The Times of London reports that a large blast occurred at Iran's Isfahan uranium conversion facility, twenty-four hours
before the British embassy was trashed
[photo] in a
government instigated riot. The powerful explosion shook buildings in the city. On November 12 a large explosion took place at the Bid Ganeh missile base on the outskirts of Tehran. Thirty Revolutionary Guard members were killed in that blast including General Hassan Moghaddam, head of Iran's missile program.
The Times was told by a confidential Israeli intelligence source that "no doubt" the blasts were deliberate. The latest explosion damaged uranium storage facilities.
These were not the first covert attacks against Iran's nuclear program. It is widely believed by experts that the Stuxnet software "worm" that severely disrupted Iran's computer network was a joint US-Israeli sabotage. The software security company Symantec said in July that 60,000 systems in Iran are infected with the worm. The self-contained program enters a network via a USB stick where it replicates and specifically attacks Siemens designed software used to monitor and control industrial processes such as nuclear plant operations and uranium enrichment facilities. The worm contains coded references to biblical events hinting at the malware's origin and target
[1]. Further clues to its origin can be gathered from the program's sophistication--it exploits four vulnerabilities in Window architecture--lack of profitability, and virulence. All of these characteristics point to a government sponsor since many man hours and tremendous computer resources, including access to highly specialized Siemen's software, had to be devoted to its "amazing" creation according to software experts. Stuxnet is probably the world's first known example of a state cyber-weapon attack.
Observers suggest Mossad is behind the attacks on Iran's nuclear program that Israel considers life-threatening, including a 2010 strike against a base at Khoramabad which killed 18 Guards. Probably not by mere coincidence, four 122mm Katyusha rockets exploded in northern Galilee a few hours after the Isfahan blast. Hezzbolah, a proxy of Iran, controls southern Lebanon across the Israeli border, and used rocket attacks against nearby Israeli towns to great effect in the 2006 conflict. Although Iran continues to deny it has a nuclear weapons program, the IAEA concluded in its latest report that the Islamic government
may be developing nuclear weapon capacity. Of course, Israel has had a nuclear arsenal and the means to deliver it for decades thanks to western military assistance
[photo], but it too denies the possession of nuclear weapons. The authoritative newspaper
Ha'aretz reported recently that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is attempting to sway a divided cabinet to approve an airstrke against Iran. Israeli air force units are currently training for such a long range mission. In 2009 the Obamatron agreed to deliver 55 specialized GBU-28 "bunker buster" bombs to the Israeli air force.
[2] Those bombs may simply be large fireworks now, since Iran has moved its enrichment centrifuges to near Qom where they are protected in a NORAD style installation beneath a mountain.
[1]Stuxnet contains the word "guava", a member of the myrtle family, and the number "19790509". The Hebrew name for myrtle is hadassah also the name of the biblical Queen Esther who saved Persian Jews from genocide. The number maybe a date reference on which a Persian Jew was executed in Iran.
[2] Russia delivered its versatile S-300 radar system to Iran which can track multiple 'bogies' and engage ten targets with mobile "Favorit"interceptor missiles simultaneously. The system was delivered and installed in 2007. Greece allowed Israeli air units to train against a version of the S-300 it bought from Russia this summer. Israel recently acquired the latest western jet aircraft, the F-35 Lightning II which is stealthy and VSTOL capable. The Cold War still lives in the Middle East, except it is much more likely to turn hot very quickly.
