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IAEA - there was no imminent threat (Original Post) malaise Jun 22 OP
I didn't think it was possible MorbidButterflyTat Jun 22 #1
Add to this dilemma.... FarPoint Jun 22 #2
Uranium enriched to 60% ForgedCrank Jun 22 #3
Weapons Grade Is 90% Minimum ProfessorGAC Jun 22 #6
The point is ForgedCrank Jun 22 #18
Do You Not Know What "Imminent" Means? ProfessorGAC Jun 22 #22
And I disagree. ForgedCrank Jun 22 #28
We are not the trustworthy, peace loving choie Jun 22 #38
It's in the very title of the article NickB79 Jun 22 #25
they don't need to now SonOfNebanaube Jun 22 #39
But most of the work is getting it to 60%, 60% to 90% goes a lot faster EX500rider Jun 23 #63
I wondered about this dsc Jun 23 #66
This is why I have mixed feelings. EndlessWire Jun 22 #7
Iran's one nuclear reactor for energy uses Uranium 3-5%.... Melon Jun 22 #9
I'm right there ForgedCrank Jun 22 #19
Here's an article that comes to the same conclusion appmanga Jun 22 #30
Such certitude! dpibel Jun 22 #31
I guess ForgedCrank Jun 22 #34
Islamaphobia! dpibel Jun 22 #43
Screech all you want, ForgedCrank Jun 22 #45
LOL dpibel Jun 22 #46
Sorry I ForgedCrank Jun 22 #47
no SonOfNebanaube Jun 22 #40
What was the rush? choie Jun 22 #41
At this point I have EndlessWire Jun 23 #49
For about half a century, all of the world's research reactors ran on highly enriched uranium. NNadir Jun 23 #50
You are not going to convince me EndlessWire Jun 23 #57
You are not going to convince me that enriching uranium is only carried out for warlike purposes. NNadir Jun 23 #58
What did I say? EndlessWire Jun 23 #70
This is nonsense. The Petten reactor which produced all of the world's medical isotopes... NNadir Jun 23 #55
Have the ForgedCrank Jun 23 #64
Don't pretend to understand nuclear technology. You don't.. NNadir Jun 23 #65
Yea, sometimes ForgedCrank Jun 23 #67
Thank you for the frank acknowledgement. NNadir Jun 23 #68
No problem. ForgedCrank Jun 23 #69
My family is not violent. We don't call for killing people out of fear and ignorance, not even beating them up. NNadir Jun 24 #72
Excuse me. EndlessWire Jun 24 #71
I don't know why or IF they are enriching uranium. Neither do the war mongers here. I have historically... NNadir Jun 24 #73
Dubya started a war based on lies and was never held accountable Skittles Jun 22 #4
The Epstein Files! BidenRocks Jun 22 #5
Kick dalton99a Jun 22 #8
That was his own intelligence community assessment surfered Jun 22 #10
Intelligence is not a word one associated with malaise Jun 22 #12
Truly. surfered Jun 22 #15
...and dysenteric whaleshit... lastlib Jun 22 #16
W was Cheney's puppet Skittles Jun 22 #24
So now Russia and China are talking about sending nuclear war heads to Iran. multigraincracker Jun 22 #11
THIS malaise Jun 22 #14
The 1953 Iranian coup d'etat, aka Operation Ajax Celerity Jun 22 #27
Thanks for this article. multigraincracker Jun 22 #33
How dare you choie Jun 22 #42
"It's Only Make Believe" sinkingfeeling Jun 22 #13
Al Jazeera? Mosby Jun 22 #17
Netanyahu on Iran's imminent nuclear threat iemanja Jun 22 #29
It's hard to trust Israeli intelligence when Israel's leadership are all just as corrupt & selfserving as ours SunImp Jun 23 #48
Just mobile anthrax labs? Were any of those ever found? LiberalArkie Jun 22 #20
You may have forgotten those were "unknown knowns"........... AZ8theist Jun 22 #23
Any minute now! Aussie105 Jun 22 #21
Nailed it malaise Jun 22 #26
The IAEA monitored it and documents the 60% Uranium. Plus Iran releases info on it. Melon Jun 23 #51
Do any of you remember the Great Bogeyman of 1964? The Domino theory and the Tonkin Gulf Incident? Ping Tung Jun 22 #32
Recommended. H2O Man Jun 22 #35
AGREED, there was NO "imminent threat"--- Jack Valentino Jun 22 #36
Or offering.... Wonder how big a crypto deposit they made. yourout Jun 23 #53
This message was self-deleted by its author choie Jun 22 #37
He wants that vacation property on the Gaza strip, Gabbard told him the truth spanone Jun 22 #44
Deja vu all over again Lulu KC Jun 23 #52
Snookered again I was. applegrove Jun 23 #54
And whatever threat did exist, now it's worse FullySupportDems Jun 23 #56
I asked for evidence in another thread... -misanthroptimist Jun 23 #59
He did this for diversion. His numbers were tanking. spanone Jun 23 #60
Indeed malaise Jun 23 #61
They also said this: EX500rider Jun 23 #62

FarPoint

(14,063 posts)
2. Add to this dilemma....
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 06:59 PM
Jun 22

There is no set-up to evaluate Iran's current nuclear status, WMD etc.... no one, no inspectors to validate or dispute the known false claims...

ForgedCrank

(2,723 posts)
3. Uranium enriched to 60%
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 07:17 PM
Jun 22

only has one useful purpose.

03 March, 2025:

Following my last report, Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% U‑235 has increased to 275 kg, up from 182 kg in the past quarter. Iran is the only non-nuclear weapon State enriching to this level, causing me serious concern.

It has been four years since Iran stopped implementing its nuclear-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), including provisionally applying its Additional Protocol and therefore it is also four years since the Agency was able to conduct complementary access in Iran.


https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/statements/iaea-director-generals-introductory-statement-to-the-board-of-governors-3-march-2025

So yea, these guys would know what's going on now since they were no longer allowed to actually inspect anything, right?

ProfessorGAC

(73,366 posts)
6. Weapons Grade Is 90% Minimum
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 07:40 PM
Jun 22

Preferably over 93%.
Not sure what this guy's point is.
60% may not have many uses (submarine reactors), but it's not useful as a fission explosive.
And, if radiologic weaponry is the goal, 60% would be scary. But, that isn't even implied in that piece.
But, the enrichment from 60 to >90% is very expensive, very time consuming, and if they really had the capability to reach that high number, they would have done it.
Everything in that citation still doesn't meet the definition of "imminent".

ForgedCrank

(2,723 posts)
18. The point is
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 08:07 PM
Jun 22

that it is enriched far beyond what is required for any peaceful purpose.
People claiming there was no threat or no weapons program are whistling past the graveyard.
Even if they weren't trying to make weapons (which I find laughable), what does anyone suppose they were going to do with that? Give it to Hamas for Christmas?

ProfessorGAC

(73,366 posts)
22. Do You Not Know What "Imminent" Means?
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 08:38 PM
Jun 22

We're talking about justifying a military strike using "imminent threat" as the lever.
60% does not constitute an imminent threat.
So, the lack of other uses is irrelevant because what it is NOT is weapons grade.
I'm disputing the immediacy of the threat and that isn't whistling past the graveyard. You using that term doesn't mean it's accurate.
What is accurate is that there are miles & miles between 60% & weapons Grade.
Do I want Iran to have nukes? Absolutely not. But, I think they were so far from it that there is no justification for the recent events.
You seem to want to excuse this action by a guy who said he would not involve the US in wars unless the US was threatened. We weren't; they did it anyway. And, you seem to be good with it because "60%".

ForgedCrank

(2,723 posts)
28. And I disagree.
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 08:51 PM
Jun 22

I suppose you thought tha tonce they hit 80%, they'll stop. And no way those trustworthy and peace-loving people of planet Earth would ever share that stuff with someone else.
All we have to do is be nice to them, right?
So sale

NickB79

(19,959 posts)
25. It's in the very title of the article
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 08:45 PM
Jun 22

"No evidence Iran is building a nuclear weapon"

Note it doesn't use the word "imminent ".

Uranium enrichment above 5%, when no civilian reactor needs such enrichment, it in itself evidence of an attempt to build a nuke.

Now, you can argue that they gave up on that ambition years ago, or they hit technical roadblocks to reach 90% that meant a functional nuke was still years away. I agree, there's no evidence a working nuke was imminent.

But what you can't do is say there is no evidence they were, at some point, angling for a nuclear warhead while acknowledging a stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

EX500rider

(11,914 posts)
63. But most of the work is getting it to 60%, 60% to 90% goes a lot faster
Mon Jun 23, 2025, 05:11 PM
Jun 23

Also:
In 2023, uranium particles enriched to 83.7% purity were found at an Iranian nuclear facility, which is very close to weapons-grade levels.

and:

Iran accelerated its production of uranium enriched to near-weapons grade levels in November, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In a Dec. 26 report, the IAEA noted that Iran is now producing approximately nine kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent uranium-235 per month. Iran was producing 60 percent enriched U-235 at a similar rate in early 2023, but decreased production by about two-thirds in June. (See ACT, October 2023.)

Accelerating the production of uranium enriched to 60 percent U-235 is concerning because the material can be quickly enriched to weapons-grade levels or 90 percent.


https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2024-02/news/iran-accelerates-highly-enriched-uranium-production

dsc

(52,985 posts)
66. I wondered about this
Mon Jun 23, 2025, 11:17 PM
Jun 23

the NYT said that 60% was very close to 90%, that seems very unlikely to me. Usually any type of refinement or purification process gets harder and harder as one gets closer and closer to 100%. The NYT quote seems to imply the opposite. I am no scientist so I wasn't sure myself.

EndlessWire

(7,940 posts)
7. This is why I have mixed feelings.
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 07:46 PM
Jun 22

They would not have stopped enriching the stuff. They would have kept going until they had a bomb.

I hope, that if we must be at war, that Israel kapoots the drones they sell to Russia, all the spare parts, and all the ICBMs.

If Iranh had not run its mouth about how much they hate Israel and America, and if they were not supplying Houthis who are messing up the world shipping, then I think they would have been okay. But, they declared their intent. Big mistake. The only other thing to think about is if they wanted to emulate Russia with the ability to threaten the use of a nuke to get stuff they wanted.

Melon

(469 posts)
9. Iran's one nuclear reactor for energy uses Uranium 3-5%....
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 07:48 PM
Jun 22

This is largerly supplied by Russia.

ForgedCrank

(2,723 posts)
19. I'm right there
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 08:18 PM
Jun 22

beside you on this one.
I am seriously pissed that we are now actively involved in this. I believe that Israel could have handled this on their own if we were willing to extend the assets to do so. There was no reason for us to do it except for serving up bragging rights for Trump.
On the other hand, we know full well that if Iran was able to make enough of it and continue refining, they would use it to make a bomb. I'm convinced that the Chinese would have shared the reflector and compression tech with them, and they probably already have.
It would be a grave error to think that the United States is in less danger than Israel regarding a nuclear armed Iran. As soon as they have a deliverable weapon, the WILL use it. These are not the kind of people you trust or try to make nice with, their only goal is their fanatic goal of spreading Islam by any means necessary. They literally view the Jews and the Western world as a devil needing destroyed.
Right now, very few people know exactly what Iran has since they have not cooperated for many years. I hate to give him any relief, but I'm having a hard time believing that the orange menace would do this for kicks knowing full well that at the very least, this is going to drastically impact our economy through energy costs. That's the thing he loves to brag about most. I have to surmise that they know something they are unwilling or unable to tell us. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if Iran already has a weapon at some level.

dpibel

(3,606 posts)
31. Such certitude!
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 09:11 PM
Jun 22

Sez you: "As soon as they have a deliverable weapon, the WILL use it."

To what end?

You somehow believe that there would not be massive retaliation?

You believe that those in power in Iran are suicidal?

What you claim makes, actually, no sense.

ForgedCrank

(2,723 posts)
34. I guess
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 10:36 PM
Jun 22

this is a position one could take if they ignore the tenants and habits of the people in charge over there.
It's not a secret. The consider death in the course of fighting what they consider just to be honorable and holy. These people would kill you in a heartbeat if afforded the opportunity. And if they die in the process, so much the better in their eyes. They don't consider it "suicide". They even have a word for it: "Shahada".
It only makes no sense if you ignore reality.

dpibel

(3,606 posts)
43. Islamaphobia!
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 11:07 PM
Jun 22

It's what's for dinner!

You do realize, I trust, that you have trotted out the stereotypes and fever dreams that have been applied down through the years.

Particularly the years when GW Bush was lying the country into the Great Iraq War.

If you honestly believe that the leadership of Iran would develop a nuke for the sole purpose of committing national suicide, I don't think you live in the same reality as I, or many others, do.

Hell, if they want so desperately to commit national suicide, they can do it without nukes.

ForgedCrank

(2,723 posts)
45. Screech all you want,
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 11:15 PM
Jun 22

those are unbiased facts. Sorry if it breaks things for you.
And as I said before, they don't consider it "suicide" in any way.

dpibel

(3,606 posts)
46. LOL
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 11:20 PM
Jun 22

You never fail to deliver the laughs.

Truly. You cannot actually believe what you're saying.

But that's kind of the idea, innit?

ForgedCrank

(2,723 posts)
47. Sorry I
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 11:25 PM
Jun 22

couldn't march for you. It's clear that you are either trolling me, or you know about zero regarding the Shia Muslim sect.
Either way, happy trails to you

choie

(5,747 posts)
41. What was the rush?
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 11:04 PM
Jun 22

The only reason to forestall attempts at diplomacy would be if the danger was imminent, which it wasn’t. Trump dropping bombs on them was done for his own personal reasons, having nothing to do with what’s good for this country.

EndlessWire

(7,940 posts)
49. At this point I have
Mon Jun 23, 2025, 01:36 PM
Jun 23

lost track of all the diplomacy that rump pulled us out of. I believe that someone could steadfastly engage in diplomacy all the while continuing to do the thing we want them to stop.

I don't trust rump dilomacy by rump because it usually contains a trump hotel at the end of it. He receives bribes like crazy. So, I don't trust it. I don't consider it diplomacy for trump to demand unconditional surrender from Iran.

Joe, on the other hand, did well at keeping us out of war. He and his staff had skill. Netanyahu didn't want to deal with him because he urged restraint after Oct. 7th. Israel hasn't stopped since in committing genocide.

I'm not pro in any way. I just want all this sh*t to stop. And, we need to fight rump at home.

NNadir

(36,112 posts)
50. For about half a century, all of the world's research reactors ran on highly enriched uranium.
Mon Jun 23, 2025, 03:21 PM
Jun 23

Many still do, although efforts to reduce this reliance are undrrway.

The number of nuclear wars that resulted from this use was/is zero.

People killed by scare stories about highly enriched uranium or claims it's being used merely to construct a nuclear weapon is not zero. It includes several hundred thousand dead Iraqis, killed by fossil fuel powered weapons of mass destruction.

EndlessWire

(7,940 posts)
57. You are not going to convince me
Mon Jun 23, 2025, 04:02 PM
Jun 23

that striving to obtain a nuclear bomb isn't frought with danger. At the very least, it could be used to threaten the rest of the world. We have the example of Russia. Whenever they are in the deep doo doo, they threaten a nuclear strike. This has enabled them to make war with Ukraine, when they are the aggressor. Iran is a supplier of drones to Russia. At least the parts. I wouldn't cry if that went away. I wouldn't care if all the ICBMs disappeared.

Having said that, I have no intention to debate the wisdom or foolhardiness of this strike. I despise trump. I think he lies for a living. And he is transactional, so he did this for personal profit, in some way we haven't seen. Bibi whispering in his ear sweet nothings to get the US to back him. I used to respect Israel, but after watching them ethnically cleansing Gaza--not so much. I think that Israel has their own monster to contend with, and they can't seem to get rid of him, either. But what Iran is doing in the region is unacceptable. Especially since they back the Houthis who are messing up the world shipping.

I feel bad for the Iranian people, but I have since their Morality Police have beaten to death little girls who aren't packing nuclear weapons in their hijabs. I have no use for their leadership.

I'm against war. I am against Netanyahu, who clearly lobbied for our bunker buster bombs. I am against the "antisemite" crap trump is using to beat down our educational system. I will not vote for any Repub ever again.

I'm just sad for us all. Sad for my country. I think this pr*ck stole the election and is now making haste to establish himself as a dictator. My country. So, I'm not in favor of anything he does. He is a liar, he's stupid, and his diplomacy consists of threats. He really thinks he can bully his way to a Nobel Prize.

Excuse me, I need more chocolate.

NNadir

(36,112 posts)
58. You are not going to convince me that enriching uranium is only carried out for warlike purposes.
Mon Jun 23, 2025, 04:07 PM
Jun 23

EndlessWire

(7,940 posts)
70. What did I say?
Mon Jun 23, 2025, 11:56 PM
Jun 23

I'm not trying to convince you of anything. I think that 60% is way more than they need, but my knowledge of the nuclear industry is limited. I don't recall the US burying our nuclear energy plants under ground, so I find that suspicious. Sue me. Part of my point is that the Iranians have an intent to fight, and they voiced it. All the optics say that they want a nuclear bomb. How useful for their purposes that would be.

But, we have a weak pRes who listens to flattery, has emotional needs to puff himself up, and we are not safe with him at the helm. Moreover, he has a cabinet that surely is the stupidest, most unqualified that we have ever seen. Their qualifications are that they kissed his ass to get their jobs. So, I have no faith that they can think their way out of a paper bag. All Repubs have gone stark, raving mad.

This new problem we have has an assortment of positives and negatives. I think that Netanyahu will kill far more Iranians than he needs to do. We'll see. But, in view of what he did to Gaza, I think Iran is in trouble. I am not happy about any of this. That's why I said I had mixed feelings. I want Ukraine to get a break, too. Another problem.

You beat a youngster to death because she took off a scarf, or worse yet, just wore it incorrectly, and you do not get support from me. I don't support the Iranian leadership. I feel bad for civilians. But, nobody gave a sh*t when Ukraine begged for help three years or so ago, and no one will come running to help us, either. We have to police our ownselves within our own borders. We can't get destracted from our own ground fight to rid our government of fascism.

I don't know how this will turn out. I only know that when trump demanded unconditional surrender from Iran, he was playing to the crowd. "Peace through strength," my ass. Bullying is all he knows!

I need more chocolate.

NNadir

(36,112 posts)
55. This is nonsense. The Petten reactor which produced all of the world's medical isotopes...
Mon Jun 23, 2025, 03:40 PM
Jun 23

...ran on highly enriched uranium for decades.

Is anyone calling for bombing the Netherlands?

The reason for using highly enriched uranium is to have a high neutron flux in the reactor in order to generate radioisotopes in a concentrated matrix for safety and handing reasons.

People who cheer for killing people based on nuclear issues generally do not have very much insight to those issues. They kill people out of ignorance.

ForgedCrank

(2,723 posts)
64. Have the
Mon Jun 23, 2025, 08:32 PM
Jun 23

Netherlands called for the destruction of Israel and the United States? Hadn't heard that one. Maybe we should add them to the list, eh?
That must be one huge ass Iranian reactor "for medical use" if it needs 250KG of 60% Uranium.

Seems like you just don't like reality maybe. And no none here is cheering about anything. Are voices in your head telling you these things?

NNadir

(36,112 posts)
65. Don't pretend to understand nuclear technology. You don't..
Mon Jun 23, 2025, 11:12 PM
Jun 23

Several hundred thousand people, human beings all, were killed early in this century because of people in this country who don't understand shit about nuclear technology.

Now we have blood thirsty thugs falling for the same bullshit.

This suggests that their ignorance of nuclear technology has negative ethical results as well.

It is telling that the admirers of the orange ignoramus in the White House here have no objections to an obviously insane person having access to thousands of nuclear weapons.

That I think is a serious concern, not that apologists for war have either the moral or technical sense to grasp it.

Under these conditions are foreign governments allowed to kill American scientists, at say, Los Alamos?



ForgedCrank

(2,723 posts)
67. Yea, sometimes
Mon Jun 23, 2025, 11:26 PM
Jun 23

I forget that I'm an illiterate boob and that you know more than me. After all, nuclear tech is SO hard to understand and there is no way my smooth brain could comprehend such complexities. Please forgive my indiscretions.
I'll ask again: Did scientists at Los Alamos threaten to wipe Israel off the map? But hey, what do I know anyway, I'm stupid, remember? I should have stayed in school past 6th grade I guess, then maybe I could be more like you.

NNadir

(36,112 posts)
72. My family is not violent. We don't call for killing people out of fear and ignorance, not even beating them up.
Tue Jun 24, 2025, 12:10 AM
Jun 24

EndlessWire

(7,940 posts)
71. Excuse me.
Tue Jun 24, 2025, 12:06 AM
Jun 24

NO ONE is cheering or even slightly happy that Iranians are dying. Well, maybe Netanyahu. But, most people on this board are simply sorting the issues out.

The idea that Iran is enriching uranium to generate medical radioisotopes is not going to fly. Otherwise they would have branded it and invited us in to view their fabulous new self sustaining enterprise.

Give me a break.

NNadir

(36,112 posts)
73. I don't know why or IF they are enriching uranium. Neither do the war mongers here. I have historically...
Tue Jun 24, 2025, 12:21 AM
Jun 24

argued that enrichment can be made - and should be made - irrelevant.

I did so on another website: On Plutonium, Nuclear War, and Nuclear Peace

It isn't irrelevant now, however. There are good reasons to enrich uranium, since current technology to save lives from things like extreme global heating, relies on it.

It is 80 years since the last nuclear war, but only hours since the last fossil fuel war, assuming one isn't going on right now, in which case people are being killed by fossil fuel weapons of mass destruction continuously

I'll be interested in these tortured violent assumptions when people start bombing oil refineries to prevent people from making napalm. Until then, consider me unimpressed.

Nuclear ignorance kills people. The death toll in Iraq alone is enormous from the exact same line of bullshit that's being handed out now. Nuclear weapons have not killed people for well over half a century.

The assumption of moral superiority over the Iranians is absurd, particularly for citizens of a country with thousands of nuclear weapons and an obviously insane fascist leader, who people here are praising for his homicidal tendencies.

Skittles

(165,578 posts)
4. Dubya started a war based on lies and was never held accountable
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 07:32 PM
Jun 22

Trump pretty much knows he can do the same

surfered

(7,628 posts)
10. That was his own intelligence community assessment
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 07:48 PM
Jun 22

W made decisions with his gut. Trump does, too, but is gut is full of Big Macs and Diet Coke.

multigraincracker

(35,936 posts)
11. So now Russia and China are talking about sending nuclear war heads to Iran.
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 07:50 PM
Jun 22

They have never liked or trusted us since Big Oil installed the Shah in exchange for 40% of THIER oil.

Celerity

(50,622 posts)
27. The 1953 Iranian coup d'etat, aka Operation Ajax
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 08:49 PM
Jun 22
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat

The 1953 Iranian coup d'état, known in Iran as the 28 Mordad coup d'état ( Persian: کودتای ۲۸ مرداد ), was the overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh on 19 August 1953. Led by the Iranian army and supported by the United States and the United Kingdom, the coup aimed at strengthening the autocratic rule of the shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. A key motive was to protect British oil interests in Iran after its government refused to concede to western oil demands. It was instigated by the United States (under the name TP-AJAX Project or Operation Ajax) and the United Kingdom (under the name Operation Boot). This began a period of dissolution for Iranian democracy and society.

Mosaddegh had sought to audit the documents of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), a British corporation (now part of BP), to verify that AIOC was paying the contracted royalties to Iran, and to limit the company's control over Iranian oil reserves. Upon the AIOC's refusal to cooperate with the Iranian government, the parliament (Majlis) voted to nationalize Iran's oil industry and to expel foreign corporate representatives from the country. After this vote, Britain instigated a worldwide boycott of Iranian oil to pressure Iran economically. Initially, Britain mobilized its military to seize control of the British-built Abadan oil refinery, then the world's largest, but Prime Minister Clement Attlee (in power until 1951) opted instead to tighten the economic boycott while using Iranian agents to undermine Mosaddegh's government. Judging Mosaddegh to be unamenable and fearing the growing influence of the communist Tudeh, UK prime minister Winston Churchill and the Eisenhower administration decided in early 1953 to overthrow Iran's government. The preceding Truman administration had opposed a coup, fearing the precedent that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) involvement would set, and the U.S. government had been considering unilateral action (without UK support) to assist the Mosaddegh government as late as 1952. British intelligence officials' conclusions and the UK government's solicitations to the US were instrumental in initiating and planning the coup.

Following the coup, a government under General Fazlollah Zahedi was formed which allowed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the shah of Iran (Persian for 'king'), to rule more firmly as monarch. He relied heavily on United States support to hold on to power. According to the CIA's declassified documents and records, some of the most feared mobsters in Tehran were hired by the CIA to stage pro-shah riots on 19 August. Other men paid by the CIA were brought into Tehran in buses and trucks and took over the streets of the city. Between 200 and 300 people were killed because of the conflict. Mosaddegh was arrested, tried and convicted of treason by the Shah's military court. On 21 December 1953, he was sentenced to three years in jail, then placed under house arrest for the remainder of his life. Other Mosaddegh supporters were imprisoned, and several received the death penalty. The coup strengthened the Shah's authority, and he continued to rule Iran for the next 26 years as a pro-Western monarch until he was overthrown in the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

In August 2013, the U.S. government formally acknowledged the U.S. role in the coup by releasing a bulk of previously classified government documents that show it was in charge of both the planning and the execution of the coup. According to American journalist Stephen Kinzer, the operation included false flag attacks, paid protesters, provocations, the bribing of Iranian politicians and high-ranking security and army officials, as well as pro-coup propaganda. The CIA is quoted as acknowledging the coup was carried out "under CIA direction" and "as an act of U.S. foreign policy, conceived and approved at the highest levels of government". In 2023, the CIA took credit for the coup, contradicting a previous scholarly assessment that the CIA had botched the operation, though other assessments agreed that America and Britain had engineered the coup.

snip

multigraincracker

(35,936 posts)
33. Thanks for this article.
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 09:36 PM
Jun 22

No one hates us for our freedoms. They hates us for the Shah, the opium wars and Gulf of Tonkin false attack. Fake excuses to steal form Brown folks.

SunImp

(2,514 posts)
48. It's hard to trust Israeli intelligence when Israel's leadership are all just as corrupt & selfserving as ours
Mon Jun 23, 2025, 12:26 AM
Jun 23

Aussie105

(7,078 posts)
21. Any minute now!
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 08:30 PM
Jun 22

It has been said for many years - Iran is weeks away from having nuclear bombs!

The logic of course, is that Iran will use them not as negotiating tools but as a quick way to turn all of Israel into a radioactive desert.
It will be the first country since Hiroshima and Nagasaki to do so.

Have any of the Iranian leaders, past and present, ever said so?
Would they nuke Israel in the full knowledge American nukes would do the same to Iran?

As for that '60% enrichment achieved! The US must now panic and act!' number, what is the source of that information, and how reliable is that?

So the state of play currently - the US uses WMDs to try to stop Iran from developing their own WMDs.

I think I know where we are heading.


Melon

(469 posts)
51. The IAEA monitored it and documents the 60% Uranium. Plus Iran releases info on it.
Mon Jun 23, 2025, 03:28 PM
Jun 23

They have no use for 60% uranium outside of enriching it further to weapon grade.
They have one nuclear energy plant. It requires 3.5%-5% Uranium. Iran uses the enriched Uranium thus far to negotiate. But they increased inventory 25% from Q4 2024 until Q1. The only countries that can enrich Uranium to the 60% level do so for weapons.

Ping Tung

(2,889 posts)
32. Do any of you remember the Great Bogeyman of 1964? The Domino theory and the Tonkin Gulf Incident?
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 09:17 PM
Jun 22

By the time it was over 1.4 million civilian casualties were produced but saved from the dominoes that never fell.

Now Trump & Co have erected another scary Bogeyman to justify another failed war just like the invisible WMDs did in Iraq.

"Our scientific power has out-run our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men."
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

Jack Valentino

(2,611 posts)
36. AGREED, there was NO "imminent threat"---
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 10:52 PM
Jun 22

Just a possible longer-term threat... which did not demand that Trump bomb Iran on Saturday.



Now, whatever the Israelis may have been demanding, is another question altogether.

Response to malaise (Original post)

spanone

(139,511 posts)
44. He wants that vacation property on the Gaza strip, Gabbard told him the truth
Sun Jun 22, 2025, 11:14 PM
Jun 22

Maybe that's the price bibi agreed to pay him?

-misanthroptimist

(1,384 posts)
59. I asked for evidence in another thread...
Mon Jun 23, 2025, 04:08 PM
Jun 23

...before the attacks. Crickets.

I even looked for evidence elsewhere. All I came up with was the 60% enrichment thing.

Iran was no threat if the available evidence is to be believed.

spanone

(139,511 posts)
60. He did this for diversion. His numbers were tanking.
Mon Jun 23, 2025, 04:13 PM
Jun 23

He's a maga hero now.

SO TIRED OF THIS FUCKING GUY.

EX500rider

(11,914 posts)
62. They also said this:
Mon Jun 23, 2025, 05:05 PM
Jun 23
"Atomic watchdog says Iran not complying with nuclear safeguards"

The draft for Thursday’s resolution highlights serious and growing concerns since at least 2019 that Iran had failed to cooperate fully with the UN agency’s inspectors.
Tehran has “repeatedly” been unable to explain and demonstrate that its nuclear material was not being diverted for further enrichment for military use, the draft text maintains.

Iran has also failed to provide the UN agency with “technically credible explanations for the presence of [man-made] uranium particles” at undeclared locations in Varamin, Marivan and Turquzabad, it continues.
“Unfortunately, Iran has repeatedly either not answered, or not provided technically credible answers to, the agency’s questions,” IAEA chief Grossi said on Monday. “It has also sought to sanitize the locations, which has impeded Agency verification activities.”

According to Mr. Grossi, Tehran has stockpiled 400 kilogrammes of highly enriched uranium.

“Given the potential proliferation implications, the agency cannot ignore [this],” he told the UN agency’s governing board on Monday.





https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/06/1164291
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