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As the U.S. economy sank ever lower, a huge brouhaha erupted this week over claims that Iran might have nuclear weapons. The new CIA director, Leon Panetta, said "there is no question, they (Iran) are seeking that capability." The Pentagon chief, Admiral Mike Mullen, claimed Iran had "enough fissile material to build a bomb." Prime Minister Stephen Harper had claimed Iran posed an "absolutely unacceptable threat." However, to Harper's credit, he just admitted that Afghanistan is a no-win war. While Rome burns, here we go again with renewed hysteria over MWMD's -- Muslim weapons of mass destruction. War drums are again beating over Iran. The czar of all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, Admiral Dennis Blair, stated Iran could have enough enriched uranium for one atomic weapon by 2010-15. But he reaffirmed the 2007 U.S. National Intelligence Estimate that Iran does not have nuclear weapons and is not pursuing them. Defence Secretary William Gates backed up Blair. Public confusion over Iran comes from misunderstanding nuclear enrichment and lurid scare stories.

Last week, Mohamed ElBaradei stepped down as the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, ending a 12-year tenure marked by confrontations with North Korea, Iran and Syria as well as public clashes with Washington. Three days into his retirement, the 67-year-old Egyptian lawyer and Nobel laureate talked with The Washington Post's intelligence reporter Joby Warrick to assess the prospects for a nuclear deal with Iran. He spoke publicly for the first time about the IAEA's landmark Nov. 27 resolution chastising Iran, and that country's defiant threat to expand its nuclear program. Excerpts: Has diplomacy with Iran finally reached a dead end?

Last week, Mohamed ElBaradei stepped down as the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, ending a 12-year tenure marked by confrontations with North Korea, Iran and Syria as well as public clashes with Washington. Three days into his retirement, the 67-year-old Egyptian lawyer and Nobel laureate talked with The Washington Post's intelligence reporter Joby Warrick to assess the prospects for a nuclear deal with Iran. He spoke publicly for the first time about the IAEA's landmark Nov. 27 resolution chastising Iran, and that country's defiant threat to expand its nuclear program. Excerpts: Has diplomacy with Iran finally reached a dead end?

Last week, Mohamed ElBaradei stepped down as the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, ending a 12-year tenure marked by confrontations with North Korea, Iran and Syria as well as public clashes with Washington. Three days into his retirement, the 67-year-old Egyptian lawyer and Nobel laureate talked with The Washington Post's intelligence reporter Joby Warrick to assess the prospects for a nuclear deal with Iran. He spoke publicly for the first time about the IAEA's landmark Nov. 27 resolution chastising Iran, and that country's defiant threat to expand its nuclear program. Excerpts: Has diplomacy with Iran finally reached a dead end?

"David Kay, former UN chief inspector of the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA), contrasts expectations with results on Iraq and Iran. As sanctions on Iran rise, so does Iranian rhetoric. Sanctions aim to force Iran to submit to inspections. However, Mr. Kay finds inspection largely ineffective. Inspection cannot prevent a country from developing nuclear weapons, especially if the country is big, determined, and capable, like Iran. Inspectors would need access to all resources with which Iran could develop nuclear weapons and delivery methods. Iran would have to fully declare its nuclear components, uranium enrichment, plutonium activities, and missile testing, production, and deployment. Iran does not cooperate, it obstructs."

Outgoing IAEA Chief Presses Iran to Resolve 'Issues of Concern' With just four days left in his term of office, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei lashed out at the Iranian government, declaring that their ongoing probes "have effectively reached a dead end, unless Iran engages fully with us." Mohamed ElBaradei ElBaradei also expressed disappointment that the Iranian government didn't immediately accept the draft third-party enrichment deal. Iran has called for more talks on the issue and is seeking guarantees that Western nations, notably France, will follow through on their part of the deal.

Outgoing IAEA Chief Presses Iran to Resolve 'Issues of Concern' With just four days left in his term of office, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei lashed out at the Iranian government, declaring that their ongoing probes "have effectively reached a dead end, unless Iran engages fully with us." Mohamed ElBaradei ElBaradei also expressed disappointment that the Iranian government didn't immediately accept the draft third-party enrichment deal. Iran has called for more talks on the issue and is seeking guarantees that Western nations, notably France, will follow through on their part of the deal.

The Associated Press earlier today leaked the details of what it believes is the "secret annex" to the IAEA report on Iran, which claims that the IAEA "assesses that Iran has sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable implosion nuclear device based on HEU as the fission fuel." The IAEA would not confirm the authenticity of the document, but reiterated that it has "no concrete proof that there is or has been a nuclear weapon programme in Iran."

Even if you've been a faithful reader of these columns, you were still probably unprepared for the decision by the Nobel Committee to award the Peace Prize to Barack Obama for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." Most members of The Best Congress Money Can Buy - the folks that just last week voted to impose even more draconian sanctions (amounting to an act of war under international law) on Iran because it refuses to give up its "inalienable" rights, affirmed in the enabling statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency, reaffirmed in the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, reaffirmed in every resolution affecting Iran passed by the IAEA Board of Governors and reaffirmed in every resolution affecting Iran passed by the UN Security Council - were no doubt stunned.

Even if you've been a faithful reader of these columns, you were still probably unprepared for the decision by the Nobel Committee to award the Peace Prize to Barack Obama for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." Most members of The Best Congress Money Can Buy - the folks that just last week voted to impose even more draconian sanctions (amounting to an act of war under international law) on Iran because it refuses to give up its "inalienable" rights, affirmed in the enabling statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency, reaffirmed in the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, reaffirmed in every resolution affecting Iran passed by the IAEA Board of Governors and reaffirmed in every resolution affecting Iran passed by the UN Security Council - were no doubt stunned.

Iran accused the U.S. on Friday of using "forged documents" and relying on subterfuge to make its case that Tehran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, according to a confidential letter obtained by The Associated Press. The eight-page letter - written by Iran's chief envoy to the U.N. nuclear agency in Vienna - denounces Washington's allegations against the Islamic Republic as "fabricated, baseless and false." The letter does not specify what documents Iran is alleging were forged. It also lashes out at Britain and France for "ill will and political motivation" in their dealings on Iran.

Critics say Director General Mohamed ElBaradei was unduly cautious on accusing Tehran of working toward nuclear weapons. But even if he made the right decisions, the process isn't working. When Mohamed ElBaradei was selected as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1997, he was known as a reserved bureaucrat who enjoyed the backing of the United States and was unlikely to make waves. Twelve years later, he is leaving at the end of the month with a Nobel Peace Prize to his name and a reputation among his admirers for speaking truth to power, having stood up to the George W. Bush administration over Iraq and Iran. Meanwhile, much of the world has continued to pursue nuclear weapons: India and Pakistan conducted successful nuclear tests to prove what they had, North Korea developed a nuclear bomb, and Iran acquired about 5,000 centrifuges and more than 3,000 pounds of low-enriched uranium. Critics blame ElBaradei for failing to rein in these nuclear ambitions, but we believe there is plenty of blame to go around.

Critics say Director General Mohamed ElBaradei was unduly cautious on accusing Tehran of working toward nuclear weapons. But even if he made the right decisions, the process isn't working. When Mohamed ElBaradei was selected as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1997, he was known as a reserved bureaucrat who enjoyed the backing of the United States and was unlikely to make waves. Twelve years later, he is leaving at the end of the month with a Nobel Peace Prize to his name and a reputation among his admirers for speaking truth to power, having stood up to the George W. Bush administration over Iraq and Iran. Meanwhile, much of the world has continued to pursue nuclear weapons: India and Pakistan conducted successful nuclear tests to prove what they had, North Korea developed a nuclear bomb, and Iran acquired about 5,000 centrifuges and more than 3,000 pounds of low-enriched uranium. Critics blame ElBaradei for failing to rein in these nuclear ambitions, but we believe there is plenty of blame to go around.

In an interview today, UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohammed ElBaradei said that Iran would be lacking key components for the production of a nuclear weapon even if they chose to do so. According to ElBaradei "they do not have even the nuclear material, the raw unenriched uranium to develop one nuclear weapon if they decide to do so." The IAEA chief's assessments are in stark contrast to accusations and bellicose rhetoric regarding the ultimate goal and progress of Iran's nuclear program. The European Union has accused Iran of "methodically pursuing a program aimed at acquiring the nuclear bomb." Permanent members of the UN Security Council met today to discuss further sanctions against the Iranians, but failed once again to reach an agreement.

World powers Saturday gave Iran two weeks to accept a freeze on expanding its uranium enrichment work as a step toward full-scale negotiations on its nuclear program's future, or face new economic sanctions and isolation. The powers told Iran that there would be no further talks on their offer to withhold new sanctions for six weeks in return for Iran not adding new enrichment machines called centrifuges to its plant at Natanz for a similar period.

The U.N. nuclear non-proliferation watchdog assiduously guards its impartiality as it monitors and investigates disputed activity in Iran and Syria, with suspicious Western powers impatient for the inspectors to draw conclusions. So the International Atomic Energy Agency typically puts what have become keenly anticipated, quarterly reports on Iran and Syria through many painstaking drafts before they see the light of day, to help ensure that not a single word can be misunderstood, misinterpreted or turned to political advantage.

Iran is helping to detect uranium deposits in Venezuela and initial evaluations suggest reserves are significant, President Hugo Chavez's government said Friday. Mining Minister Rodolfo Sanz said Iran has been assisting Venezuela with geophysical survey flights and geochemical analysis of the deposits, and that evaluations "indicate the existence of uranium in western parts of the country and in Santa Elena de Uairen," in southeastern Bolivar state. "We could have important reserves of uranium," Sanz told reporters upon arrival on Venezuela's Margarita Island for a weekend Africa-South America summit. He added that efforts to certify the reserves could begin within the next three years. The announcement came as revelations that Iran has secretly been building a uranium-enrichment plant provoke concerns among countries including the U.S., Russia, France, Britain, Germany and China.

In his coverage today of the Iranian election, the New York Times' Bill Keller writes (with emphasis added by me): Outside Iran, the result was comforting to hawks in Israel and some Western capitals who had feared that a more congenial Iranian president would cause the world to let down its guard against a country galloping toward nuclear weapons capability. Not just with a "nuclear weapons program," which would be a sufficiently big lie. Not just "making steady progress towards a nuclear weapons capability." No, "galloping" towards it. The truth, of course, is that not only is there no evidence whatsoever of an Iranian "nuclear weapons program," but that Iran has actively disavowed any intention ever to have one, with Ayatollah Khamenei going so far as to issue a fatwa against nuclear weapons.

A planned U.S. missile shield to protect Europe from a possible Iranian attack would be ineffective against the kinds of missiles Iran is likely to deploy, according to a joint analysis by top U.S. and Russian scientists. The U.S.-Russian team also judged that it would be more than five years before Iran is capable of building both a nuclear warhead and a missile capable of carrying it over long distances. And if Iran attempted such an attack, the experts say, it would ensure its own destruction.

This week, Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu both warned that if Hillary's "diplomacy" failed to halt "Iran's nuclear activities," Israel would be left with "no option" but to attack and destroy them. Never mind that on 15 November, 2007, IAEA Director-General reported for the umpteenth time he had "been able to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran" to a military purpose. A few days after that 2007 IAEA report, Anthony Cordesman, widely acknowledged to be an expert on military affairs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, updated his war-game scenario entitled "Iran, Israel and Nuclear War; An Illustrative Scenario Analysis." [.pdf]

"The five largest nuclear powers (USA, UK. France, Russia, and China) are set to impose tougher sanctions against non-nuclear Iran, while reminding the other two non-atomic states such as Turkey and Brazil, that only they can decide how and when to solve (or not) their purposely escalated conflict with Iran. In line with that, and in a decision clearly taken beforehand, the five permanent Security Council powers reached on May 19, 2010 a deal on a new set of tougher sanctions against Tehran. The decision was announced only few hours after Iran agreed to deliver to Turkey its low-enriched uranium and to receive, in exchange, nuclear fuel for its plants within one year. According to the terms of the agreement, the entire exchange process is to be carried out under the direct, strict supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)."

The head of Israeli Defense Ministry's Security-Diplomatic Bureau visited the Kremlin this week, intent upon convincing the Russians that equipping Iran, and perhaps Syria, with an upgraded version of their S-300 air defense system "would disturb the balance of power in the Middle East." What balance? The Russians had earlier supplied both Iran and Syria with the Tor-M1 short-range air defense system. Iran had positioned dozens of the units around its nuclear facilities, all of which - including the Russian-built about-to-be-fueled nuclear power plant at Bushehr - have long been subject to a Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

1. On 15 September 2008, the Director General reported to the Board of Governors on the implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and relevant provisions of Security Council resolutions 1737 (2006), 1747 (2007) and 1803 (2008) in the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran) (GOV/2008/38). On 27 September 2008, the Security Council adopted resolution 1835 (2008) on the same matter. This report covers relevant developments since September 2008.

Regarding Iranian Nuclear Development, Chomsky Says "the majority of the world supports Iran." This is the first of a three-part interview with Institute Professor Noam A. Chomsky, conducted in early September by Subrata Ghoshroy, a researcher in the Science, Technology, and Global Security Working Group at MIT. In this part, Ghoshroy and Chomsky discussed the then-pending U.S.-India nuclear deal and why a "majority of the world supports Iran."

Iran is continuing to enrich uranium, a process potentially used to make an atom bomb, but has slowed down the expansion of its enrichment activities, the UN's atomic watchdog said Thursday. "Contrary to the decisions of the (United Nations) Security Council, Iran has not suspended its enrichment related activities," the International Atomic Energy Agency wrote in its latest report on Tehran's contested nuclear drive. Enriched uranium is used to make both nuclear fuel and the fissile material for an atom bomb. But a senior official close to the agency said that Iran's expansion of its enrichment plant in Natanz had slowed "considerably."