Cradle of the apocalypse
TODAY The Sun brings you a chilling frontline report from deep inside the nuclear powderkeg of Iran.
Chief Foreign Correspondent Nick Parker and photographer Ray Collins secretly slipped into a country that is defying the world in its determination to develop nukes.
They found ordinary Iranians terrified at the prospect of fanatical president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad getting his hands on the bomb.
Our men also got close to the secret complex that has sparked world outrage — the uranium enrichment plant at Isfahan.
By NICK PARKER
Chief Foreign Correspondent
IN Iran's bleak and forbidding landscape Iranians fear their fanatical leader is plotting a nuclear apocalypse.
Yesterday I got within a mile of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s doomsday factory — and found a nation filled with dread.
In the capital Tehran, one woman shuddered at the prospect of the zealot getting his hands on a nuclear bomb.
The 35-year-old bookseller warned: “He could soon have his finger on a nuclear button.
“We all tell ourselves the unthinkable could never happen — and that he is not lying when he says Iran has no need of nuclear weapons.
“But how can we trust a man who has told the world he is on a mission from God?” A former soldier sipping tea in a café put it more bluntly.
The former lieutenant declared: “We fear we have elected a madman.”
The white-haired 55-year-old — a veteran of the bloody war with Iraq — said: “He won the election promising us better everyday lives.
“But now he seems obsessed with provoking America and the West.
“Many ordinary people are worried by his religious mania — he can’t wait for the apocalypse.”
Blacksmith’s son Ahmadinejad, 49, has declared Israel must be wiped off the map. He has told followers to prepare the way for the return of the revered “Hidden Prophet” — known as the Mahdi.
According to Islam, the Mahdi will bring justice to the whole world.
But he will not come back until the earth is rocked by a period of terror and catastrophe.
Many in Iran fear their president is out to cause just that.
He has already triggered global outrage by breaking UN seals on his uranium enrichment plant at Isfahan. Ahmadinejad claims Iran simply wants nuclear fuel.
But few believe him — even in his own country. A 19-year-old student, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, said: "Ahmadinejad is a village idiot leading us like donkeys into his big fight with America."
"Most people here — especially young people like me — want to forget the past and build better relations with other nations.
“But we’re heading back to the dark ages now.”
Photographer Ray Collins and I got within a mile of the top secret Isfahan nuke base after sneaking into Iran as tourists.
Our driver was too terrified to take us all the way. He explained: “This is as far as anyone dare go. Any further and we might not come back.” In the distance the base’s stark 10ft high perimeter fence was clearly visible.
Troops regularly patrol the wasteland around the complex.
Yesterday grey unmarked trucks rumbled along the track leading to the plant, which is close to a peak called Shah Mohammad.
Our driver told us: “The nuclear base workers and its scientists never come into the local town.They live and work on the base. Its secrets stay behind the wire.”
The plant lies just six miles from the historic city of Isfahan — an architectural gem with glittering mosaic-covered mosques and minarets.
Its citizens are proud of their centuries-old record of religious tolerance. Armenian Christians and even a community of 3,000 Jews live in relative peace among the Muslim majority.
But these days, despite the smiles of conscript soldiers we spoke to, a tangible sense of foreboding grips the city.
One Jewish trader — a 50-year-old who gave his name as Isaac — said: “Our greatest fear is a strike on the nuclear plant by America or Israel.
“It could contaminate the whole city. Ahmadinejad is risking all our lives by taunting his enemies.”
Armenian Christian Vahick, 42, who runs a souvenir stall across the Zeyandeh river, said: “We all have much to fear from this man.
"An attack on the plant or an accident threatens every one of us. We are all in the frontline if his crazy words bring war to our door."
Muslim hotel boss Shah, 58, said: “A lot of people here are terrified by what Ahmadinejad is doing because the nuclear site is so close to the city.
“If his enemies bomb the place who knows what could be released into the air.”
Israel — which bombed Iraq's French-built Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981 — has already warned a similar strike on Iran may be ordered.
But destroying the nuke site will not be easy. Locals said much of it has been built deep underground to protect it from even the most powerful “bunker buster” bombs.
Experts fear Iran could develop a nuclear weapon within two years. That would leave the region at the mercy of a maniac who first paraded his fanaticism in a bizarre maiden speech to the UN General Assembly last September.
In it, Ahmadinejad appealed to God to “hasten the emergence of your last repository, the promised one, the perfect human being, the one that will fill this world with justice and peace.”
He later declared that he felt himself surrounded by a radiant light during his rambling address begging for the Mahdi’s return.
And in a video distributed two months later on an Iranian website, he said: “For 27 to 28 minutes all the leaders did not blink.
“It’s not an exaggeration because I was looking.”
In reality UN delegates had simply been left agog at his crackpot performance. Recently Ahmadinejad’s rantings have taken an ever more sinister twist.
When 108 people died last month on a military plane which crashed in Tehran, he gave a clue to the extent of his fanaticism. He said: “What is important is that they have shown the way to martyrdom which we must all follow.”
In Isfahan — which has seen its tourist trade plummet — hotelier Shah told how he feared for his family’s safety.
He said: “It is ironic that a place in Iran where Jewish people can live in peace is at the centre of this international crisis.
“We are praying to all our Gods that Ahmadinejad stops this madness.”
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006030123,00.html
TODAY The Sun brings you a chilling frontline report from deep inside the nuclear powderkeg of Iran.
Chief Foreign Correspondent Nick Parker and photographer Ray Collins secretly slipped into a country that is defying the world in its determination to develop nukes.
They found ordinary Iranians terrified at the prospect of fanatical president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad getting his hands on the bomb.
Our men also got close to the secret complex that has sparked world outrage — the uranium enrichment plant at Isfahan.
By NICK PARKER
Chief Foreign Correspondent
IN Iran's bleak and forbidding landscape Iranians fear their fanatical leader is plotting a nuclear apocalypse.
Yesterday I got within a mile of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s doomsday factory — and found a nation filled with dread.
In the capital Tehran, one woman shuddered at the prospect of the zealot getting his hands on a nuclear bomb.
The 35-year-old bookseller warned: “He could soon have his finger on a nuclear button.
“We all tell ourselves the unthinkable could never happen — and that he is not lying when he says Iran has no need of nuclear weapons.
“But how can we trust a man who has told the world he is on a mission from God?” A former soldier sipping tea in a café put it more bluntly.
The former lieutenant declared: “We fear we have elected a madman.”
The white-haired 55-year-old — a veteran of the bloody war with Iraq — said: “He won the election promising us better everyday lives.
“But now he seems obsessed with provoking America and the West.
“Many ordinary people are worried by his religious mania — he can’t wait for the apocalypse.”
Blacksmith’s son Ahmadinejad, 49, has declared Israel must be wiped off the map. He has told followers to prepare the way for the return of the revered “Hidden Prophet” — known as the Mahdi.
According to Islam, the Mahdi will bring justice to the whole world.
But he will not come back until the earth is rocked by a period of terror and catastrophe.
Many in Iran fear their president is out to cause just that.
He has already triggered global outrage by breaking UN seals on his uranium enrichment plant at Isfahan. Ahmadinejad claims Iran simply wants nuclear fuel.
But few believe him — even in his own country. A 19-year-old student, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, said: "Ahmadinejad is a village idiot leading us like donkeys into his big fight with America."
"Most people here — especially young people like me — want to forget the past and build better relations with other nations.
“But we’re heading back to the dark ages now.”
Photographer Ray Collins and I got within a mile of the top secret Isfahan nuke base after sneaking into Iran as tourists.
Our driver was too terrified to take us all the way. He explained: “This is as far as anyone dare go. Any further and we might not come back.” In the distance the base’s stark 10ft high perimeter fence was clearly visible.
Troops regularly patrol the wasteland around the complex.
Yesterday grey unmarked trucks rumbled along the track leading to the plant, which is close to a peak called Shah Mohammad.
Our driver told us: “The nuclear base workers and its scientists never come into the local town.They live and work on the base. Its secrets stay behind the wire.”
The plant lies just six miles from the historic city of Isfahan — an architectural gem with glittering mosaic-covered mosques and minarets.
Its citizens are proud of their centuries-old record of religious tolerance. Armenian Christians and even a community of 3,000 Jews live in relative peace among the Muslim majority.
But these days, despite the smiles of conscript soldiers we spoke to, a tangible sense of foreboding grips the city.
One Jewish trader — a 50-year-old who gave his name as Isaac — said: “Our greatest fear is a strike on the nuclear plant by America or Israel.
“It could contaminate the whole city. Ahmadinejad is risking all our lives by taunting his enemies.”
Armenian Christian Vahick, 42, who runs a souvenir stall across the Zeyandeh river, said: “We all have much to fear from this man.
"An attack on the plant or an accident threatens every one of us. We are all in the frontline if his crazy words bring war to our door."
Muslim hotel boss Shah, 58, said: “A lot of people here are terrified by what Ahmadinejad is doing because the nuclear site is so close to the city.
“If his enemies bomb the place who knows what could be released into the air.”
Israel — which bombed Iraq's French-built Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981 — has already warned a similar strike on Iran may be ordered.
But destroying the nuke site will not be easy. Locals said much of it has been built deep underground to protect it from even the most powerful “bunker buster” bombs.
Experts fear Iran could develop a nuclear weapon within two years. That would leave the region at the mercy of a maniac who first paraded his fanaticism in a bizarre maiden speech to the UN General Assembly last September.
In it, Ahmadinejad appealed to God to “hasten the emergence of your last repository, the promised one, the perfect human being, the one that will fill this world with justice and peace.”
He later declared that he felt himself surrounded by a radiant light during his rambling address begging for the Mahdi’s return.
And in a video distributed two months later on an Iranian website, he said: “For 27 to 28 minutes all the leaders did not blink.
“It’s not an exaggeration because I was looking.”
In reality UN delegates had simply been left agog at his crackpot performance. Recently Ahmadinejad’s rantings have taken an ever more sinister twist.
When 108 people died last month on a military plane which crashed in Tehran, he gave a clue to the extent of his fanaticism. He said: “What is important is that they have shown the way to martyrdom which we must all follow.”
In Isfahan — which has seen its tourist trade plummet — hotelier Shah told how he feared for his family’s safety.
He said: “It is ironic that a place in Iran where Jewish people can live in peace is at the centre of this international crisis.
“We are praying to all our Gods that Ahmadinejad stops this madness.”
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006030123,00.html
