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Iran Provokes West by Resuming Nuclear Research

Posted on: Tuesday, 10 January 2006, 06:40 CST

By Parisa Hafezi

TEHRAN -- Iran removed U.N. seals at its Natanz uranium enrichment plant and resumed research on nuclear fuel on Tuesday, drawing sharp Western criticism but no immediate threats of punitive action.

Tehran denies wanting nuclear technology for anything but a civilian energy programme aimed at satisfying the Islamic Republic's booming demand for electricity.

But the United States and the European Union doubt that Iran's atomic ambitions are entirely peaceful and are likely to ask for the U.N. Security Council, which can impose economic sanctions, to take up the matter, Western diplomats said.

Western powers had called on Iran to refrain from any work that could help it develop atomic weapons.

"Iran's nuclear research centres have restarted their activities," Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, told state television.

He said work at the research facilities would be under the supervision of the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

Saeedi told a news conference Iran had come to an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog on what work Tehran would do. He gave no details.

The IAEA in Vienna confirmed Iran was removing U.N. seals at Natanz, an underground plant in central Iran that Tehran concealed from U.N. inspectors until an Iranian exile group revealed its existence in August 2002.

"The Iranians have begun removing seals at Natanz in the presence of IAEA inspectors," said IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming.

STEP IN THE WRONG DIRECTION

The European Union was quick to denounce Iran's move.

"This is very much a step in the wrong direction. We are extremely concerned and consultations are taking place (within the EU) to coordinate a response," said Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

A spokesman for Britain's Foreign Office condemned the move, saying it jeopardised hopes of further negotiations.

French President Jacques Chirac said both Iran and North Korea had to cooperate with the international community.

"These countries would commit a serious error by not accepting the hand we are holding out to them," he said.

Russia, which is helping Iran build a nuclear power station, said Tehran should abide by international commitments and that its decision to resume research caused concern.

China said it hoped the dispute could still be solved within the IAEA. Foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan said Beijing backed a renewal of the moribund talks between Iran and the EU.

European diplomats have said they would seek an emergency meeting of the IAEA to consider referring Tehran to the Security Council for failing to allay fears it is seeking an atom bomb.

It is unclear if Iran will simply test equipment or actually produce small amounts of nuclear fuel in a laboratory environment. The IAEA was unable to provide details about any of work the Iranians were undertaking.

One EU and one non-EU diplomat said Iran was planning to get 164 centrifuges running at the Natanz enrichment facility to begin mastering the technique of producing nuclear fuel. Centrifuges enrich uranium by spinning it at supersonic speed.

However, such a small cascade would take many years to produce enough bomb-grade uranium for a single weapon.

If enriched to a low level, uranium can be used in power stations such as the one Iran is building at the southern port of Bushehr with Russian help. If enriched further, it can be used in atomic warheads.

An intelligence source said that Iran intended to feed uranium hexafluoride (UF6) into the cascade at Natanz soon, but had not informed the IAEA about this.

A Western diplomat close to the IAEA said agency inspectors were at Natanz and anything the Iranians did there would be noticed and reported to the IAEA board of governors. "The facility is fully safeguarded," the diplomat said.

However, Saeedi denied any suggestion that Iran was resuming the production of nuclear fuel at the Natanz facility.

"There is a difference between research and producing nuclear fuel ... The production of nuclear fuel is still under suspension," he told the news conference.

(Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau in Berlin, Mark John in Brussels, Madeline Chambers in London, Kerstin Gehmlich in Paris, Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow and Guo Shipeng in Beijing)

Source: REUTERS

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