IRAN: Nuclear bomb as metaphor

There are few signs that Iran is going to back down on U.S. demands ahead of possible U.N. Security Council sanctions this weekend. Washington is in a tizzy over Iran's continued enrichment of uranium, a step in the process for making a nuclear bomb as well as fuel for a power plant.

Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati is a high-ranking cleric close to the highest echelons of power in Iran. He delivered a fiery and defiant Friday prayer speech directed at the West:

The International Atomic Energy Agency has reported that Iran has replied to all questions. The Security Council and the U.S. and its allies should be ashamed of taking our dossier up. But whatever you do, our people will not back down and our borders are a nuclear weapon. Except for nuclear weapons, all other peaceful nuclear activities, including uranium enrichment, are open to us. Our people in the rallies of the revolution are our bombs. We do not need nuclear bombs. You make bombs.

Maybe to lighten the mood, Jannati also advised the Iranian people to avoid "committing sins" during the upcoming Persian New Year holidays.

— Ramin Mostaghim in Tehran

Photo: Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, a high-ranking cleric who often speaks for the Iranian government, is shown speaking at a Friday prayer service last year. Credit: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA

Comments

[Jaff Sassani]

The religion leaders like Mullah Ahmad Jannati in that age should think about peace instead of building atomic bombs. The Bombs won’t sole the hardship of Iranian people. The Mullah’s should give the people freedom and work like the Japanese leaders giving their people.

We are the people in Middle East will be dreaming that all mighty God will bring us leaders to think like the Europeans, American and Japanese leaders to solve our problems and bring us peace. We hate warmongers and corrupt leaders but all mighty God will give us only that kind.

Why we never had leaders like Washington, Jefferson, Churchill and General de Gaulle. We are unfortunate people on earth always we have leaders like with vision of destructions, killing, corruption, double crossing and full of hatred toward the people they rule without ever thinking about their welfare.

[St Michael Traveler]

The Iran Counter-Proliferation Act

The US “Iran Counter-Proliferation Act” is a pending legislation being rushed in the Senate by the Israeli Lobby and neoconservative supporters. The proposed Act threatens a cultural embargo on all things Iranian. This act along with a proposed third round of U.N. sanctions are marshaled by our Administration against Iranian people.

It is irrelevant that IAEA and our own US intelligence agencies have stated that Iran is not developing nuclear bomb and had stopped the process since 2003. Our national experts in nuclear bomb manufacturing know well that Iran is not capable to make nuclear bomb; Iran had not have enriched uranium (80% or higher U-235 to U-238 isotopes). IAEA had stated that Iran has enriched small quantities of natural uranium to less than 5%. This is the enrichment level required for a civilian nuclear power plant.

Then what is the objective of the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act?

The objective of this Act is to pressure Iranian people to stop nuclear fuel cycle activities. The function of nuclear fuel cycle is production of fuel for power plants producing electrical energy and radioactive isotopes for use in medicine, agriculture, and educational research. The present US administration asserts that once Iranian people have learned about use of the fuel production technique for fuel production, it would be a smaller step to enrich the fuel from less than 5% to more than 80% and make nuclear bomb. Thus, the title of the act “counter-proliferation” refers to stopping Iranian people to learn about nuclear physics, nuclear chemistry and engineering. But, Iranian scientists and engineers already know the nuclear science and engineering of uranium fuel cycle.

Our government rationale is comparable to arguing that teaching sciences in our high schools and colleges would give students the knowledge to make bomb. Thus if we follow the purpose of the counter-proliferation logic teaching sciences should be stopped!

Will the act stop Iranian people to advance in science and engineering of nuclear fuel cycle? No. The Act will make life harder for some of the people in Iran. The Act will adversely affect any civilized political rapprochement between our government and Iranian people.

Many experts in international politics suggest:

1. Stop harassing Iranian people, threatening them, and making life harder for the ordinary people.
2. Start talking unconditionally with Iranian government. Our actions only further embed Iranian government into Russian and Chinese spheres of influences.
3. Instability in Iran will drag the entire Middle East into very unstable region. Israel and the United States would not benefit from this instability.
4. Iranians are friendly to the people of the United States; escalation of hostility will change the friendly to very unfriendly people.
5. Israel, backed by the United States, must stop threatening Iran. These threats will adversely affect Israel.

[Jake]

"Let’s not forget he and many senior leaders like him rushed tens of thousands of teen-age boys to the Iran-Iraq war fronts in 1980s as human mine-sweepers with a key to heaven around their necks.

"If you are under 13 years of age you may read this message board, but you may not participate."

Rather Ironic

[Rima]

We have to differentiate between Iranian people the theocratic tyranny ruling them. It is really disgusting when a mullah like Jannti, who has had a direct role in atrocities directed against Iranians particularly the 1988 massacre of political prisoners there, speaks of “Iranian people.” Let’s not forget he and many senior leaders like him rushed tens of thousands of teen-age boys to the Iran-Iraq war fronts in 1980s as human mine-sweepers with a key to heaven around their necks. When he says “our people… are our bombs” he is in fact talking about his government's suicide bombers not the average Iranians.

[Kiumars]

Zion media are all like this; we all know that!

[Ario]

Regardless of the U.S.’s historical role in developing and use of the bomb, let’s not forget that Ahmadinejad wants his administration to expedite the advent of Mahdi which requires a total chaos! He made it clear to rest of the world that Iran is the “number one” super power, you do the math.

[borzou]

To hass: I think your comment is unfair on two counts. First off, when U.S. officials hinted that they might be willing to use tactical nuclear weapons against Iran the U.S. media including the LA Times covered it aggressively and critically. Secondly, the blog item was not intended at all to be critical of Iran; just a fairly straightforward synopsis of Jannati's Friday prayer remarks.

[hass]

Funny - when the US explicitly threatens Iran with nuclear attach, we don't read these sorts of analyses from the LA Times. . . as if there's some God-given right for the US to nuke everyone ELSE which should go without question.

[HonestAbe]

To some extent Jannati is right as far as Iran's people being it's bombs, Iranians pull together when attacked, Iran's sizable population and it's sense of pride are two factors why Iran would most definitely fight back if attacked.
It's a matter of time before Iran becomes a Nuclear Power, changing the balance of powers in that region for good.

[James]

How is it possible that those who make war, drop bombs, make thousands of nuclear arms, torture in their jails, and wiretap—that is to say, the biggest violators of human rights in the world—can try and impose their model on everyone else?