Envoys Say Enriched Uranium Found in Iran
By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer Sat May 13, 1:01 AM ET

VIENNA, Austria - U.N. inspectors have found traces of highly enriched
uranium on equipment from an Iranian research center linked to the
military, diplomats said Friday - a revelation likely to strengthen U.S.
arguments that Tehran wants to develop nuclear arms.

The diplomats, who demanded anonymity in exchange for divulging the
confidential information, cautioned that confirmation still had to come
through other laboratory tests.

Initially, they said the density of enrichment appeared to be close to or
above the level used to make nuclear warheads. But later a diplomat
accredited to the International Atomic Energy Agency said it was below
that, although higher than the low-enriched material used to generate
power and heading toward weapons-grade level.

Still, they said, further analysis could show that the find matches others
established to have come from abroad. The IAEA determined earlier traces
of highly enriched uranium were imported on equipment from Pakistan that
Iran bought on the black market during nearly two decades of clandestine
activity.

Even then, nevertheless, the find would be significant.

Because Iran has previously denied conducting enrichment-related
activities at the site, the mere fact the traces came from there bolsters
arguments that it has hidden parts of a program that can create the
fissile material used in nuclear warheads. Additionally, the site's
connection to the military weakens Iranian arguments that its nuclear
program is purely civilian.

"That has long been suspected as the site of undeclared enrichment
research and ... the Iranians have denied that any enrichment research had
taken place at that location," said Iran expert Gary Samore of the
MacArthur Foundation in Chicago. "It certainly does reinforce the agency's
suspicion that Iran has not fully declared its past enrichment research."

The development, however, was unlikely to result in an immediate American
push for strong U.N. Security Council action against Tehran.

The Americans recently agreed to put such efforts on hold and give new
European-led attempts to find a negotiated solution a chance in the face
of fierce Russian and Chinese opposition to a strong signal from the
council.

Moscow and Beijing have balked at British, French and U.S. efforts to put
a Security Council resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter. Such a
move would declare Iran a threat to international peace and security and
set the stage for further measures if Tehran refuses to suspend uranium
enrichment. Those measures could range from breaking diplomatic relations
to economic sanctions and military action.

Despite their declared support for the European effort to persuade Iran to
give up enrichment, the Americans are ignoring calls for direct contacts
with Iran - a stance criticized Friday by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi
Annan.

Calling on "all sides to lower the rhetoric," Annan said Washington should
"come to the table" and join the Europeans and Iranians.

Iran's president remained defiant. He accused the Americans of "waging a
propaganda campaign" against his country. "The people of Iran and the
country are not afraid of them," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told
Islamic leaders in Indonesia.

On Saturday, Ahmadinejad reiterated that his aim was to generate energy,
and that he would continue to fight for the right to develop new
technologies. He spoke ahead of trade talks between the so-called
Developing Eight nations.

Uranium enriched to between 3.5 percent and 5 percent is used to make fuel
for reactors to generate electricity. It becomes suitable for use in
nuclear weapons when enriched to more than 90 percent.

Iran denies it wants to make nuclear arms and says it is interested in
uranium only to generate power. It already has enriched uranium to low
levels - an accomplishment that opens the pathway to weapons-grade
enrichment.

Diplomats accredited to the IAEA on Friday noted that Tehran's enrichment
program has progressed faster than agency experts had expected. That also
suggests Iran has hidden research and development from IAEA inspectors,
they said.

To argue that it never produced highly enriched uranium domestically,
Tehran cites the IAEA's tentative conclusion last year that traces
collected from Iranian sites with no suspected ties to the military
arrived on equipment from Pakistan.

But the origin of the samples now being studied created some concern in
that regard.

One of the diplomats told The Associated Press that the samples came from
vacuum pumps that has various applications, including use in
uranium-enriching centrifuges at a former research center at
Lavizan-Shian. The center is believed to have been the repository of
equipment bought by the Iranian military that could be used in a nuclear
weapons program.

The United States alleges Iran conducted high-explosive tests that could
have a bearing on developing nuclear weapons at the site.

The State Department said in 2004 that Lavizan's buildings had been
dismantled and topsoil removed to hide nuclear weapons-related
experiments. The IAEA later confirmed the site had been razed.

In an April 28 report, IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei said the agency took
samples from some of the equipment of the former Physics Research Center
at Lavizan-Shian.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060513/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_nuclear_72

Now, folks, compare this latest story to this an excerpt from a Asia Times
article dated September 2, 2004 ....

Thus, while the European Three accuse Iran of discarding its agreement by
resuming the construction of centrifuge parts, Iran on the other hand
points at its record of greater nuclear transparency, allowing the atomic
inspectors even to Iran's military site and implementing the Additional
Protocol, even though it has yet to be ratified by parliament, overlooked
by a Europe keen on patching up with the United States.

Still, the Iran-EU dialogue on the nuclear issue is far from dead in the
water and there are on-going discussions in anticipation of the
mid-September meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),
which may or may not dispatch the matter to the UN Security Council. From
Iran's vantage point, conscientious efforts have been made to answer all
of the IAEA's concerns, above all with respect to the thorny question of
the origins of the traces of enriched uranium detected by the IAEA's
inspectors last year; these traces, per a recent report in Jane's Defense
Weekly quoting reliable IAEA sources, came from the equipment provided by
the nuclear smuggling network headed by Pakistan's chief nuclear
physicist, Abdul Qadeer Khan.

This information, reportedly corroborated by the Pakistani government, for
all practical purposes puts to rest a very contentious issue at the heart
of IAEA's concern, adding pressure on the atomic agency to close the Iran
file as requested by Tehran. A clue to the IAEA's softening stance on
Iran, the IAEA chief, Mohammad ElBaradei, has admitted in a recent
Interview with Fletcher Forum (Winter 2004) that the agency's inspection
of Iran's program has been "effective" and that there is no need to worry
about "small lab" research "that would not enable the country to develop a
weapons program".

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FI02Ak01.html

As you can see, the uranium enrichment traces apparently came from
Pakistan. Now please notice that we have virtually the same "revelation"
nearly two years later -- this time from "anonymous diplomats." And the
article leaves a disclaimer that the traces detected could've come from
outside Iran. Hmmm...maybe...uh...Pakistan?

Commonly, such "news" is called propaganda...designed to accomplish a
thinly veiled agenda of demonizing Iran and providing a rationalization
for "punishing" it, be it by sanctions or military action. And behind all
this is the Bush administration's drive to gain control of, and profiteer
from oil producing nations.

One would seriously question why the Bush administration isn't zeroing in
on Pakistan's involvement in Iran's nuclear program. But, then, of course,
Pakistan is an "ally" in the WOT -- an ally whose civilian residents the
CIA Predator bombing earlier this year murdered, and which set off
widespread anti-US riots across Pakistan.

Doc