N-Philes :: Forums - Iran's plot to mine uranium

08-06-2006, 12:10 AM

Crusader

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Iran's plot to mine uranium

Quote:

The Sunday Times August 06, 2006

Iran's plot to mine uranium in Africa
Jon Swain, David Leppard and Brian Johnson-Thomas

IRAN is seeking to import large consignments of bomb-making uranium from the African mining area that produced the Hiroshima bomb, an investigation has revealed.
A United Nations report, dated July 18, said there was “no doubt” that a huge shipment of smuggled uranium 238, uncovered by customs officials in Tanzania, was transported from the Lubumbashi mines in the Congo.

Tanzanian customs officials told The Sunday Times it was destined for the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, and was stopped on October 22 last year during a routine check.

The disclosure will heighten western fears about the extent of Iran’s presumed nuclear weapons programme and the strategic implications of Iran’s continuing support for Hezbollah during the war with Israel.

It has also emerged that terror cells backed by Iran may be prepared to mount attacks against nuclear power plants in Britain. Intelligence circulating in Whitehall suggests that sleeper cells linked to Tehran have been conducting reconnaissance at some nuclear sites in preparation for a possible attack.

The parliamentary intelligence and security committee has reported that Iran represented one of the three biggest security threats to Britain. The UN security council has given Iran until the end of this month to halt its uranium enrichment activities. The UN has threatened sanctions if Tehran fails to do so.

A senior Tanzanian customs official said the illicit uranium shipment was found hidden in a consignment of coltan, a rare mineral used to make chips in mobile telephones. The shipment was destined for smelting in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, delivered via Bandar Abbas, Iran’s biggest port.

“There were several containers due to be shipped and they were all routinely scanned with a Geiger counter,” the official said.

“This one was very radioactive. When we opened the container it was full of drums of coltan. Each drum contains about 50kg of ore. When the first and second rows were removed,the ones after that were found to be drums of uranium.”

In a nuclear reactor, uranium 238 can be used to breed plutonium used in nuclear weapons.

The customs officer, who spoke to The Sunday Times on condition he was not named, added: “The container was put in a secure part of the port and it was later taken away, by the Americans, I think, or at least with their help. We have all been told not to talk to anyone about this.”

The report by the UN investigation team was submitted to the chairman of the UN sanctions committee, Oswaldo de Rivero, at the end of July and will be considered soon by the security council.

It states that Tanzania provided “limited data” on three other shipments of radioactive materials seized in Dar es Salaam over the past 10 years.

The experts said: “In reference to the last shipment from October 2005, the Tanzanian government left no doubt that the uranium was transported from Lubumbashi by road through Zambia to the united republic of Tanzania.”

Lubumbashi is the capital of mineral-rich Katanga province, home of the Shinkolobwe uranium mine that produced material for the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

The mine has officially been closed since 1961, before the country’s independence from Belgium, but the UN investigators have told the security council that they found evidence of illegal mining still going on at the site.

In 1999 there were reports that the Congolese authorities had tried to re-open the mine with the help of North Korea. In recent years miners are said to have broken open the lids and extracted ore from the shafts, while police and local authorities turned a blind eye.

In June a parliamentary committee warned that Britain could be attacked by Iranian terrorists if tensions increased.

A source with access to current MI5 assessments said: “There is great concern about Iranian sleeper cells inside this country. The intelligence services are taking this threat very seriously.”

Source

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08-06-2006, 08:00 AM	#2
~~Assman~~ CTU agent Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 8,945	I think the Iranian government have been importing uranium from the Rossing Uranium Limited in Namibia, but I highly doubt that's still going on. Eh, I blame it on the U.S. for not allowing the Afrikaners to rule South Africa. Last edited by Assman : 08-06-2006 at 08:29 AM.

08-06-2006, 09:27 AM

bleeper2.0

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Quote:

I think the Iranian government have been importing uranium from the Rossing Uranium Limited in Namibia, but I highly doubt that's still going on. Eh, I blame it on the U.S. for not allowing the Afrikaners to rule South Africa.

Yeah, there is nothing greater than minority rule. Moron.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by caster13

If that makes me a douche, than call me the king and master of all douchery. Actually, just call me "Your Highness".

08-06-2006, 01:57 PM

Caster13

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Assman

"I blame everybody else because they wouldn't let us rule them".

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08-06-2006, 04:05 PM	#5
~~Assman~~ CTU agent Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 8,945	Mandela says hello!

08-06-2006, 07:25 PM	#6
leafs rule #1 Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: o0o0o0o0o Posts: 3,045	huh? __________________

08-06-2006, 11:52 PM

Caster13

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Quote:

Originally Posted by leafs rule

huh?

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08-07-2006, 09:42 AM	#8
~~Assman~~ CTU agent Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 8,945	Afrikaners would've been better off in power than Mandela, since he was a pinko commie, terrorist who even had a few atomic bombs hidden in Zululand! DeKlerk made a big mistake when he decided to negotiate with Mandela, instead of Mangosuthu Buthelezi. "DUR, DUR, DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUR!" Last edited by Assman : 08-07-2006 at 10:00 AM.

08-07-2006, 12:30 PM	#9
Caster13 Meow =^_^= Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada Posts: 4,808	What does that have to do with what bleeper said? __________________ "I have captured the enemy for meat testing! Praise me! PRAISE ME!!!" -GIR Wi-Fi ID: 1627 8934 4983 8539

08-07-2006, 12:35 PM	#10
~~Assman~~ CTU agent Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 8,945	I was replying to what you said, and sorry. I have him on ignore. =P

08-07-2006, 10:26 PM	#11
Caster13 Meow =^_^= Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada Posts: 4,808	Well in that case, are you basically saying that the U.S. (or anybody else) should've intereferred in an South African free election? __________________ "I have captured the enemy for meat testing! Praise me! PRAISE ME!!!" -GIR Wi-Fi ID: 1627 8934 4983 8539

08-07-2006, 11:22 PM	#12
~~Assman~~ CTU agent Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 8,945	What's your interpretation of "interferred"? Coups? A friendly chit chat? If I had to choose, It wouldn't be a terrorist who had WMDs. Also, it isn't like this is the first time the U.S. has "interferred" in free elections.

08-08-2006, 12:56 AM	#13
Caster13 Meow =^_^= Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada Posts: 4,808	As in do anything to try to make Mandela lose or not win the election. __________________ "I have captured the enemy for meat testing! Praise me! PRAISE ME!!!" -GIR Wi-Fi ID: 1627 8934 4983 8539

08-08-2006, 05:54 PM	#14
~~MrSnuggles~~ Banned Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Land of the free, home of the brave Posts: 8,147	so if iran is looking for nuke material, why is it impossible that iraq was too?

08-08-2006, 06:19 PM

#15

Calcifer

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Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSnuggles

so if iran is looking for nuke material, why is it impossible that iraq was too?

I suppose with this logic, all countries are looking for nuke material. We should go into every country and look for nukes then. Right? RIGHT....?

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08-08-2006, 10:11 PM

#16

Caster13

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Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSnuggles

so if iran is looking for nuke material, why is it impossible that iraq was too?

There's a difference between looking for and actually having.

And check your PMs.

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08-10-2006, 03:15 AM

#17

~~MrSnuggles~~

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Calcifer

I suppose with this logic, all countries are looking for nuke material. We should go into every country and look for nukes then. Right? RIGHT....?

with what logic? iraq was interested in WMD, nobody disputes that.

08-10-2006, 10:39 AM

#18

Caster13

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Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSnuggles

with what logic? iraq was interested in WMD, nobody disputes that.

Do you dispute there's a difference between looking for and actually having?

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08-10-2006, 12:32 PM	#19
~~MrSnuggles~~ Banned Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Land of the free, home of the brave Posts: 8,147	nobody said iraq bought uranium, they said they were seeking to buy it.

08-10-2006, 02:46 PM

#20

Caster13

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Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSnuggles

nobody said iraq bought uranium, they said they were seeking to buy it.

That, I would imagine, is what you were trying to imply with your first post. I got that. I don't think anybody would have said that Hussein would have ignored a chance to get a nuclear weapon if he had the chance. But as I said in my first reply to you, there's a difference between looking for and actually having.

And considering the perspective of relatively recent events in regards to Iraq, the 'looking for' is rather irrelevant to the 'having'.

And have you checked your PMs? How come you never respond when I ask you that?

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