15 July 2011
News on Iran's nuclear ambitions has been dominating major media outlets this week, as The Telegraph reports that Iran is moving its nuclear production to an underground bunker. As foreign affairs correspondent Damien McElroy reports:

Installation of centrifuge and other manufacturing equipment was at a preparatory stage at Fowrdow, a facility deep inside a mountain near Qom, the country’s holiest city, intelligence reports said.

Tehran disclosed the existence of Fordow, which is designed to withstand air and missile strikes, after Western intelligence detected the covert nuclear plant.

“They are preparing (for the centrifuges to be installed) in Fordow,” a diplomat briefed on the latest intelligence said.

Indeed, the decision by the Iranian regime to move its nuclear facilities underground should be all the proof one needs to see that Iran's intentions are not as they claim. The Telegraph confirms:

Leading experts believe that the shift to the mountain facility would increase the danger of Iran successfully launching a final push to make a bomb.

“We see Iran moving in the direction of becoming a nuclear weapons capable state,” said Olli Heinonen, a former head of UN nuclear inspections worldwide.

The international community should consider this move a slap in the face of sanctions that were designed to prevent exactly this type of escalation. With Iran’s development of nuclear capabilities quite literally moving underground, it is time for the IAEA, the United Nations, and other responsible parties to take real, tangible actions to put a halt to these ongoing developments.

COMPANY ENDS CONTRACTS WITH IRAN AFTER CRANES EXPLICITLY USED FOR PUBLIC HANGINGS

Japanese crane manufacturer, Tadano, has ended its business dealings with Iran following an Op-ed in the Los Angeles Times by United Against Nuclear Iran President, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace.

The article, titled "Iran's Execution Binge," detailed the regime's use of Tadano's construction cranes for public hangings. Ambassador Wallace wrote that Tadano "should take the principled stand of renouncing their business ties with the regime until Iran becomes a civilized member of the international community."

Tadano officials began communicating with UANI, and further informed UANI that Tadano would end all of its business in Iran, including severing ties with its distributer, IER Iran and the Iranian company, Part Loader Co.

Public hangings utilizing such cranes have become an all too common practice in Iran, particularly following the crackdown on dissidents and activists involved in the 2009 anti-regime protests. “It’s no coincidence that Iran’s increased staging of public executions came at the same time protest movements were gaining steam throughout the Middle East,” Wallace wrote. “What better way to keep Iranians from having ‘dangerous ideas’ like those of their neighbors?”

Iran180 joins United Against Nuclear Iran in commending this move by the Tadano company. It is imperative that other companies follow suit and terminate their respective business dealings with this barbaric regime.

IRAN DENIES ARMING IRAQI REBELS... WHILE CONTINUING TO DEFY INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS

Following up on our post from Friday, today, Iranian leaders denied reports that they are arming militants in Iraq. As AFP reported, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on a State TV Website:

“The United States is not in a good position in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are doing everything they can to maintain their military presence in these two countries. … The United States is facing a wave of hostility from Iraq’s people, government and political parties. They must leave Iraq by the end of 2011 and Afghanistan by 2014.”

Reports that the regime is supplying Iraqi militants with weapons coincide with an uptick in the number of attacks and killings of American troops in Iraq. According to The Guardian, “Two American servicemen were killed by an EFP outside their base in Baghdad in an attack on Thursday, on top of 14 killed across the country in the previous month, the highest figure for two years.“
The regime's denial of such interference has become de riguer and shouldn’t be viewed as particularly surprising. What made today’s announcement remarkable is that it came just hours afterThe Washington Post stated in a report on US sanctions of Iran that “The measures have not slowed Iran’s race to make the enriched uranium needed to produce a nuclear weapon.”

Iran’s leadership seems hellbent on a reckless pursuit of dangerous weapons in spite of the condemnation of the international community; this has been known for a while. But now, Iran appears to be no longer content simply to violate international doctrine and, instead, is hoping to kill American soldiers in Iraq. These increasingly dangerous and reckless measures continue to threaten Americans and all responsible global citizens everywhere.

Iran180 is a movement of people and organizations who have come together to say Yes to Human Rights, No to Nuclear Rights.

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