. Violations would carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of more than $260,000, or both, according to the Finance Ministry. While barring individuals infected with any of the 12 diseases from entering the country, Japan’s Quarantine Law does not authorize customs officers to seize pathogen cultures transported as cargo. Under the new law, researchers would have to seek special government permission to import the restricted agents for experiments. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry plans to submit a bill next year that would revise Japan’s Infectious Disease Law, which bans possession and production of the pathogens, the Yomiuri reported (Daily Yomiuri, Jan. 10). Back to top

Japan to Buy U.S.-Made Missile Interceptors Japan plans to buy 36 U.S.-made Standard Missile 3 interceptors from 2007 to 2010 for deployment on destroyers equipped with the Aegis air defense system, Kyodo News reported today (see GSN, Dec. 21, 2005). The two countries are expected to test one of the interceptors in 2008 in Hawaii. It would be fired from the destroyer Kongo. The destroyers Chokai, Myoko and Kirishima are also expected to receive SM-3 interceptors, possibly along with two ships now under construction in Nagasaki, Kyodo reported. U.S. Patriot Advanced Capability 3 missiles are also expected to be deployed in Japan by March 2007 (Kyodo News/Yahoo!News, Jan. 10). Back to top       X-Band Radar Stops in Hawaii The floating U.S. missile defense Sea-Based X-band radar is stopping in Hawaii for the winter on its way to Alaska, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Aug. 2, 2005). The ship carrying the 280-foot-tall radar platform left Texas in August and arrived yesterday at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. Minor changes will be made to the radar before it leaves in spring to finish its journey to Adak Island. When it begins functioning, the radar should be able to differentiate between real and decoy warheads, and pass data that would help missile interceptors in Alaska and California find their targets, AP reported. While the $900 million radar will be based in Alaska, it could be shifted around the Pacific Ocean as needed (Audrey McAvoy, Associated Press, Jan. 10). Back to top       Report Questions Value of Airborne Laser The Physical Science Academy issued a report recently that questions the effectiveness of the planned U.S. Airborne Laser against ICBMs launched from Iran and solid-fuel missiles, United Press International reported last week (see GSN, Dec. 13, 2005). “If the ABL achieves its postulated performance, it would be capable of defending the entire United States from liquid-propellant (intercontinental ballistic missiles) launched by North Korea,” according to the study by a team of engineers and physicists. However, it could not afford the same protection against a missile coming from Iran, as the Boeing 747 carrying the laser could only fly over a limited area above the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The laser might also not be effective against the tougher solid-fuel ICBMs, the report states. “Defense by the ABL against solid-propellant missiles from North Korea, Iraq or Iran does not seem possible,” it says. Boeing Airborne Laser program manager Greg Hyslop countered that “the power levels we have demonstrated are lethal against all classes of ballistic missile,” according to the Post-Dispatch. A shoot-down exercise of the Airborne Laser is expected to be conducted in 2008 (United Press International, Jan. 3). Back to top

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