Don't Fire Until You See the Whites of Their Mushroom Cloud! [Dan from New York]

Dan from New York:

Hey Iran, we’re on to you now. Did you really think you could get one past our eagle-eyed “Western analysts”?

Analysis - Iran's nuclear steps deepen Western suspicions

Wed Jul 6, 2011
By Fredrik Dahl

VIENNA (Reuters) - Expanding uranium enrichment, a new atomic energy chief said to have military expertise, missile tests -- Western analysts see fresh signs that Iran may be seeking to develop the means to build nuclear warheads. Iran's determination to press ahead with a nuclear programme it says is for purely peaceful purposes suggests that tougher Western sanctions are so far failing to force the Islamic state to back down in the long-running dispute over its atomic aims.

...But even if Tehran decided to make such weapons it could still be years away from having nuclear-armed missiles, possibly giving diplomacy more opportunities to resolve a row which has the potential to spark a Middle East conflict.

...[However,] Britain last week said Iran had carried out covert tests of a missile that could carry a nuclear warhead, an allegation which Tehran swiftly denied.

During a military exercise last week, Iran test-fired 14 missiles on one day alone, including some it says are capable of hitting its arch foe Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East.

...Tehran says its missiles cannot carry nuclear payloads and insists it is enriching uranium for electricity production and medical purposes. Making atomic bombs would be a "strategic mistake" and would also not be allowed under Islam, it adds.

But in a defiant move that further fuelled Western unease about its intentions, Iran announced last month it would shift its production of higher-grade uranium to an underground bunker and triple output capacity.

...A nuclear scientist, Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani was named head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation in February, after he was wounded in a 2010 bomb attack which Tehran blamed on Israel... The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a U.S.-based think tank, said Abbasi-Davani's extensive scientific background was "more suited to researching nuclear weapons" than building nuclear power reactors.

Not to worry, folks. With our current administration's approach of treating warfare as law enforcement, all we have to do is prepare for a radioactive crime scene.