Tuesday, November 8, 2011 - 3:24 PM

The International Atomic Energy Agency released its much-anticipated report on Iran's nuclear capabilities this afternoon, urging Iranian officials "to engage substantively with the agency without delay for the purpose of providing clarifications regarding possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program" (you can find the full report here). Let's take a look at some of the most incendiary passages:
The Iranian press is up in arms about the report, calling it "US dictated" and a study based on a "laptop of lies." But the big question is what happens next. As the Israeli media speculates about military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, the U.S. and its allies weigh harsher sanctions against an increasingly assertive Iran.
Well may the IAEA not name that "foreign expert"
His name is Vyacheslav Danilenko, and he is THE world's expert on the production of nanodiamonds via controlled implosion.
His explanation (which the IAEA coyly describes as "ostensibly") that he went to Iran to assist them in the manufacture of nanodiamonds is, indeed, perfectly reasonable i.e. The Manufacture Of Nanodiamonds Is What He Does, And He Has Been Doing This Since The 1960s.
I'll also note, in passing, that the way in which you make nanodiamonds is to use a "bus sized steel container"......
Mind you, that container has to be filled with water when you fire off the explosives, which does lead to the amusing image of Iran attacking Israel by with ballistic missiles fitted out with Big Ol' Bathtubs.
Which must do wonder for their range.....
Why all the secrecy about the sources of this information? Why aren't the countries named? Why isn't the actual information and documents made available for inspection and testing? This whole exercise reeks of the Iraqui WMD debacle (and , of course the NYT and WAPO are all over it with even more vague and scary stories.)
It is clear from the IAEA’s report that these activities took place under a highly structured nuclear program. Iran’s major nuclear effort, identified as the AMAD plan,was stopped “rather abruptly” by Tehran in late 2003, but some staff beth jones may have “remained in place to record and document the achievements of their respective projects.
Unfortunately, more recent activities receive a far lower level of clarity from the IAEA James Stone . According to the report, there are, indications that some activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device continued after 2003, and that some may still be ongoing,” but “the Agency’s ability to construct an equally good understanding of activities in Iran after the end of 2003 is reduced, due to the more limited information available to the Agency.
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