IRAN NOW “A NUCLEAR STATE”

February 11, 2010 By in Epicenter

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks on 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution

“Iran is now a ‘nuclear state’, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced this morning,” reports the London Daily Mail. ….He spoke as tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Tehran to mark the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution. There are fears of violence as opposition and pro-government supporters are expected to meet at rallies in a show of popular strength unmatched since the revolution itself. Today Ahmadinejad told scores of cheering Iranians that the Islamic Republic is capable of producing weapons-grade uranium….He spoke as tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Tehran to mark the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution. There are fears of violence as opposition and pro-government supporters are expected to meet at rallies in a show of popular strength unmatched since the revolution itself. Today Ahmadinejad told scores of cheering Iranians that the Islamic Republic is capable of producing weapons-grade uranium….’We have the capability to enrich uranium more than 20 percent or 80 percent (the level needed to create an atomic bomb),’ he said in a speech broadcast live on state television.'”

Two questions: 

  1. How will the leaders of the free world respond to this news? Will they take decisive action to stop Iran from building or acquiring nuclear weapons before it is too late? Or will they sleep through the crisis and be blindsided by an evil they don’t take seriously enough?
  2.  How will the leaders of the Church — and followers of Jesus Christ around the world — respond to this news? Will they take decisive action to reach every person in the epicenter, including everyone in Iran, with the gospel? Will they fast and pray for the peace of Jerusalem? Will they find real and practical ways to show Israelis unconditional love and unwavering support as they face this rising threat to their very existence? Or will we sleep through the crisis and be blindsided by an evil we don’t take seriously enough?
    • John  Bolton in the Wall Street Journal: “The Case For Striking Iran Grows — Only decisive action can stop Tehran from acquiring nukes.” — “Mr. Obama’s fascination with negotiations and gestures like sanctions is something Tehran fully understands and is happily exploiting. Iran’s nuclear progress and the potential delivery of the S-300s all suggest a crisis point sooner rather than later. We ignore this reality at our peril.”
    • NYT: Obama Takes Several Gambles in Bid to Defuse Nuclear Standoff With Iran — “Obama is relying on his ability to dissuade Israel from carrying out an attack, as it did in 2007 when it destroyed a nuclear reactor under construction in Syria. For now, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while worried that Mr. Obama may go soft on Iran, seems to believe that the Iranian government is so fragile that truly harsh sanctions might crack it. But Iran’s announcement in recent days that it was raising its enrichment of uranium to a level much closer to weapons-grade may well change that calculation….The Israelis, officials report, now seemed convinced that the Iranian government is fragile, and that the sanctions might work. They have indicated, with no promises, that they will back off for a while. Mr. [Richard] Haass [a senior White House advisor on Iran], who has called in recent weeks for more active American support of the protesters in Iran, returned from Israel in recent days convinced that Mr. Obama had some time. ‘I think we can get through 2010 without a military strike,’ he said. ‘But 2011 could be more dicey.'”
    • Ynet News: Hamas leader Maashal says next war will span entire Mideast
    • NYT: Coalition forces begin biggest assault on Taliban in Afghanistan since 2001

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