The White House has sought to clarify remarks by US President Joe Biden who declared that the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” is at the highest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre underscored that there are no indications "that Russia is preparing to imminently use nuclear weapons".
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com
"Our country also has various means of destruction, and, in some cases, they are more modern than those of NATO countries," President Vladimir Putin told Russians on Wednesday. "If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will, of course, use all means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people," he said.
Read more at:https: //www.dw.com
 |
| North Korea’s missile capability inceasing |
350 American nuclear warheads remain still in Europe
German peace group urges closure of US bases
A major German peace group on Saturday called for the closure of all US military bases in Germany and the removal of all American nuclear bombs.A major concern of Germans are the existence of American nuclear weapons on their soil as Besier made clear that a "short-term" objective was the removal of all US atomic arms. At least 20 US atomic warheads are reportedly still deployed underground at the German air base in the southwestern town of Buechel where they can be mounted on German Tornado fighter jets.Around 350 American nuclear warheads remain still in Europe, according to various media reports.
US has contingency plans to secure Pakistan's nuclear arsenal in case country falls into radical Islamist hands - by Ewen MacAskill
The Pentagon says it is working on a series of contingency plans to prevent Pakistan's nuclear arsenal falling into the hands of Islamist radicals. One of the contingency plans would involve US special forces, working in conjunction with Pakistan's military and intelligence services, to spirit away any weapons at imminent risk. But the US cannot be confident that the Pakistan military would co-operate at such a time. In spite of US aid to help with security, the Pakistan government has remained suspicious of US intentions, fearing that it might plant devices capable of neutralising the weapons.
Pakistan, which carried out its first nuclear test in 1998, claims to have about 80 to 120 warheads.
Nuclear hypocrisy - by Joe Conason
Trying to understand what is on George W. Bush's mind when he opens his mouth is often a fruitless exercise, but his latest statement concerning Iran, nuclear weapons and World War III was troubling as well as opaque. Just what did the president mean when he uttered those apocalyptic remarks on Wednesday? "We've got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel," he blathered. "So I've told people that, if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon." Sorry, but the Iranian leadership and many other unsavory figures around the world cannot be prevented from "having the knowledge" needed to build a nuclear weapon, since, as Matthew Yglesias has noted, the scientific and engineering information is commonly available.
480 US nuclear warheads in Europe
A documentary aired on Italian TV channel, RAI 24, has claimed that the U.S. military is keeping 480 nuclear warheads across Europe, 90 in Italy. Fifty of the warheads are being kept at Aviano Air Base, north-east of Italy and forty others at a military facility near Brescia. The documentary warns of possible nuclear strikes against countries in the Middle East.
Pointing to remarks made by NATO's Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Weapons of Mass Destruction policy, Guy Roberts, the documentary emphasizes that all sovereign countries have the right to call on the U.S. government to remove all its nuclear weapons from their soil.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad here on Wednesday said if Washington revises its attitude, resumption of ties between Iran and the US will be possible, stressing that his country seeks friendly and extensive ties with all the world nations, except for Israel.
Speaking during his first press conference in the new Iranian year (i.e. from March 21,2007 to March 20, 2008), the Iranian president said in response to a Fox News question about possibility of the resumption of ties between Iran and the US that these were the Americans themselves who cut relations with Iran. "They thought that if they cut the ties, our nation would have to go under much pressure, but this did not come true," he said, and continued, "With the present kind of attitude shown by the US, no world nation is willing to establish ties with the US."
Around the globe: U.S. allies: No attack on Iran from their lands
ABOARD THE USS JOHN C. STENNIS — The United States wrapped up a massive military exercise in the Persian Gulf Wednesday, putting on a show of strength for Iran even as the United Arab Emirates became the second Gulf nation to declare it would not take part in any attack on the Islamic Republic. The U.S. has denied any intention to attack. But the public refusals of two allies to help could affect U.S. military options or require shifting of resources if tensions did seriously escalate.
Qatar — home to 6,500 U.S. troops and the enormous al-Udeid Air Base, headquarters of all American air operations in the Middle East — said this month it would not permit an attack on Iran from its soil. The Gulf Cooperation Council, a loose alliance of Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the Emirates, has called on all its members not to support any U.S. action against Iran.
Ganging up on Iran - by Linda S. Heard
"I’ll begin with a question. Is Iran an aggressor or a victim? If you’ve answered aggressor then may I suggest you take a moment to reflect. Unfortunately, the fabricated scenario that led us into Iraq is at play again. And once again we’re being suckered into being accepting of a neoconservative plan designed to ensure America’s domination over this region’s oilfields and maintain Israel as the sole nuclear power in the Middle East. This is practically a replay of events leading up to the invasion of Iraq. In this case, the US-driven UN Security Council has ganged up to coerce Iran with sanctions into giving up its legitimate right to enrich uranium under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In 30 days, the UN screws will, no doubt, be further tightened.
Today, Bush and Co. are intent on cornering Iran with the object of regime change. According to the New Yorker’s investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, there are plans on the table to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities using bunker-busting tactical nuclear weapons. Ironic isn’t it! Hersh says Bush privately calls the Iranian president “the new Hitler.” Former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in February that the Bush administration is seeking a pretext to attack Iran. At the same time, Washington is funding Iranian opposition groups in the diaspora as well as militant ethnic separatist groups within Iran. There have already been several violent incidents in country stamped with the CIA’s fingerprints.
Draw your own conclusions as to who is aggressing whom, but bear in mind that Iran has never threatened to attack the US or its allies other than in retaliation for a strike on it. Moreover, unlike the US, Iran does not harbour neo-imperialist ambitions and does not have a record of launching wars or invading other countries."
Admit fault to help sailors: Iran to U.K.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Iran’s foreign minister said Wednesday that Britain must admit that its 15 sailors and marines entered Iranian waters in order to resolve a standoff over their capture by the Mideast nation. Manouchehr Mottaki’s statement in an interview with The Associated Press came on a day of escalating tensions, highlighted by an Iranian video of the detained Britons that showed the only woman captive saying her group had “trespassed” in Iranian waters. Britain angrily denounced the video as unacceptable and froze most dealings with the Mideast nation.
Earlier Wednesday, a brief video of the captured Britons was shown on Iran’s Arabic language satellite television station, Al-Alam. The video also displayed what appeared to be a handwritten letter from Turney, 26, to her family. “I have written a letter to the Iranian people to apologize for us entering their waters,” it said. The letter also asks Turney’s parents in Britain to look after her 3-year-old daughter, Molly, and her husband, Adam.
Russian intelligence sees U.S. military buildup on Iran border
Russian military intelligence services are reporting a flurry of activity by U.S. Armed Forces near Iran's borders, a high-ranking security source said Tuesday. "The latest military intelligence data point to heightened U.S. military preparations for both an air and ground operation against Iran," the official said, adding that the Pentagon has probably not yet made a final decision as to when an attack will be launched.
He said the Pentagon is looking for a way to deliver a strike against Iran "that would enable the Americans to bring the country to its knees at minimal cost." He also said the U.S. Naval presence in the Persian Gulf has for the first time in the past four years reached the level that existed shortly before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
U.S. Aircraft Carriers Start Exercises in Gulf
The captain of the USS Dwight D Eisenhower carrier strike group in the Gulf said a second U.S. aircraft carrier had entered Gulf waters on Tuesday to carry out exercises. It is the first time a second aircraft carrier has entered Gulf waters since the attack on Iraq in 2003 and comes at a time of rising tension with Iran over its nuclear programme and the capture of British military personnel. Captain Dan Cloyd said in an interview the USS John C. Stennis strike group would carry out dual carrier exercises for a "few days or more", but could stay on in the Gulf for longer.
He said the deployment and exercises were not timed to exert pressure on Iran and did not mean a military confrontation was looming.
Easter Surprise: US Attack on Iran, New 9/11... or Worse - by Heather Wokusch
The Bush administration continues moving closer to a nuclear attack on Iran, and we ignore the obvious buildup at our peril.
Russian media are sounding alarms. In February, ultra-nationalist leader Vladimir Shirinovsky warned that the US would launch a strike against Tehran at the end of this month. Then last week, the Russian News and Information Agency Novosti (RIA-Novosti) quoted military experts predicting the US will attack Iran on April 6th, Good Friday. According to RIA-Novosti, the imminent assault will target Iranian air and naval defense capabilities, armed forces headquarters as well as key economic assets and administration headquarters. Massive air strikes will be deployed, possibly tactical nuclear weapons as well, and the Bush administration will attempt to exploit the resulting chaos and political unrest by installing a pro-US government.
Seymour Hersh has published numerous articles in The New Yorker detailing the Bush administration’s plans to invade Iran. His latest, "The Redirection," discusses US participation in Iran-based clandestine operations, the kidnapping of hundreds of Iranians (including many "humanitarian and aid workers") by US forces and the shocking revelation that an Iran-Contra-type scandal has been run out of Vice President Dick Cheney’s office with some of the illicit funds going to groups "sympathetic to al-Qaeda."
"The Redirection" also reports that the Pentagon has been planning to bomb Iran for a year and that a recently-established group connected to the Joint Chiefs of Staff is formulating a assault strategy to be implemented "upon orders from the President, within twenty-four hours." Hersh notes that current capabilities "allow for an attack order this spring," possibly when four US aircraft-carrier battle groups are scheduled to be in the Persian Gulf simultaneously.
