Iran nuclear row escalates
Iran’s row with the West over its nuclear programme escalated today with America warning of international sanctions.
Iranian officials broke UN seals on its nuclear enrichment facility and the international nuclear watchdog said Tehran planned small-scale enrichment despite its pledges to only conduct research.
Enriched uranium can be used as fuel in nuclear reactors in electricity generation or for nuclear bombs, depending on the level of processing.
The administration of US President George Bush said Iran was nearing the point were Security Council action and international sanctions were inevitable.
“If the regime in Iran continues on the current course and fails to abide by its international obligations there is no other choice but to refer the matter to the Security Council,” said White House press secretary Scott McClellan.
In announcing it would reopen its Natanz enrichment centre last week and as the seals were broken today, Tehran claimed enrichment was not planned.
“What we resume is merely in the field of research, not more than that,” the deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, Mohammad Saeedi, told a press conference.
“Production of nuclear fuel” – which would involve enrichment – “remains suspended,” he said.
Saeedi said the nature of the equipment unsealed was “a confidential issue between us and the IAEA”.
But the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement later today that uranium hexafluoride – a gaseous form of uranium – would “be fed into cascades” of centrifuges as part of Iran’s activities.
Uranium hexafluoride gas is spun in centrifuges to separate out fissile isotopes in the process of enrichment that can produce low-level nuclear fuel or weapons-grade material.
Iran claims its contentious nuclear programme is for electricity generation, but Washington accuses Iran of seeking nuclear weapons.
There was an immediate outcry from Europe and Japan as well as Washington. The reopening of the facility was seen as defiance of demands that Iran maintain a freeze on its nuclear programme.
Germany’s foreign minister questioned whether there was any future for European-led negotiations and said Iran had ”crossed lines which it knew would not remain without consequences”.
Britain warned that the international community was ”running out of patience,” and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Tehran had breached IAEA resolutions.
“There was no good reason why Iran should have taken this step if its intentions are truly peaceful,” Straw said.
Japan said the decision was “a matter of deep regret”.
France, Germany and Britain have been leading troubled negotiations with Iran aimed at ensuring its programme is peaceful.
Iran’s decision to freeze some nuclear activities in October 2003 was voluntary, so the IAEA said there was no option but to remove the seals at Iran’s request.
The move further erodes the suspension of nuclear activities that has been the centrepiece of Iran’s negotiations with the West since the freeze was put in place as a confidence-building measure.
In August, Iran removed seals at another nuclear plant outside the city of Isfahan and resumed uranium reprocessing – a step before enrichment in the nuclear fuel process.
That move prompted Europe to break off its negotiations temporarily. The talks resumed in December, made no progress but were to continue later this month.
French President Jacques Chirac today warned Iran it would commit a serious mistake if it ignored the international community.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he asked IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei to quickly evaluate the dangers of Iran’s move.
“On the basis of this evaluation, I will try this week to coordinate our position with my British and French colleagues … to see whether our negotiations … still have a basis,” he said.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry said the move disregards ”the concerns of international community. Japan strongly calls on Iran to immediately cease the resumption of the research and development activities,” it said.
Iran insists it has the right to develop the entire nuclear fuel cycle under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
The Europeans have been pressing a compromise under which Iran would enrich uranium on Russian soil to safeguard against its diversion for weapons.
Iran says it will not accept proposal if it excludes enrichment in Iran as well. Russian has been deeply involved in Iran’s civilian nuclear program and is a longtime Tehran ally.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his country was “expressing concern” over Iran’s resumption of research “in spite of the moratorium that was agreed between Iran and the European countries.”
