Top Israeli officer stresses Iran on first U.S. visit (Reuters)

Read what the former chief of Israeli military intelligence has to say about Iran: Full report available at: http://www.jcpa.org/text/iran_page_38-43.pdf IRANIAN STRATEGIC VULNERABILITIES:IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY OPTIONS TO HALT THE IRANIAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM By Maj.-Gen. (res.) Aharon Zeevi Farkash * Ayatollah Khomeini's heirs are breathing new life into the Islamic revolution that began in 1979 into the hopes of transforming Iran into a regional power. The Iranian revolution can only point to a single achievement in the Arab world: Hizbullah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah are keeping alive the revolutionary fervor in Lebanon. This base of exported revolution, in addition to the longstanding alliance with Syria, is central to Iran's political-diplomatic efforts to achieve a higher status in the region and in the wider world. Two additional foundations of Iranian power must be added to the above: * The Iranian nuclear program, complete with delivery systems capable of reaching targets in the Middle East and Europe. * Iran's relative economic independence since 2003 because of the dramatic rise in revenue from oil sales. At the beginning of 2003, the Iranians were concentrating their efforts on the centrifuge program in Natanz, where they had managed to build a cascade with 164 centrifuges. Today, they have reached a capacity of 3,000 centrifuges. The Iranian Nuclear Program The Iranian nuclear weapons program is comprised of three key elements: A delivery system, requiring the development of surface-to surface missiles. The accumulation of fissile material through uranium enrichment and plutonium production. Weaponization – preparing a warhead from the fissile material and fitting it to a missile. * Maj. Gen. (ret.) Aharon Ze'evi Farkash is a former head of Israeli Military Intelligence. His other positions in the IDF included chief of the Logistics and Technology Branch, as assistant chief and deputy chief in the Planning Branch, and commander of 8200, Israel Signit National Unit. He is presently director of the Sari and Israel Roizman Program in Intelligence Studies at the Institute for National Security Studies. Ze'evi Farkash holds a BA and MA in Middle East History from Tel Aviv University, and is a graduate of the International Senior Manager's Program at Harvard Business School. Full report available at: http://www.jcpa.org/text/iran_page_38-43.pdf