Iran: No Nuke Dismantling Whatsoever

JERUSALEM, Israel -- After saying any discussion about dismantling their nuclear program is "off limits," Iranian officials said the latest round of talks in Geneva got off to a "good start."

European Union policy chief Baroness Catherine Ashton agreed.

"We had three very productive days during which we identified all the issues we need to address," Ashton said. "There is a lot to do. It won't be easy but we've made a good start."

Iran's list of "forbidden topics" includes dismantling the uranium enrichment program, shutting down the heavy-water reactor in Arak that could produce plutonium for bombs and limiting the ballistic missile program.

Discussion, they insisted, must be limited to the Joint Plan of Action outlining the six-month interim agreement with the P5+1 (U.S., U.K., France, Russia and China, plus Germany).

Iran insists its nuclear program is strictly for peaceful use, energy production and medical purposes, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said enriched uranium, plutonium production and long-range ballistic missiles have little to do with peace.

"Iran does not need any centrifuges for nuclear power for civilian purposes," Netanyahu said earlier this week.

Meanwhile, just two weeks ago Iranian television aired a video simulation of missile attacks on Israel, including Tel Aviv, Haifa, Ben Gurion Airport and various army and air force bases. Iranian missiles also bombard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

The video, titled "The Nightmare of Vultures," begins with an address by Supreme Leader Ali Ayatollah Khamenei telling graduating cadets that any threats or aggression to the Islamic Republic will make the attackers "collapse from within."

During the same weekend, an Iranian naval officer announced that two warships had been dispatched to the North Atlantic.