Understand The Times, International

During the past month, senior Iranian officials have been speaking openly about the possibility of launching military strikes against Israel and U.S. forces in the Middle East and of dragging out nuclear talks with the international community in order to obtain atomic weapons.

Late last month, Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the deadline for reaching an agreement on Iran�s nuclear program had been extended from Nov. 24 to June 30, 2015. Kerry sought the extension to give Iran and six international powers (the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China) more time to negotiate restrictions on Iranian nuclear programs, The Washington Post reported. But on the Iranian side, officials have openly talked of their determination to stall for time as they work to obtain nuclear weapons.

Reza Kahlili (pseudonym for a former CIA operative inside Iran�s Revolutionary Guards) wrote in The Daily Caller that Tehran has adopted a policy of "elongation" of talks with the United States and five other international powers (Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany) in which it prolongs the talks "as it develops nuclear weapons."

He quoted Alireza Forghani, a prominent strategist with ties to Iran�s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who explained in his blog last week that the negotiations with the six nations were "never supposed to be brought to a successful conclusion � whether positive or negative." Forghani warned that soon he will promote the slogan "nuclear weapon is [sic] our definite right," and that there will be people in the streets demanding a nuclear-armed Iran. He hinted that these events would lead to the destruction of Israel, adding that this "is exactly what Almighty God wants."

December 8 - Iranian Officials Vow to Get Nukes, Target Israel, US Forces