CSOI: A PREMONIÇÃO

Essa notícia saiu hoje no Security Watch - quem participou do Conselho de crise há algumas semanas sentirá um leve deja vu...

Iran TV reports explosion near nuclear reactor

Iranian state television reported on Wednesday that an unknown aircraft had fired a missile resulting in a massive explosion in the southern Bushehr province, where Iran has a Russian-built nuclear reactor. Details remain sketchy.

The explosion reportedly took place some 20 kilometers from the main city of Bushehr province, Deylam. Iranian officials initially could not confirm the report, but later said that the unknown aircraft could have been an Iranian plane, and that the explosion might have involved a jettisoned fuel tank. The unconfirmed report comes on the heels of another report that the US military has been flying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into Iranian airspace from its military bases in Iraq.

On Sunday, the Washington Post reported that Iranian officials had protested the intrusion via Swiss diplomatic channels. The drones are outfitted with photographic equipment and air filters to gather information and pick up signs of nuclear activity. The flights are also designed to test Iran's air defense radar and gain information for possible attacks by manned aircraft. The US response to Tehran's complaint has been only to deny that manned US aircraft had crossed Iran's borders.

US officials have confirmed that the drones were first deployed along Iran's northern and western borders in April and December 2004, and again in January 2005. So far, US intelligence officials familiar with the mission say the drones have added little information to Iran's nuclear file. US officials have also confirmed that the US National Intelligence Council has begun a review of Iran's military capabilities with the aim of producing a National Intelligence Estimate on Iran - the same type of estimate completed before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said attacks on Iran were not on Washington's agenda. The Bush administration believes Iran is using its nuclear energy program to conceal an effort to manufacture nuclear weapons, but there has not been any definitive evidence to substantiate that claim. On Wednesday, Israel said Iran was only six months away from having the knowledge to build an atomic bomb.