ASTROLOGY BY JAN WARREN ALLEN

 Last Saturday, on April 11th, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iran now controls the entire cycle for producing nuclear fuel with the opening of a new facility to produce uranium pellets.

Ahmadinejad has announced several times in the past that Iran has the knowledge necessary to enrich uranium ore into fuel pellets, but with the opening of the new facility, the Islamic republic says it now has the capability.

Tehran maintains that its nuclear ambitions are limited to peaceful ends, but the international community fears that the Islamic republic aims to build nuclear weapons.

The London Times online edition reported the following Saturday (April 18th, as I am writing this) that the Israel Defense Force was making preparations to be able to launch a massive aerial assault on Iran's nuclear facilities within days of being given the go-ahead by Israel's government.

"Israel wants to know that if its forces were given the green light they could strike at Iran in a matter of days, even hours. They are making preparations on every level for this eventuality. The message to Iran is that the threat is not just words," one senior Israeli defense official told The Times.

The report comes just as the United States voices willingness to launch a dialogue with Iran, to discuss, among other things, the Islamic Republic's controversial nuclear program.

The London Times report appears to be an Israeli message to Iran conveying its capability and readiness to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

The report includes a nation-wide home front drill, scheduled for June, among what it calls Israel's intensive preparations for the possibility of an attack, aiming to prepare Israel's civilians for the possible consequences of an attack on Iran.

"We would not make the threat [against Iran] without the force to back it. There has been a recent move, a number of on-the-ground preparations, that indicate Israel's willingness to act," another official from Israel's intelligence community told the Times.

He added that it was unlikely that Israel would carry out the attack without receiving at least tacit approval from America, which has struck a more reconciliatory tone in dealing with Iran under its new administration.

After I heard John Bolton remark on the situation earlier today on TV, I looked at Israel's chart ..May 14, 1948..04:37PM..Tel Aliv Israel and saw some ominous progressions and transits that tied into the story.

I constructed a triple chart so I can point them out..the inside wheel the natal,the middle wheel the progressed, and the outer wheel is for the transits today.

                                  There certainly is a lot of tension going on in the Israeli chart right about now.

What got triggered today is its slow moving T-square. This consists of progressed Mars at 28 Virgo 27 in the 11th house which squares progressed Uranus at 27 Gemini 53 in the 8th which in turn squares natal retrograde Jupiter at 27 Sagittarius 39 in the 3rd.Today transiting Mars has come up to 26 Pisces 56 (as I am writing this) to form a mutable grand square in the chart.

Besides that, transiting Uranus at 24 Pisces 56 in the 5th squares retrograde progressed Venus at  24 Gemini42 and conjoins natal Uranus at 24 Gemini21in the 8th. Lots of nerve wracking cloak and dagger stuff going on, no doubt.

To add more uncertainty to their situation, the progressed Moon at 05 Scorpio 16 in the 1st house forms a T-square with the transiting nodes at 05 degrees and 16 minutes of Leo and Aquarius respectively in the 10th and 4th house.

Transiting retrograde Pluto at 03 Capricorn 15 in the 3rd house forms yet another cardinal grand square in the chart with the progressed mid heaven, progressed Mercury at 01 Cancer45 in the 9th house,  and the progressed part of fortune at 01 Aries 04 in the 5th house.

Furthermore, progressed Pluto at 13 Leo52 in the 10th forms another T-square to the natal nodes at 13 degrees and 41 minutes of Scorpio and Aquarius respectively.

Today transiting Mercury at 16 Taurus squares natal Saturn at 16 Leo 25.

On the other hand, a saving grace today is a grand trine between  the transiting Sun at 28 Aries and natal Mars at 28 Leo 19 and natal retrograde natal Jupiter at 27 Sagittarius 39. Taking any action today could have been successful. 

It is interesting to see how Iran's chart ties into Israeli's chart. Many people (including me) support the chart for the moment that Ayatollah Khomeini proclaimed the birth of the Islamic Republic. of Iran on April 1,1979, at 3PM in Tehran. Again I have constructed a triple chart with the inner wheel the natal..the middle wheel the progressed, and the transits for today April 18, 2009 on the outside.  

                              

 Notice that there are 3 planets plus the south node in Pisces..which ties in with their religious fanaticism.in the 8th house of all or nothing!

And earlier today, (the 18th) when transiting Mars came up to their natal Mars, they announced that they convicted American Journalist, Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen of spying for the United States and sentenced her to eight years in prison. It is interesting that she told her father in a phone conversation that she was arrested after buying a bottle of wine,  and that they tricked her into saying what she did. The whole episode strongly ties into the nebulous and unstable influence of Pisces.

But getting back to Israel, notice that Iran's retrograde Mercury is at 27 Pisces 16 which so strongly ties into the aforementioned mutable Israeli grand square; again, with transiting Mars triggering it in both charts. Iran just might be pushing their luck right now; especially as the transiting Sun comes up to square their natal Jupiter at 29 Cancer 04 in their 12th house of their undoing!.

Notice too that their progressed Moon (publicity) at 10 Cancer 37 in their political 11th house squares their progressed Venus (a women) at 10 degrees and 1 minute of the forceful and agressive sign of Aries in the 9th house of world wide communications.

Saberi's conviction comes about two months ahead of key presidential elections in June that are pitting hard-liners against reformists who support better relations with the United States. Ahmadinejad is seeking re-election, but the hard-liner's popularity has waned as Iran's economy struggles with high-inflation and unemployment, as this aspect would verify!

Next month their progressed Moon will square their natal Sun at 11Aries 06, and by June it will form a T-square with their natal Part of fortune at 12 Libra 57. Not a good omen for the hard liners, I would think,

Besides that, their progressed Mars at 18 Aries 52 in their 9th forms a cardinal grand square as it opposes retrograde natal Pluto at 18 Libra 02 which goes on to square the 6th and 12th house cusps at 18 Capricorn and Cancer respectively. The stressed Pluto could tie into an event involving their nuclear capabilities.

The last tie-in is that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
progressed Sun now is at 28 Sagittarius 04 and not only ties into the aforementioned Israeli grand cross, but it T-squares his progressed 5th and 11th house cusps at 28 Virgo and Pisces also.

I wrote an earlier article about this last fall, expecting that something might happen then, but thankfully, it didn't. But the next few days when transiting Mars gets to 28-29 degrees of Pisces, things could come to a head, and be  very dangerous. 

So hold your breath and hope for the best!