According the AP, Israel has prepared a “secret” report claiming that Venezuela and Bolivia are supplying Iran with uranium for its nuclear program.
The two South American countries are known to have close ties with Iran, but this is the first allegation that they are involved in the development of Iran’s nuclear program, considered a strategic threat by Israel.
“There are reports that Venezuela supplies Iran with uranium for its nuclear program,†the Foreign Ministry document states, referring to previous Israeli intelligence conclusions.
It added, “Bolivia also supplies uranium to Iran.â€
The Jerusalem Post has a bit more:
According to a Foreign Ministry document that was published on Ynet on Monday, Iran and Hizbullah are indeed making deep inroads into South America. According to the document, Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela was not only helping Iran bypass UN Security Council economic sanctions, but also, along with Bolivia, was providing the Iranians with uranium.
But the JPost presents the news about the uranium as only one part of the report. In general the report is focused on the inroads Iran has made in South America.
According to the document, Iran moved into Latin America in 1982, through Cuba, and eventually opened a number of embassies in the region, in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela and Uruguay. Teheran developed extensive economic ties with these countries that continue to this day.
Chavez was also responsible for Iran’s developing ties with the leftist, anti-American bloc in Latin America made up of Bolivia, Nicaragua and – increasingly – Ecuador, according to the document.
(More here, for a non-secret report.)
Need I tell you that Press TV sounds skeptical.
Iran says it pursues only the peaceful applications of nuclear technology via fuel it generates using its own uranium mines.
Israel, however, accuses the country of making efforts to develop nuclear weaponry. Under the allegation, officials in Tel Aviv have repeatedly threatened to launch military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
…
Israel goes even further with its new document and links Bolivia — whose relations with the White House are also strained — to the issue, adding the Latin American country to its list of alleged uranium suppliers to Iran.
You gotta love this though:
The document also takes a shot at Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez — whose image in the United States has been marred by years of propaganda –, claiming that he played a key role in boosting relations between Iran and Bolivia.
“[M]arred by .. propaganda!” Just your average benevolent power grabbing dictator who’s a victim of bad press.
Mahmoud Ahmdinejad let North Korea have it for its temerity to explode a nuclear device. So if anything was untoward about the South American help for the Iranian nuclear program, obviously he’d have nothing to do with it. Iran would never do something so retarded.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
