A Daily Analysis
By Marc Schulman

November 7, 2007 Iran and the Nuclear Threat.

Today the President of Iran announced that his country has now passed the point of no return and is producing enriched uranium from 3,000 working centrifuges.  Israeli sources made light of that statement, saying that nothing is new. Yesterday however, the head of Israeli military intelligence warned that Iran was two years away from producing a nuclear weapon.  On the other hand, Minister of Defense Barak somewhat downplayed the threat, stating that Israel has dealt with worse threats before. 
 
Meanwhile, Director General of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aharon Abramovich criticized the UN nuclear watchdog organization and its head Mohamed El Baradei for standing in the way of the implementation of greater sanction on Iran.  During a discussion of the Iranian issue at the Saban Forum, Abramovich said that, "Instead of contributing to the international efforts against Iran, the IAEA is acting as an obstructive element, whose opinions serve as an excuse for countries to refrain from joining the efforts against Tehran".  Today on London and Kirshenbaum Abramovich stated that this is the first time that Israel had publicly criticized the IAEA, but he felt that the situation was critical.
 
In a speech before the ruling party, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced that the country is building a nuclear reactor for peaceful purposes.  His goal is to be the anti-Iran.  Mubarak is planning to put Egypt’s project totally under international supervision.  At the same meeting, the delegates nominated Mubarak to run for elections in three years when the next elections are held.  This is widely seen as an endorsement of Mubarak's son Gamal Mubarak as the next President.
 
Minister of Public Security Avi Dichter said today that Syria is ready for a peace agreement with Israel, but questioned whether Israel was ready, and more importantly to him, whether the United States was ready to engage in negotiations.  He believed that the Syrians are unfortunately more capable of reaching an agreement with Israel than the Palestinians.