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Thursday, January 31, 2013

Israhelli Airstrike on 'Syrian Research Center’



The Syrian Army says two people have been killed and five others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a scientific research center in Jamraya, near the capital Damascus.

"Israeli fighter jets violated our airspace at dawn today and carried out a direct strike on a scientific research center in charge of raising our level of resistance and self-defence," the Syrian Army said in a statement on Wednesday, AFP reported.

The attack was carried out against the center, which was tasked with boosting Syria’s resistance and self-defense, "after terrorist groups made several failed attempts in the past months to take control of the site.

"This assault is one of a long list of acts of aggression and criminality against the Arabs and Muslims," the statement added.

"They... carried out an act of aggression, bombarding the site, causing large-scale material damage and destroying the building," the army said.

The Israeli regime claimed earlier that it had targeted a convoy of chemical weapons in Syria.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants fighting the Syrian government are foreign nationals.

And several international human rights organizations have accused the foreign-sponsored militants of committing war crimes.

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China, Japan and USZ Expanding Missile Interceptor Technology as Tensions Rise in Northeast Asia



With North Korea declaring its intention to push ahead with a third nuclear test following the United Nations Security Council resolution on its launch of a long-range rocket, it seems hardly a coincidence that the US, China, and Japan have launched their own interceptor missiles and spy satellites. As the intensity of the North Korean nuclear crisis soars and the strategic competition between the US and China, and between China and Japan, heats up in the Asia-Pacific region, military tensions are on the rise in Northeast Asia.

On Jan. 26 (local time), the US Defense Department announced that it had succeeded in a test of a missile defense system that can intercept intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that are aimed at the continental US while they are still outside the atmosphere. This test is part of a project that is being conducted to defend the continental US from the ICBM threat posed by North Korea and Iran.

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA), a section of the US Defense Department, said, “We were successful in our launch of a three-stage ground-based interceptor (GBI) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.”

The test was conducted as part of the development of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD). A ballistic missile’s trajectory is divided into the launch phase, a middle phase when it is in outer space beyond the atmosphere, and a final phase where it enters the atmosphere once again. GMD refers to intercepting a ballistic missile in this middle phase.

“We didn’t launch a real missile to serve as a target for the interceptor,” the MDA said. “However, if such a target missile had existed, the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) that was attached to the interceptor rocket would have collided with the target and destroyed it.

During a test launch by the MDA in Dec. 2010, the EKV failed to intercept the target. This test involved actually launching a target object and attempting to destroy it. The most recent test took place after correcting the flaws in the guided missile technology that became apparent in the former test.

China also succeeded in a test launch of a ground-based mid-range interceptor missile conducted inside its own territory on Jan. 27, the country’s news agency Xinhua reported on Jan. 28, quoting a Defense Ministry official. “The test launch achieved the goals that we had set. The test was defensive in nature and was not targeted at any country,” the official emphasized.

This is the second time that China has officially announced that it has conducted an interceptor missile test. On Jan. 11, 2010, China said that it had successfully completed the test of a mid-range interceptor missile. At the time, the US press saw this as China’s response to the US Defense Department’s decision to permit sales of the MIM-104 Patriot interceptor missiles to Taiwan.

The interceptor test is a response to US moves to establish a missile defense perimeter in East Asia, suggested Song Zhongping, who served as an instructor with China’s Second Artillery Force, the strategic missile unit of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

“If the US does not accelerate its movements to establish a strategic missile defense system in the East Asia and Pacific region, and if it doesn’t upset the strategic balance, China won’t need to conduct an interceptor missile test,” Song said in an interview with Fenghuang Satellite TV.

On Jan. 27, Japan launched the Radar-4 information-gathering satellite, which functions as a spy satellite, from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture. Now that the satellite, delivered on an H-2A rocket, has entered its planned orbit, Japan’s surveillance network has expanded to five information-gathering satellites three optical satellites and two radar satellites that are capable of monitoring every spot on earth once each day. Japan’s development of information-gathering satellites was triggered by the 1998 launch of the Taepodong missile in 1998.

Called information-gathering satellites, in reality they are spy satellites. “The satellites circle the globe about ten times a day. If there is only one optical and one radar satellite, a blind spot forms. There have to be two each in order to get rid of this blind spot,” the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported.

The day before North Korea’s long-range rocket launch took place on Dec. 12, 2012, Japanese satellites had detected the rocket being removed from the launcher. However, after that, the area moved into the blind spot, and Japan was not able to track any further movements, the newspaper reported.

With the satellite launch, which was the sixteenth consecutive successful launch of Japan’s H-2A rocket, the country proudly displayed its rocket technology, which uses liquid hydrogen fuel.

“It’s not yet clear whether the simultaneous launch of interceptor missiles and spy satellites by the US, China and Japan took into account North Korea’s recent statements about missile launches and nuclear tests,” said a diplomatic source in Beijing. “However, we will need to watch carefully to see whether the major powers neighboring the Korean peninsula will treat moves by the North as a pretext to take measures to strengthen their own military might.”
4th Media
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World’s Highest Resolution Surveillance System: 1.8 Gigapixel ARGUS-IS




DARPA and the USZ Army have taken the wraps off ARGUS-IS, a 1.8-gigapixel video surveillance platform that can resolve details as small as six inches from an altitude of 20,000 feet (6km). ARGUS is by far the highest-resolution surveillance platform in the world, and probably the highest-resolution camera in the world, period.

ARGUS, which would be attached to some kind of unmanned UAV (such as the Predator) and flown at an altitude of around 20,000 feet, can observe an area of 25 square kilometers (10sqmi) at any one time. If ARGUS was hovering over New York City, it could observe half of Manhattan. Two ARGUS-equipped drones, and the USZ could keep an eye on the entirety of Manhattan, 24/7.

It is the definition of “observe” in this case that will blow your mind, though. With an imaging unit that totals 1.8 billion pixels, ARGUS captures video (12 fps) that is detailed enough to pick out birds flying through the sky, or a lost toddler wandering around. These 1.8 gigapixels are provided via 368 smaller sensors, which DARPA/BAE says are just 5-megapixel smartphone camera sensors. These 368 sensors are focused on the ground via four image-stabilized telescopic lenses.

The end result, as you can see in the (awesome) video above, is a mosaic that can be arbitrarily zoomed. In the video, a BAE engineer zooms in from 17,500 feet to show a man standing in a parking lot doing some exercises. A white speck is a bird flying around. You can’t quite make out facial features or license plates (phew), but I wonder if that would be possible if ARGUS was used at a lower altitude (during a riot, say).

ARGUS’s insane resolution is only half of the story, though. It isn’t all that hard to strap a bunch of sensors together, after all. The hard bit, according to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), is the processing of all that image data. 1.8 billion pixels, at 12 fps, generates on the order of 600 gigabits per second. This equates to around 6 petabytes — or 6,000 terabytes — of video data per day. From what we can gather, some of the processing is done within ARGUS (or the drone that carries it), but most of the processing is done on the ground, in near-real-time, using a beefy supercomputer. We’re not entirely sure how such massive amounts of data are transmitted wirelessly, unless DARPA is waiting for its 100Gbps wireless tech to come to fruition.

The software, called Persistics after the concept of persistent ISR — intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance — is tasked with identifying objects on the ground, and then tracking them indefinitely. As you can see in the video, Persistics draws a colored box around humans, cars, and other objects of interest. These objects are then tracked by the software — and as you can imagine, tracking thousands of moving objects across a 10-square-mile zone is a fairly intensive task. The end user can view up to 65 tracking windows at one time.

The ARGUS system in its entirety produces one million terabytes per day — all of which is stored by the Army for future use. We’re a bit skeptical about PBS’s crazy figure (a million terabytes is an exabyte), but in theory most of that data is actually meta data — the coordinates and other identifying features of the thousands (millions?) of objects being tracked by ARGUS.

The original goal was to deploy ARGUS in Afghanistan, but that never came to pass. It isn’t entirely clear what ARGUS’s future is; it was meant to be mounted on Boeing’s high-altitude A160 Hummingbird helicopter (pictured right), but the chopper has since been scrapped. If ARGUS is to be deployed, it will most likely be strapped to the underbelly of a Predator drone. Where it will be used, however, with the war in Afghanistan apparently winding down, is another question entirely. Its efficacy in a military setting would be unsurpassed, but it’s easy to imagine how ARGUS could be used here at home in the US, too.

Via ExtremeTech
(Mildly Edited by PCF Web desk)

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Israhell Attacks Lebanon: 12 Israhelli Fighter Jets Enter Lebanese Air Space


Lebanon’s Naharnet news site said 12 Israeli fighter jets entered Lebanese air space in the last 24 hours. Flights overflew the Beka Valley.On Saturday, Lebanon’s Al-Mustaqbal daily said a southern weapons storage facility was struck. No official confirmation followed.

Lebanon’s Daily Star headlined “Israel hits target in Lebanon-Syria border area – sources,” saying:

According to four unnamed Western diplomats and regional security sources, “Israeli forces attacked a convoy on the Syrian-Lebanese border overnight.”

Little further information followed. Israel warned earlier about “high-tech anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles reaching Israel’s enemies.” Chemical weapons concerns were raised.

Lebanese military sources reported multiple Israeli incursions into Lebanon’s airspace overnight.

According to one source:

“There was definitely a hit in the border area.” Without elaborating, he said “something happened.”

Another said “The Israeli air force blew up a convoy which had just crossed the border from Syria into Lebanon.”

An IDF spokeswoman said “We do not comment on reports of this kind.”

France’s Le Figaro said Israeli aircraft attacked an alleged weapons convoy traveling from Syria to Lebanon. It’s not clear if it occurred in Syrian or Lebanese territory.

On Sunday, Israeli Vice Premier Silvan Shalom said “The entire world has said more than once that it takes developments in Syria very seriously.”

Negative developments would have to be addressed, he added.

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said Israel won’t “compromise on the security of the northern front.”

On January 29, Al-Monitor said IDF intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi traveled to Washington to meet US Pentagon officials. Whether doing so is connected to Israel’s attack isn’t clear.

Netanyahu held recent security meetings. Discussions focused on Syrian and Lebanese issues. Cabinet members were told:

“It is necessary to look at our surroundings, both at what is happening with Iran and its proxies, and what is happening in other arenas – lethal weaponry in Syria, which is steadily breaking up.”

Israel Air Force commander, Major General Amir Eshel, said Syria is “falling apart. Nobody has any idea right now what is going to happen in Syria on the day after, and how the country is going to look.”

“This is happening in a place with a huge weapons arsenal, some of which are new and advanced, and some of which are not conventional.”

On January 20, Mossad-connected DEBKAfile said “Israeli aircraft target(ed) Hizbollah missiles in Zabadani. S. Syria.”
 
Israeli aircraft struck “missile and arms convoys standing ready in southern Syria for transfer to Hizbollah in Lebanon, according to Western sources.”

On Sunday, Israel deployed two Iron Dome missile defense systems. They’re stationed on Israel’s Golan border. Their effectiveness is way overblown.

UN observers monitoring Syria’s border with Israel were withdrawn. At issue is why. Netanyahu’s stoking fear. He does it repeatedly on Iran. Whether he’s got something else in mind now bears close watching.

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French, British, USZ Warplanes and Troops occupy Yemeni Capital


As the UN Security Council continues its Yemen visit after holding a closed meeting with Yemeni and GCC – Gulf Cooperation Council – officials in Sana’a, the capital, residents woke up under foreign military occupation.

Keen to guarantee the safety of its state officials and ensure that no faction, group or individual will try to derail efforts being made in regards to moving Yemen transition of power forward, the United States of America, France and the United Kingdom took control between them of the sky and the ground.

Residents told the Yemen Post on Sunday they saw French warplanes patrol the sky of the capital in a great show of strength, which they say they felt a bit “over the top” and slightly insulting to Yemen military potency. A retired General, Ali Mohsen Khawlani stressed that Yemen should have been put in charge of all security details . “Our armed forces are perfectly capable and well-trained. What kind of message does it send to see foreign troops invade our capital. Are we moving toward a military occupation? Did foreign powers come to announce they will divide Yemen into zones of influence?”

Security sources revealed that on Saturday evening 250 Marines arrived in the capital, increasing yet again America’s military presence in the country. In addition to the Marines, several American CTU agents – couter-terrorism units – are said to have been deployed throughout the capital to scoop out any potential threat.

British troops scattered in Sana’a, criss-crossing with their American counterparts to cover as much ground as possible.

Dozens of French warplanes were sent to patrol the sky.

Earlier last week, President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi issued an order forbidding all residents of the capital to carry a weapon, officers and license bearers included following a request from foreign officials ahead of the arrival of the UNSC delegation to Sana’a.

 Yemen Post Staff

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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Death Sentences Upheld for Seven in Egypt over involvement in Blasphemous Movie



Cairo: A Cairo tribunal on Tuesday upheld death sentences passed on seven Egyptian Coptic Christians in absentia for their involvement in a movie that ridiculed the Holy Prophet [PBUH], a judicial source said.

The accused, including the director of the movie that triggered outrage across the Muslim world when it surfaced last September, are currently living in the USZ.

Terry Jones, an American pastor based in Florida who is said to have promoted the film and who had also been sentenced to death in absentia, had his sentence reduced to five years in jail by the tribunal.

Egyptian courts usually hand out the maximum punishment - execution in this case for a blasphemy verdict - and send the decision to the state’s top Islamic scholar to get his approval.

Tuesday’s confirmation of the sentences occurred after his opinions were taken.

If the defendants do return to Egypt, they could get a new trial, according to legal experts.


Pakistan Cyber Force
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Largest Russian Naval Exercise in Post-Soviet Era Begins


The Russian Navy has begun its biggest war games in the high seas in decades that will include manoeuvres off the shores of Syria.

More than two dozen ships drawn Russia’s all four fleets, as well as long-range warplanes, will conduct nine-day exercises in the Mediterranean and Black seas.

It is the largest naval manoeuvres since the collapse of the Soviet Union, officials said.

The purpose of the war games is to improve coordination between different naval groups during missions in “far-away sea zones,” the Russian Defence Ministry said on Sunday.

Experts suggested the exercises will serve to project Russia’s naval power to a highly explosive region and render moral support for the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“This part of the world ocean has key geopolitical interest for Russia, considering that the Russian Navy has a maintenance and supply facility in Syria,” the Russian Navy General Staff said last month.

Russia leases a naval base at the Syrian port of Tartous.

The naval manoeuvres will involve training for landing operations on the Syrian shore, informed sources told Russia’s Interfax news agency. Several big landing ships taking part in the Russian war games carry marines, munitions, and “military hardware,” Interfax reported last week.

Moscow may also be preparing for possible evacuation of thousands of Russian nationals from war-torn Syria, experts said.

About 9,000 Russians are registered with the Russian Embassy in Damascus, but their total number may well exceed 30,000.

Thousands of Russian women have married Syrian men who studied at Russian universities and military academies in past decades.

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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Egypt Army Chief Warns of 'collapse of state' as troops deployed to 'protect' Suez Canal




Egyptian Defense Minister General Abdel Fattah Sissi has warned that the failure to resolve the political crisis currently gripping Egypt could ultimately lead to the “collapse of the state.”

­Sissi made the declaration on an official army Facebook page, and said that future generations could be endangered by the enduring conflict.

His comments were made as Egypt deployed military troops to cities on the Suez Canal, a major trading route connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. Sissi said that his primary motivation behind the dispatching of troops is the protection of this key waterway, which allows ships to cross the waterways without having to traverse all the way around Africa.

“The army's deployment in Port Said and Suez provinces aims to protect the vital strategic interests of the state, at the forefront of which is the vital Suez Canal,” he said.

Egypt has seen 52 deaths in the past week alone as violent protests erupted in three major canal cities: Port Said, Ismailia and Suez. Islamist President Mohammed Morsi responded by declaring a state of emergency in the cities, and imposing a 9:00pm curfew for residents.

So far, this curfew has largely gone ignored. Shops and cafes remained open in the three Suez cities, and thousands protested, chanting anti-Morsi slogans throughout the night. Local media reported that 590 people were injured on Monday.

Following the declaration of the state of emergency, the Egyptian cabinet approved a law enabling President Morsi to deploy the army to “help police maintain security and protect vital state institutions.” The law instructs the army to operate as a police force, rather than a military force, and requires that detainees to be sent to civilian, not military, courts.

The army will remain a “solid and the cohesive block,” Sissi said, warning that the political, economic, social and security problems facing Egypt comprise “a threat to the country's security and stability.”

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Rehman Malik will Blame ISI for His own Failure 'if Karachi Falls'



Minister for Interior Rehman(Shaitan) Malik has said that there was information of serious terrorist attacks in Karachi next month, warning that if the port city was ‘detached from the country’ the government as well as the intelligence agencies would be responsible.

Talking to the media here outside the Parliament House on Monday, the federal minister said that the enemies across the border had planned to carry out a massacre in the economic hub of the country. The intelligence and law enforcement agencies had been asked to remain vigilant and play a proactive role to thwart any such move, as their job was not just confined to passing on information about any possible threats.

“There are some anti-state elements in the country that intend to destabilise Pakistan,” the minister added. It is the core responsibility of every citizen to work together for the betterment of the country and especially to play a role in maintaining law and order, he said.

He said it was meaningful that there was no terrorist act whenever the cellular phone service was suspended.

To a question, Malik said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and other parties were not holding any long march or sin-in in Islamabad. He said that he had talked to them and they had conveyed to him that they would only accompany some leaders from Karachi in their walk from the Parliament House to the Election Commission Headquarters to register a protest on the delimitation issue. He said it would be a peaceful walk and security would be provided to the participants.

Malik said the government was ready to provide security to former ambassador Husain Haqqani whenever he returned to the country to appear before the Supreme Court.

To another question, Rehman(Shaitan) Malik said he had asked the relevant authorities to take steps for installation of filtration system at the earliest so that YouTube could be unblocked.

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Pakistan-China Bilateral Trade Crosses $12 Billion Mark



The overall bilateral trade between Pakistan and China in 2012 crossed the figure of $12 billion for the first time according to the latest data released by China Customs.

“This puts us firmly on track to achieve the target of $15 billion in the next two to three years, said Pakistan Ambassador to China Masood Khalid following the news.

 “The leadership of the two countries has paid special attention in augmenting and cementing trade relations between our two countries and bringing them at par with our strategic partnership and political relations,” the Ambassador added.

 The data shows that Pakistan-China trade increased by 17.6% to a total of $12.4 billion in 2012. In a welcome development, Pakistan’s exports to China increased by 48.2% to $3.14 billion while imports from China increased by 9.9% to $9.2 billion. The two way trade in 2011 was $10.6 billion.

 The biggest increase in Pakistan exports to China in 2012 has been in textiles and textile articles, vegetable products, ores and mineral products, leather goods and base metals. Similarly, major imports from China include machinery and mechanical appliances, textiles and textile products, metals, chemical products, mineral ores, plastic scrap and transport equipment.

 Ambassador Khalid praised the role played by the Ministry of Commerce, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan and the Pakistan Federation of Chambers and Commerce in boosting the trade between the two countries.

 He said Pakistan also actively participated in a number of fairs last year such as the Eurasia Expo, Canton Fair and Kunming Fair which provided exhibitors from Pakistan to display their products and helped boost exports. Pakistan traders have been especially focusing on textiles, leather, sports goods, precious stones and handicrafts, he said.

 “We hope to build on this momentum and further increase our trade in future,” said Ambassador Khalid. More trade delegations from Pakistan would be encouraged to visit China and participate in the fairs, he said.

“We have an excellent and broad economic architecture in place between our two countries. In order to exploit it fully, it is vital to diversify our export basket, introduce value addition and provide better quality of goods and services,” he added.

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New Gun That Allows Cops to Shoot and Capture Your DNA



A new tool that would allow law enforcement to prevent criminals from running away or disappearing into a crowd before arrest was highlighted last week at The SHOT Show in Las Vegas.
SelectaDNA’s high velocity DNA tagging system in action, available in both pistol and rifle formats. (Photo: Selectamark Security Systems)

The High Velocity DNA Tagging system by the U.K.-based security company Selectamark was introduced with police officers in a riot situation in mind. Coming in both pistol and rifle form, the tool would allow police to remain 30 to 40 meters from the target and tag them with a SelectaDNA High Velocity pellet that contains a unique DNA code to ensure the correct person is apprehended later.
DNA pellets used by law enforcement officers to tag individuals with a unique SelectaDNA code from a distance. (Photo: Selectamark Security Systems)

“On contact with the target the uniquely-coded SelectaDNA solution leaves a synthetic DNA trace mark that will enable the relevant authorities to confirm or eliminate that person from their involvement in a particular situation and could ultimately lead to arrest and prosecution,” Selectamark Managing Director Andrew Knights said in a statement.

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Explosion at Fordow: Israhell's Propaganda or Iran’s biggest secret?



Contradictory reports of an explosion at Iran’s uranium enrichment site have been emerging. Iran denies it ever happened, calling it “Western propaganda” while Israel confirms it, putting tensions around upcoming nuclear talks.

Reports of the explosion at the underground Fordow plant, near the city of Qom, central-northern Iran, originally surfaced on Friday after a former Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Reza Kahlili, published his report on the WND.com website.

Iran has denied the reports, while Israel and some of US media reported that the explosion occurred and caused significant damage.

The West has maintained that the Fordow plant (which was discovered in 2009) has been producing uranium enriched to 20 per cent fissile purity since late 2011, compared to the 3.5 per cent level required for nuclear energy plants, and has been operating 700 centrifuges there since the start of the year.

‘Sabotage’ and ‘propaganda’

Iran has accused Israel and the US of trying to influence upcoming nuclear negotiations due to happen in coming weeks.

"The false news of an explosion at Fordow is Western propaganda ahead of nuclear negotiations to influence their process and outcome," Reuters quoted the deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Saeed Shamseddin Bar Broudi, as saying.

While Israeli intelligence has confirmed that the explosion occurred and caused serious damage, but the area had not been evacuated, The Sunday Times reported.

Israel is still in the "preliminary stages of understanding what happened and how significant it is," the UK newspaper quoted one official as saying. It is still unclear whether the explosion was “sabotage or an accident”.

Another source within Israeli intelligence has confirmed the same to The Times of London.

“Israel believes the Iranians have not evacuated the surrounding area. It is unclear whether that is because no harmful substances have been released, or because Tehran is trying to avoid sparking panic among residents,” the source said.

Initial report

The first to report about the explosion was Reza Kahlili for WND.com. The explosion “destroyed much of the installation and trapped about 240 personnel deep underground” including scientists and workers, many of whom are foreign nationals, Kahlili wrote.

The report cites a “source in the security forces protecting Fordow,” who states that the explosion occurred last Monday and that the plant itself is located inside a mountain to protect it from aerial attacks.

“The blast shook facilities within a radius of three miles. Security forces have enforced a no-traffic radius of 15 miles, and the Tehran-Qom highway was shut down for several hours after the blast,” the report said.

The emergency exits have collapsed at the site and regime fears more loss of life due to possible radiation.

On Monday, Kahlili, speaking to the Jerusalem Post, confirmed that the explosion could have been very damaging in terms of radiation leaks.

"This is the center of the Iranian nuclear program. It's essential for the regime, its activities, and its nuclear program. If such a blow was given to Fordow, it definitely harms [Iran] drastically. They were reaching for 20 per cent uranium enrichment, and were increasing output," he added.

Kahlili believes that the alleged explosion will be “receiving more coverage in the US” and that "more information" will become available to verify the incident.

But the credibility of the report has not been confirmed by most of the international media.

And the main problem with it remains that there are no supporting evidence to confirm it, according to Haaretz.

Credibility questioned

The objectivity of the report’s author has been called into question. Kahlili worked for CIA in the 1980s while living in Iran, collecting information, then in a few years he was moved to the US with his family.

“Kahlili himself is a frequent speaker at events in US organized by right-wing organizations and those that support the right in Israel … He also compared the regime in Tehran to that of the Nazis, and called upon Israel to bomb Iran's nuclear installations”, Haaretz journalist Anshel Pfeffer reported.

Right now he makes his living writing books and giving lectures on Iran. Kahlili claims “to still have an impressive network of sources in various government agencies.”

He has never revealed his face, citing fear of retribution as the reason, appearing always in a baseball cap, dark glasses and a surgical mask.

“His employment by the CIA has been confirmed by agency sources and an approving review of his book [A Time to Betray] even appeared on the CIA website,” added Pfeffer.

It has also been pointed out by the media that if the explosion did indeed occur, why were there no satellite photos of emergency vehicles and rescue operations afterwards and no affected relatives speaking out.

Israel involved?

There had been reports of sightings of Israeli aircraft near the facility at the time of the explosion, which Israel has denied, the Sunday Times reported.

Israel’s acting defense minister on Sunday said the news of the explosion is “welcomed” and that any deterrence to Iran’s nuclear program is good news.

However, it has been argued that Israel lacks the capability to penetrate the Fordow site and could not be involved, while the US on the other hand possesses the necessary military technology.

“There have been many references to the fact that Israel doesn’t have strong enough bombs to penetrate [Fordow] from the air, but the US MOP [massive ordnance penetrator] is reported to be able to penetrate it,” Emily Landau, director of the Arms Control and Regional Security Project at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies, told the Jerusalem Post, adding that America’s MOP is operational.

The complete shutdown of the Fordow plant was one of the three demands made by the P5+1 Nations (the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany) on Iran during nuclear talks, which ended last year after officials from the Islamic Republic refused to negotiate.

The West has been concerned that Iran is working towards developing a nuclear weapon. While Iran has maintained its program is peaceful and that it needs to produce highly-enriched uranium for medical use.
(rt)
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