Forgive me.......

My references say:
Isaiah 17;1 was fulfilled in about 732 BC
Damascas was destroyed, and was annexed by Assyria.

The Northern Kingdom of Israel was annexed into Assyria.


My references are:

Peloubet's Bible Dictionary says: Damascas was destroyed. The inhabitants were carried away captive into Assyria.   732 BC
The NIV Study Bible foot-notes agree.

Halley's Bible Handbook (NIV version, year 2000) agrees.

Where does it say that Damascas will be destroyed in the "latter days"?

Perhaps, it doesn't.

dennis manning
[right][snapback]29978[/snapback][/right]

Dear Dennis Manning,...................................In your research....was Israel pruned at that time? also.....was the fortress of Ephrium destroyed?.................benny
[right][snapback]29982[/snapback][/right]

KJV verse 1
damascas is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

niv
damascas will disappear! it will become a heap of ruins

amplified
damascas will cease to be a city, and will become a heap of ruins

********************

isaiah 13;20
niv
babylon will never rise again.
the land will never again be lived in.
nomads will refuse to camp there
the shepard and his sheep will not stay overnight

Halley's Bible handbook: Babylon was in ruins, soon after the time of Christ.
for centuries it has been a desolate heap of mounds, a remarkable fulfillment of prophecy, still un-inhabited, except for a little village at the SW corner

*****************

Re: Damascas, Isaiah 17;1

Does it mean that Damascas can (may) be re-built?

Or,
Does it mean that Dasmascas will NEVER be re-built? (as in the case of Babylon).


I don't know.
God was a little more clear and emphatic about "Babylon will never be inhabited again".

Where did God say "Damascas will never be re-built and inhabited."?
**************

Saddam Hussein was re-building Babylon when the recent Iraqi War stopped him.

********************

In Revelations, it talks about the city Babylon. In the future?
Yet, God hath said: Babylon will never again be re-built and inhabited?
uhhh,,,,,,, Come again?????????????
How much?????????

I guess that Babylon (in Revelations) is the world system of Babylon (figure of speech). Not literal Babylon, in Iraq.




dennis manning
[right][snapback]29991[/snapback][/right]

Dear Dennis Manning,......I do not believe that anyone denies that long ago that Damascus was once destroyed...................But you still have not answered my question......"was Israel pruned at that time?,was the fortress of Ephium destroyed? Dennis,....we may very soon find out where Saddum hid his wmd.........When Israel attacks Iran.......Syria and the Hezbollah....I believe will launch chemical weapons at Israel. Israel will not tolorate this......Israel will have the right to use a nuclear weapon on Syria, and I believe their target will become Damascus Many jews will die from this battle...Israel will be pruned.....From that time on Russia will devise an evil plan that will lead to Ezekial 38.............In the meantime..............December 15,2005.....Israeli Defense Forces Chief of Staff LT. Gen. Dan Halutz will visit Turkey on Dec.22,Turk U.S. News reported Dec.15. Halutz is expected to meet Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok and Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul. Halutz's visit comes shortly after visits to Turkey by high-ranking U.S. officials, including C.I.A. Director Porter Goss and F.B.I. Director Robert Mueller..................................Merry Christmas to you.....................benny
[right][snapback]29994[/snapback][/right]

Dear Dennis Manning,......I do not believe that anyone denies that long ago that Damascus was once destroyed...................But you still have not answered my question......"was Israel pruned at that time?,was the fortress of Ephium destroyed? Dennis,....we may very soon find out where Saddum hid his wmd.........When Israel attacks Iran.......Syria and the Hezbollah....I believe will launch chemical weapons at Israel. Israel will not tolorate this......Israel will have the right to use a nuclear weapon on Syria, and I believe their target will become Damascus Many jews will die from this battle...Israel will be pruned.....From that time on Russia will devise an evil plan that will lead to Ezekial 38.............In the meantime..............December 15,2005.....Israeli Defense Forces Chief of Staff LT. Gen. Dan Halutz will visit Turkey on Dec.22,Turk U.S. News reported Dec.15. Halutz is expected to meet Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok and Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul. Halutz's visit comes shortly after visits to Turkey by high-ranking U.S. officials, including C.I.A. Director Porter Goss and F.B.I. Director Robert Mueller..................................Merry Christmas to you.....................benny
[right][snapback]29994[/snapback][/right]

From the Jerusalem Post on Feb. 28th,2006.........Whether america provides Israel with a security umbrella or not, Israel will have to attack Iran. Effi Eitam said, on Tuesday. An interview with channel 10 television Eitam warned that in the coming year-and no later Israel will have to take one of the most difficult decisions in its history. The attack will be necessary said Eitam, unless an unimaginable miracle happens and the diplomatic iniative will bear fruit...................................Other news is that Iran is preparing to close the strait of Hormuz............"To realize to what degree, Iran has prepared to do this, and with war,you guys need to go to the gogindex.org....website....click onto "Endtime Briefs".....you guys are in for a big surprise....It's a must read!......Reach as many people that you can to come to Jesus.....But remember....through interlect , we can do nothing on our own....only through Jesus, can we reach these people....and if you will do this....watch what the Holy Spirit does ...our time here is very short!.........................benny
[right][snapback]43960[/snapback][/right]

Rut Ro........to add to the rumors
this link is regarding an Islamic Jihad leader, in Lebanon, killed TODAY and they are blaming Israel
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2009234
[right][snapback]64085[/snapback][/right]

Ezekiel,
In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land." 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. You will say, "I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people-all of them living without walls and without gates and bar." (Ezekiel 38:8-11)
May. 31, 2006 19:07
EU foreign policy chief upbeat on Iran nuke talks
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
HELSINKI, Finland


The European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said Wednesday he is optimistic about finding a solution to Iran's disputed nuclear program, and hopes that Tehran will accept a package of proposals from five permanent UN Security Council nations and Germany.

Describing the proposals expected to be presented to Iran on Thursday as "bold enough, generous enough," Solana said, "It will be for them (Iranians) difficult not to accept to start negotiations around that package," but reiterated that Tehran would have to stop uranium enrichment.

Solana declined to give details about the incentives being discussed by China, Russia, France, Britain, the United States and Germany, but said they would include "nuclear matters, ... economic elements and maybe some of a political nature."

If Tehran agrees, Solana said, the package could also contain "mechanisms of security to make the whole of the (Arabian) peninsula" a safer place, but gave no details.



The Hague,
The international court's recent ruling that the security fence separating Israel from the Palestinians violates international law and has to be torn down has the world all abuzz. A few days earlier Israel's own courts ruled that parts of the fence protecting Jerusalem have to be moved. This even though the evidence is clear. The security fence has dramatically reduced Palestinian terrorist attacks in Israel, even though its construction is nowhere near completed. In the case of Israel's court, the finding admittedly placed the humanitarian plight of Palestinians above the safety of Jews.


And Iran
In a speech to the residents of the city of Hamedan on July 5, 2004, Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei said: "We, the Iranian people, within the borders of our country, will cut off any hand that harms our scientific, natural, human, or technological interests. We will cut off the hand that is sent to invade and work against our people's interests. We will do this with no hesitation.... If the enemy has the audacity to harm and invade, our blows against it will not be limited to the borders of our country... If someone harms our people and invades [our country], we will endanger his interests anywhere in the world."


What's That All About?
There's an obvious cause for this clear threat to those Khamenei perceives as Iran's enemies. Having pretty much failed to bring Iran into compliance with the International Atomic Energy Association's demand that Iran dismantle its nearly complete nuclear capability through diplomatic means, there are persistent rumors that World Leaders will tacitly approve a bombing mission by Israel intended to destroy it.

(By the way, the biggest battle in the Iraq war is one you probably haven't heard of. It's a combined effort by the US and Yemeni military to prevent the total takeover of Yemen by al Qaeda forces backed by Iran and put a stop to the steady infiltration of al Qaeda soldiers from Yemen into Iraq. The battle began on June 26 and continues. And now the 9/11 Commission is set to report that Iran gave support to the hijackers and even asked to join al Qaeda in the attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Bin Laden declined their offer for fear of upsetting his Saudi Arabian benefactors. Maybe Khamenei is worried about an attack on Iran by the US as well.)

Our purpose here is neither to debate the merits of the fence, nor to assess the credibility of Khamenei's threat, so much as it is to place these factors in the context of Biblical prophecy. In the coming battle of Ezekiel 38-39, forces armed by Russia and led by Iran clearly attack in a time when there is no fence, when Israel, if you read the passage literally, is a land of unwalled villages.


Care For A Little Perspective?
So with these two observations from current events in one hand and the Bible in the other, we gain more insight into the nearness of the Ezekiel 38 battle. The Palestinians have floated a UN resolution to put the force of international law behind The Hague's advisory opinion, and the pro-Moslem General Assembly will certainly approve it. The US has already threatened to veto the measure when it gets to the Security Council, but someday soon the security fence will have to come down if Ezekiel's prophecy is to be literally fulfilled. Ezekiel 38 implies that Israel will feel safe without the fence when that happens, so perhaps someone like the UN or US will guarantee their security in return for its removal. We'll know soon.

According to intelligence sources, Israel already has plans to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities, just as they destroyed Iraq's some years ago, and probably would execute their plans with or without prior approval from the major powers when the time is right. And Iran's threat to respond in kind is now on the record. It doesn't take much imagination to predict which other Moslem nations will likely join in, just as Ezekiel predicted. They couldn't find a better pretext if they tried.

So if these things are all pieces of the same puzzle, the focal point of our observation has to be the security fence. Will world opinion prevail to force the fence's removal? Even though all of Israel's enemies outside the Arab world admit that it's been an effective deterrent even before its completion, that doesn't seem to matter. And when Prime Minister Sharon says, "If there weren't any terrorist attacks there wouldn't be any fence," no one seems to listen. The Hague opinion doesn't even mention any responsibility the Palestinians might have, only the inconvenience they've suffered and the compensation they're owed.

Of course only the Lord knows how all this will unfold, and the only thing He's saying is that it will. "I make known the end from the beginning," He said, "From ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please." (Isaiah 46:10)

Our job is to watch and wait. Watch with the expectation that what He has promised will come to pass, and wait with the anticipation that when it does, we'll be blessed by it.

I'm convinced that Israel has to be made completely vulnerable in advance of this battle, and that means the fence has to go. The Lord can't leave them any basis to claim victory for themselves, because through this battle He'll reveal to them and the world that He's their Protector, and more than that, their Champion. It's the event He has chosen to open the door to reconciliation with His people.

"I will now bring Jacob back from captivity and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid. When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will show myself holy through them in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD." (Ezek. 39:25-29)


Goodbye, Cruel World
And by the time He does, our job on earth will be finished. In fact, in order for subsequent events to unfold as prophesied, the Church will have to be gone before this battle is over, and perhaps even before it begins.

If the Jews, upon realizing that the Lord has called them home to Israel, demand a Temple as their Old Covenant worship requires, and if the antichrist is the one who confirms a treaty granting them the right to construct one, and if the Holy Spirit who currently restrains his power has to be taken out of the way before the antichrist can be revealed, then this security fence ultimately holds more importance for the Church than for any other group in the entire world, including Israel. Because if we're still here when it goes, we'll know we can't be far behind. If you listen carefully, you can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 07-18-04


Related articles:
End Times Chronology
The 70 Weeks of Daniel
The Coming Temple
The End Times According To Paul ... Part 1, 1st Thessalonians 1-3
End Times Story
The End Times According to Jesus ... Part 1
[right][snapback]64565[/snapback][/right]

KJV verse 1
damascas is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

niv
damascas will disappear! it will become a heap of ruins

amplified
damascas will cease to be a city, and will become a heap of ruins

********************

isaiah 13;20
niv
babylon will never rise again.
the land will never again be lived in.
nomads will refuse to camp there
the shepard and his sheep will not stay overnight

Halley's Bible handbook: Babylon was in ruins, soon after the time of Christ.
for centuries it has been a desolate heap of mounds, a remarkable fulfillment of prophecy, still un-inhabited, except for a little village at the SW corner

*****************

Re: Damascas, Isaiah 17;1

Does it mean that Damascas can (may) be re-built?

Or,
Does it mean that Dasmascas will NEVER be re-built? (as in the case of Babylon).


I don't know.
God was a little more clear and emphatic about "Babylon will never be inhabited again".

Where did God say "Damascas will never be re-built and inhabited."?
**************

Saddam Hussein was re-building Babylon when the recent Iraqi War stopped him.

********************

In Revelations, it talks about the city Babylon. In the future?
Yet, God hath said: Babylon will never again be re-built and inhabited?
uhhh,,,,,,, Come again?????????????
How much?????????

I guess that Babylon (in Revelations) is the world system of Babylon (figure of speech). Not literal Babylon, in Iraq.




dennis manning
[right][snapback]29991[/snapback][/right]

Benny, I read an interesting study on Isaiah 17 written by Jack Kelley--what do you think?-
---------------------

Isaiah 17, An Oracle Concerning Damascus

Ikvot ha'Mashiach

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

In addition to desperately trying to aviod responsiblity for the asassination of former Lebanese Prime minister Harriri, Syria's also been in the news as a result of a recent military spending spree. As you might expect, that's not good for world peace.

At issue are two transactions wherein about a year ago Syria purchased anti-tank missiles in Eastern Europe, and more recently an air defense system and long range missiles from Russia.

These two purchases combine to significantly alter the mid-east "balance of strength." Damascus is now theoretically protected against an airborne attack from Israel while possessing missiles that can penetrate Israel's air defense and have a range capable of putting every city in Israel at risk.

According to some reports, the deal also included shoulder fired anti-air missiles. The US is concerned that these and the anti-tank missiles will wind up in the hands of Hizbollah, the Palestinians, and other Syrian backed terrorist elements. US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage warned Syrian Pres. Assad that the appearance of any of these missiles in Iraq would constitute grounds for immediate military action against Syria. The order to attack, he said, has already been given. No further action from the US chain of command is required. US intelligence has obtained the serial numbers of every missile, making it easy to prove their origin in case they do show up in Iraq.

In addition, Armitage also demanded that Syria hand over to Iraq or the US the 55 top officials and military officers of the former Saddam regime, who are confirmed by intelligence to be established in Syria, running the guerrilla war in Iraq out of their homes and offices. (Addresses, telephone numbers and cell phone numbers were listed beside each name).

Since Syria wouldn't dare retaliate against the US in the event of an attack, Israel assumes Assad would direct Hizbollah to mount a major attack across the Lebanese border instead, and is preparing accordingly.

Aside from the money involved, Russia's motivation is to use this sale as a warning to the US and Israel that it's dangerous to make decisions about the future of the Middle East without including Russia in the discussions. Russian President Putin is also upset over the way the US and Israel "influenced" the recent election in the Ukraine causing his candidate to be defeated.

So once again we have Russia (Magog) supplying armament to a Middle Eastern enemy of Israel, in this case Syria, opening a window for the fulfillment of prophecy. To refresh our memories, let's review Isaiah's prophecy about Damascus. It's found in chapter 17.

An oracle concerning Damascus:

"See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid. (Isaiah 17:1-2)

Because of the language of these verses, many scholars believe that this prophecy was only partially fulfilled when the Assyrians defeated the Arameans and overran their capital, Damascus, in 732 BC. To this day Damascus is thought to be the world's oldest continuously inhabited city with a 5000-year history and a population close to 2 million, yet Isaiah 17:1 indicates that it will one day cease to exist. The phrase "cities of Aroer" refers to Aramean territory east of the Jordan River from the area around Damascus south to the Arnon River, which flows into the Dead Sea.

The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus; the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the Israelites," declares the LORD Almighty. "In that day the glory of Jacob will fade; the fat of his body will waste away. It will be as when a reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the grain with his arm- as when a man gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. (Isaiah 17:3-5)

This segment speaks of the fall of Samaria 10 years later in 722 BC, and the systematic relocation of everyone showing any leadership tendencies to the far reaches of the Assyrian Empire. This was standard Assyrian policy to reduce the likelihood of subsequent rebellion among their conquered peoples. Jacob and Ephraim are alternate names for the Northern Kingdom, and Samaria was its capital. Judah was the name given to the Southern Kingdom, later changed to Judea in the Greek and Roman eras.

Yet some gleanings will remain, as when an olive tree is beaten, leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches, four or five on the fruitful boughs," declares the LORD, the God of Israel. (Isaiah 17:6)

Not all the people were dispersed. A remnant remained in the land, casting further doubt on the "lost 10 tribes" hypothesis. It was this remnant that came to be known as the Samaritans in the time of Jesus. (A quick reading of 2 Chronicles 11:16 shows that all 12 tribes were represented in the Southern Kingdom of Judah at the time of the civil war that divided the nation. There are no lost tribes. The Lord has always preserved a remnant of all the Tribes of Israel.)

In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles and the incense altars their fingers have made. In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth. And all will be desolation. (Isaiah 17:7-9)

This is another passage that's problematic for those who try to consign the whole prophecy to history. There is simply no reason to believe that the Assyrians turned to God following their conquest of Aram and Israel. And far from abandoning their cities because of the Israelites, it was the Israelites who were defeated and dispersed. The yet future Jewish attack on Damascus causing the destruction and abandonment of Syrian cities, and the return of these descendants of Shem to their God is a much more likely fulfillment.

Some are beginning to see the following scenario unfolding in the near future. The Israelis have all but announced plans to mount a pre-emptive attack against Iran's nuclear facilities. When they do, they will also destroy Iran's second strike capability, to prevent an Iranian response.

Iran, who along with Syria supplies the money, weaponry and supervisory manpower for the 16,000 or so missiles Hizbollah has arrayed against Israel, will direct Hizbollah to retaliate. This will do great, but not crippling damage to Israel. In response, Israel will destroy Damascus. Iran will eventually recover to lead the attack prophesied in Ezekiel 38, but Syria will never again threaten Israel.

You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress. Therefore, though you set out the finest plants and plant imported vines, though on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable pain. (Isaiah 17:10-11)

Asshur, father of the Assyrians, and Aram, father of the Arameans were both sons of Shem. Aram's son Uz is the traditional founder of Damascus. The knowledge of God in the memories of these patriarchs cannot be questioned. It wasn't that they never knew Him, but that they had forgotten Him, abandoned Him in favor of the Canaanite gods of the region, Baal and his consort Ashtoreth (aka Asherah, Astarte, Ishtar, Aphrodite, Venus.) Currently Syria is almost totally Moslem. Until they return to their Maker and Savior none of their plans and schemes will prosper in the long run.

But return to Him they will. In Isaiah 19 we're told that in the Kingdom Age there'll be a highway extending from Egypt to Assyria, and both will stand with Israel to receive the Lord's blessing. (Isaiah 19:23-25)

Oh, the raging of many nations- they rage like the raging sea! Oh, the uproar of the peoples- they roar like the roaring of great waters! Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters, when he rebukes them they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed before a gale. In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they are gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who plunder us. (Isaiah 17:12-14)

Having conquered both the Arameans and the Northern Kingdom, the Assyrians set their sights on the Southern Kingdom, Judah. Assyria's King Sennacherib brought his armies almost literally to the gates of Jerusalem, so close his commanders were within speaking distance of the Jewish defenders. On the night before they were to attack, the Lord sent His angel into the Assyrian camp on Mt. Scopus to slaughter 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. Before dawn they had packed up and fled, ending 44 years of conquest. (Isaiah 37:36-38) This time in Israel's history so parallels the Jewish view of the End Times that Sennacherib is seen by them as a type of the anti-christ, while Judah's King Hezekiah models the Messiah.

But notice that Isaiah speaks of many nations raging against God's people, not just Assyria, leading us once again to consider Sennacherib's defeat as a partial fulfillment. Is this scene set to be played out again as the forces of the anti-christ take their last stand against the Lord and His Anointed One in Jerusalem? Zechariah says yes.

A day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided among you. I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.

Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime-a day known to the LORD. When evening comes, there will be light. On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter.

The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name. (Zech 14:1-9)

If you listen carefully, you can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah.
[right][snapback]64903[/snapback][/right]

And the beat goes on ....Iran begins fresh atom enrichment despite powers' offer 1 hour, 29 minutes ago



VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran began a fresh phase of uranium enrichment this week just as world powers presented it with incentives to halt nuclear fuel work, according to a U.N. nuclear watchdog agency report obtained by Reuters on Thursday.

ADVERTISEMENT

The report, emailed to the 35 states on the International Atomic Energy Agency's governing board ahead of a meeting starting on Monday, also said Iran was pressing ahead with installing more cascades of centrifuge enrichment machines.

Authored by IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei, the report said Iran resumed feeding "UF6" uranium gas into its pilot 164-centrifuge cascade in Natanz on Tuesday after a pause of several weeks to do test runs of the machines without UF6.

Tuesday was the day European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana visited Tehran to hand over a packet of economic, technological and security incentives for Iran to suspend work which could eventually produce atomic bombs.

The Islamic Republic says the goal of its nuclear fuel program is solely electricity generation for its economy. The West suspects that Iran, the world's No. 4 oil producer, of creating a smokescreen for atomic bombmaking.

In April, Iran appeared to defeat a Western bid to deny it enrichment technology when, for the first time, it purified a small amount of uranium at Natanz for use as power plant fuel.

A Western intelligence source told Reuters hours before the IAEA report that Iran stopped feeding gas into its pilot cascade later in April because of technical glitches, but then resolved them, allowing an enrichment resumption this week.

"This underlines the fact that the temporary halt was technical in nature. It's a continuation of Iranian policy to profit from all worlds -- dialogue to gain time while continuing to strive for an atomic bomb," the source said.

The report confirmed diplomatic leaks that new traces of highly enriched uranium, the key fissile ingredient in atomic bombs, had turned up on equipment from the ex-military Lavizan-Shian site, razed by Iran in 2004 before inspectors could examine it.

IAEA inspectors earlier this year took swabs from vacuum pumps used at Lavizan. Vacuum pumps have "dual" civilian or military uses but are needed when enriching uranium with a cascade of connected centrifuges.

Iran has said such traces, detected earlier at some other sites in Iran, originated on equipment imported from Pakistan, which has nuclear arms, and did not come from Iranian activity.

ElBaradei's report said Tehran was still stonewalling a three-year-old IAEA probe into military links with nuclear fuel work, echoing a string of earlier reports.

Vienna-based diplomats familiar with IAEA inquiries in Iran say it is withholding answers as bargaining chips for any talks with U.N. Security Council powers on its nuclear aspirations.

.........................benny
[right][snapback]66193[/snapback][/right]

Fellow students of bible prophecy,....this does not look good in one sense....but the good news is...Our Lord is coming to take us home soon!.................UN watchdog says Iran accelerated uranium enrichment by Michael Adler
35 minutes ago



VIENNA (AFP) - Iran accelerated uranium enrichment on the same day world powers asked it to halt the work and open talks on guaranteeing it will not make nuclear weapons, the UN atomic agency said in a report obtained by AFP.

ADVERTISEMENT

Iran is also building new production lines of the centrifuges that carry out the sensitive nuclear work, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a confidential report to be discussed by the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors next week in Vienna.

The damaging report appears to dash hopes Iran is preparing an immediate pause in its nuclear fuel activities in order to start talks with six major powers on guaranteeing its program is peaceful.

The same report said IAEA inspectors had found new traces of highly enriched uranium on equipment on Iran.

But it was unclear whether the enriched uranium traces were contaminants from equipment Tehran had purchased abroad or from enrichment that had been carried out by Iran.

According to the report, Iran stepped up uranium enrichment on June 6 -- the same day European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana visited Tehran to present proposals for an end to the process.

On June 6, it said, Iran started feeding the raw material of uranium hexafluoride gas, or UF6, into a connected series of 164 centrifuges -- known as a cascade -- to produce enriched uranium.

"Iran is continuing its installation work on other 164-machine cascades," added the report from the IAEA chief, Mohamed ElBaradei.

Iran built the cascade as a pilot plant for what it hopes will eventually be an industrial plant of more than 50,000 centrifuges, used to refine out the uranium 235 isotope.

At no time had Iran actually halted feeding uranium gas into centrifuges since making a first batch on April 11, a UN official said.

During a pause in feeding the 164-centrifuge cascade, but leaving it running empty for technical reasons, it had fed the gas into two single centrifuge machines.

The UN official said the Iranians had fed "10s of kilos (pounds) into the system so far" and have produced only small amounts, "grams and hundreds of grams," of enriched uranium.

Iran also has produced 118 tonnes of uranium hexafluoride gas at its Isfahan plant since August. The "new conversion campaign" that began June 6 involved more than 30 tonnes of uranium ore to be converted into uranium gas, a senior UN official said.

These quantities would yield enough material for over 20 nuclear bombs, experts say.

According to the report Iran had also:

-- Failed to clear up IAEA questions over high-tech centrifuges it may have acquired.

-- Left unanswered questions over secret military projects that could be related to making nuclear weapons.

-- Failed to comply with a request to halt work on a heavy-water reactor that would make plutonium, another potential atomic weapons material.

Iran has consistently refused to halt its uranium enrichment program.

But Solana met with Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani Tuesday and handed him a new offer of Western trade and political incentives in exchange for a suspension of Iranian uranium enrichment activities.

Iran said Thursday it was open to talks with the West but stressed that nuclear technology was not up for discussion.

Tehran says it is seeking solely to develop a civilian nuclear power program but Washington and the European Union fear this may be a cover for building nuclear weapons.

"There are difficulties in getting talks started. The question of the suspension of enrichment has to be finessed," a senior European diplomat, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, said earlier.

The last IAEA report on April 28 had also said Iran was not heeding an IAEA call to suspend uranium enrichment.

Iran started last August to make feedstock uranium hexafluoride gas, which it then fed into centrifuges in February this year, producing enriched uranium from April.

The quality of enriched uranium being produced in April was appropriate for nuclear reactor fuel and was not the highly-enriched variety needed to make weapons.

I can hear the footsteps of the Messiah approuching......................benny
[right][snapback]66227[/snapback][/right]