Posted: 2/16/2005 9:56:25 AM EDT
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I just checked Foxnews and CNN for updates on the explosion in Iran and didn't see anything posted. Did this story just go the way of the reports of additional explosives at the Murrah Building? |
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Yahoo is reporting it as an explosion set off on purpose to clear earth for a damn. Iran Blast Report Scares Markets, Underscores Fears 22 minutes ago World - Reuters By Amir Paivar and Christian Oliver TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian television sent waves through world financial markets on Wednesday when it reported an explosion along the coast from Iran's only nuclear plant, but officials calmed fears saying the blast was part of construction work. The Al-Alam state satellite channel, which broadcasts in Arabic, quoted witnesses as saying the explosion may have been caused by an aircraft firing a missile in a deserted area near the town of Dailam, 100 miles from the nuclear plant, or by a fuel tank falling from a plane. The report caused the U.S. stock market to drop briefly and sent oil prices higher, underscoring world jitters over Iran's nuclear program, which Washington says conceals an effort to build an atomic bomb. Iran says its nuclear program is for electricity generation only. "This explosion basically sent chills down the spines of futures traders," said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Alaron Trading Corp in Chicago. But Iranian officials settled fears by saying the blast was made by construction workers building a road at the site of a dam at Kowsar, near Dailam. "What happened was only a natural part of building work. These were heavy blasts carried out for the construction of the dam," Ali Reza Afshar, deputy to the chief of staff of the armed forces, told state television. Earlier on Wednesday, Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Iran was six months away from having the knowledge it needed to produce a nuclear bomb. Israel has hinted in the past at possible military action to stop Iran acquiring the bomb. But senior Israeli security officials quickly denied any military involvement in the blast. An Israeli air strike on the Iraqi reactor Osiraq in 1981 dealt a severe blow to Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s nuclear program. NUCLEAR REACTOR The early Al-Alam report said: "A powerful explosion was heard this morning on the outskirts of Dailam port, north of Bushehr province in southern Iran. Witnesses said the explosion was caused by a missile fired from an unknown plane 150 km (90 miles) from the city of Bushehr, where Iran's nuclear reactor is located." "A local source said the explosion could have been the result of the falling of an empty fuel tank from an Iranian plane," it added. Al-Alam later dropped any reference to a missile strike from its news bulletins. Iran's Russian-built 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactor, its only nuclear power plant, is due to start operating in late 2005 and will reach full capacity in 2006. Russian Atomic Energy Agency chief Alexander Rumyanstev is due to travel to Iran next week to finalize the technicalities of the plant's start-up. Tehran on Wednesday accused the United States of using satellites "and other tools" to spy on its nuclear sites and threatening to shoot down any aerial surveillance craft. Reacting to the blast report, a Defense Department spokesman told Reuters: "It is U.S. policy to deal with Iran in a diplomatic manner." The State Department also said it had no information on the blast report. (Additional reporting by Andrew Hammond in Dubai) |
Perhaps. Perhaps ... |
From article:
So, the Iranians are regularly shooting at themselves now? |
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"Iran Blast Report Scares Markets, Underscores Fears" YeeeGads..... Why is it anytime ANYTHING bad in the world happens, the media connects it to market fluctuations? Is it the media trying to make themselves important...THEY can influence the market? Or are they trying to make capitalism "scary" by saying the markets "tremble" at the slightest inkling of bad news? After reading numerous articles on the subject, by master economists, news stories do NOT affect real trading going on in the world markets. Dipshits might sell off items, but business flies above the daily garbage that life produces. Most REAL traders are thinking YEARS in advance and have already accounted for "Iran Blast(s)". I hate the news. |
| IF we did this, and it is a big IF although I will wait until more facts are known before drawing a conclusion, it would be a good way to gauge the world response. Iran doesn't want to bring the US into their country, so they are not going to admit it was us even if they know it was. Admitting such a thing would require a lot of aggressive talk and posturing and threatening, which they do not have the resources to back up, and it would elevate an already intense situation. So, we could do something like this with a reasonable amount of confidence that we would not be implicated in the attack. However, this will put the Iranian military on high alert, which our drones and satellites would pick up, telling us a lot about their military preparedness, and if we can get them to shoot down a few of our drones, it will better let our guys know where their SAM units are, how many they have, how accurate they are, and how quickly the Iranians can react to put them to work. It also serves a second purpose by showing the Iranians that we have taken very seriously their support for Syria and their posturing of shooting down our drones. |
Yes. They have long eyed the oil fields in the Caspian Sea, much of which is very close to Iranian waters. When France decided to stop helping the Iranians build nuclear plants under US pressure, the Russkies gladly stepped in, using it as leverage in negotiations with Tehran over oil rights in the Caspian. In the past few months they have tried to appease US concerns by offering a program whereby they provide the fuel rods for the reactors to Iran and promise to transport spent fuel rods back to Russia to ally concerns of the Iranians using those rods for purposes of plutonium extraction. The explosion was at a plant that is currently being developed by the Russkies |
How much does the Russian public know about this? This could not be a popular policy after the Belsen school massacre if it was known... |
What are drop tanks made of? I know in WW2 they were made of cardboard sometimes |
Am I the only one who really misses that guy?
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Actually, the Russian public in general does not mind. They are being told about all the money that their gov't is getting from these transactions. Basically, the people are accustomed to not questioning the foreign policy of their government, and as long as it does not affect their daily lives, it is none of their concern. They don't reflect much on Russian goals and policy regarding concepts such as oil, which are very abstract to people who can barely put food on the table. |
ditto to that....the market is essentially an emotional creature, and hates instability. Therefore, every time something happens which causes unsurity, the market reacts by people selling just in case, and the market goes down. That is why the market skyrocketed when Bush was re-elected; people knew what to expect and bought accordingly. War is inherently unstable, so even the hint of war will cause some to panic and sell, which puts the market into flux. I would say that the recent events in Iran has created a huge amount of instability, hence the market diving temporarily |