Major general Aharon Haliva who commands the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate said in a lecture at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv that the protests in Iran have become civilian riots, causing high levels of anxiety in the regime which is concerned about its future.
Haliva suggested that “Iran is considering taking action against Qatar during the World Cup, the only thing that keeps them down is their concern about how the Qataris would react.”
Qatar invested an estimated $12 billion in orchestrating the first world cup on Arab soil.
Haliva also said that Iran is making significant progress towards enriching uranium to a 90% level, adding: “In the last few hours and the past day, there have been statements about the steps the Iranians intend to take. I believe they will come in the form of enrichment, using advanced centrifuges and nuclear facilities. In my estimation, the time is approaching when the greatest test of the international community will become reality. Iran will toy with 90% enrichment. That’s how it starts.”
On Sunday, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, denounced the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors’ “unconstructive” resolution against Iran, saying it will draw a strong response from Tehran. He protested the fact that “it appears that the three European states (the UK, France, and Germany) and the US are used to resorting to various means of pressure, including resolutions and sanctions, and it is fairly obvious that such pressures will be futile.”
The Foreign Ministries of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States on Friday issued the following statement concerning the Resolution on Iran adopted by the IAEA Board of Governors:
“We, the Governments of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, welcome the IAEA Board of Governors’ adoption of a resolution on Iran. This resolution was adopted in response to Iran’s insufficient cooperation with the IAEA on serious and outstanding issues relating to Iran’s legal obligations under its Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Safeguards Agreement.
“This is the second resolution adopted by the IAEA Board of Governors on these matters this year. In doing so, the Board has sent a clear message that it is essential and urgent that Iran fulfills its NPT-required safeguards obligations and take the actions specified without delay.
“Iran must provide technically credible explanations for the presence of uranium particles identified at three undeclared locations in Iran and clarify the whereabouts of the related nuclear material and/or contaminated equipment.
“The resolution reaffirms the Board’s unwavering support for the IAEA’s longstanding efforts with Iran to resolve these critical matters.
“As we have made clear, if Iran does this and the Director General is able to report that the unresolved safeguards issues are no longer outstanding, the Board could then close its consideration of this matter.
“We hope Iran takes this opportunity to cooperate with the IAEA in good faith toward closing these outstanding matters so that no further Board action on these issues will be necessary.”
