UN nuclear watchdog rebuts claims that Iran is trying to make A-bomb
By Anne Penketh
Published: 14 August 2005
The UN nuclear watchdog is preparing to publish evidence that Iran is
not engaged in a nuclear weapons programme, undermining a warning of
possible military action from President George Bush.
The US President told Israeli television that "all options are on the
table" if Iran fails to comply with international calls to halt its
nuclear programme. Both the US and Israel - the Middle East's only
nuclear-armed power - were "united in our objective to make sure Iran
does not have a weapon", he said.
However, Iran is about to receive a major boost from the results of a
scientific analysis that will prove that the country's authorities
were telling the truth when they said they were not developing a
nuclear weapon. The discovery of traces of weapons-grade uranium in
Iran by UN inspectors in August 2003 set off alarm bells in Western
capitals where it was feared that Iran was developing a nuclear weapon
under cover of a civil programme. The inspectors took the samples from
Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, which had been concealed
from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for 18 years.
But Iran maintained that its nuclear programme is for peaceful
purposes, and that the traces must have been contamination from the
Pakistani-based black market network of scientist AQ Khan. He is the
father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb.
The analysis of components from Pakistan, obtained last May by the
IAEA, is now almost complete and is set to conclude that the traces of
weapons-grade uranium match those found in Iran. "The investigation is
likely to show that they came from Pakistan," a Vienna-based diplomat
told The Independent on Sunday.
The new information, which strengthens Iran's case after last week's
contentious IAEA board meeting in Vienna, will be a central part of
the next report to the board by Mohamed ElBaradei, the IAEA chief.
"The biggest single issue of the past two years has now fallen in
their [the Iranians'] favour," the diplomat said. The meeting of the
35-nation board, which ended last Thursday, urged Iran to suspend the
uranium-related activity at its Isfahan plant, which many fear will be
the first step towards building a nuclear weapon.
The resumption of uranium conversion at the plant last week caused an
international crisis and prompted Britain, France and Germany, which
have been attempting to find a negotiated solution to the dispute, to
call the emergency IAEA meeting. In its resolution concluding the
meeting, the board also asked Dr ElBaradei to report back by 3
September. Hardliners on the board - including Britain, the United
States and Canada - had hoped that Dr ElBaradei's next report would be
sufficiently damning to increase the pressure on Iran.
However those hopes will be dashed by the revelation about the IAEA
analysis of the particles from Pakistan, which will remove any chance
of Iran being referred to the UN Security Council. But the IAEA is not
closing the book on its investigation of Iran's possible weapons
programme. A team of IAEA experts arrived in Iran on Friday to pursue
other outstanding issues, but they are unlikely to be resolved by the
time Dr ElBaradei reports to the board.
The three European countries are fast running out of options, as there
is no appetite among non-nuclear states on the IAEA board to report
Iran to the Security Council for punitive sanctions, when there is no
legal basis to do so. Iran, which agreed to suspend its uranium
conversion during the talks with Britain, France and Germany, insists
on its right under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to enrich
uranium for peaceful purposes.
The Iranian authorities restarted Isfahan after rejecting a package of
security and economic incentives submitted to Iran 10 days ago by the
three countries which sought a binding commitment that Iran would not
pursue fuel cycle activities. "It's difficult to see things moving
ahead if Europeans think that every country can have enrichment
facilities except Iran," one Western diplomat said.
Dr Ian Davis, the director of the British-American Security
Information Council (Basic), an independent nuclear thinktank, said
that if the Europeans were prepared to compromise on the fuel cycle
issue, "the negotiations may yet prevent a crisis".
However, a Foreign Office spokesman insisted that a new round of
negotiations scheduled with Iran for 31 August would go ahead only if
Tehran again suspended uranium conversion. "There are no talks with no
suspension," the spokesman said.
Iran, sensing that it is gaining international support for its stand
and with a new hardline President in power, also looks as if it is in
no mood to compromise at this point.
The UN nuclear watchdog is preparing to publish evidence that Iran is
not engaged in a nuclear weapons programme, undermining a warning of
possible military action from President George Bush.
The US President told Israeli television that "all options are on the
table" if Iran fails to comply with international calls to halt its
nuclear programme. Both the US and Israel - the Middle East's only
nuclear-armed power - were "united in our objective to make sure Iran
does not have a weapon", he said.
However, Iran is about to receive a major boost from the results of a
scientific analysis that will prove that the country's authorities
were telling the truth when they said they were not developing a
nuclear weapon. The discovery of traces of weapons-grade uranium in
Iran by UN inspectors in August 2003 set off alarm bells in Western
capitals where it was feared that Iran was developing a nuclear weapon
under cover of a civil programme. The inspectors took the samples from
Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, which had been concealed
from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for 18 years.
But Iran maintained that its nuclear programme is for peaceful
purposes, and that the traces must have been contamination from the
Pakistani-based black market network of scientist AQ Khan. He is the
father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb.
The analysis of components from Pakistan, obtained last May by the
IAEA, is now almost complete and is set to conclude that the traces of
weapons-grade uranium match those found in Iran. "The investigation is
likely to show that they came from Pakistan," a Vienna-based diplomat
told The Independent on Sunday.
The new information, which strengthens Iran's case after last week's
contentious IAEA board meeting in Vienna, will be a central part of
the next report to the board by Mohamed ElBaradei, the IAEA chief.
"The biggest single issue of the past two years has now fallen in
their [the Iranians'] favour," the diplomat said. The meeting of the
35-nation board, which ended last Thursday, urged Iran to suspend the
uranium-related activity at its Isfahan plant, which many fear will be
the first step towards building a nuclear weapon.
The resumption of uranium conversion at the plant last week caused an
international crisis and prompted Britain, France and Germany, which
have been attempting to find a negotiated solution to the dispute, to
call the emergency IAEA meeting. In its resolution concluding the
meeting, the board also asked Dr ElBaradei to report back by 3
September. Hardliners on the board - including Britain, the United
States and Canada - had hoped that Dr ElBaradei's next report would be
sufficiently damning to increase the pressure on Iran.
However those hopes will be dashed by the revelation about the IAEA
analysis of the particles from Pakistan, which will remove any chance
of Iran being referred to the UN Security Council. But the IAEA is not
closing the book on its investigation of Iran's possible weapons
programme. A team of IAEA experts arrived in Iran on Friday to pursue
other outstanding issues, but they are unlikely to be resolved by the
time Dr ElBaradei reports to the board.
The three European countries are fast running out of options, as there
is no appetite among non-nuclear states on the IAEA board to report
Iran to the Security Council for punitive sanctions, when there is no
legal basis to do so. Iran, which agreed to suspend its uranium
conversion during the talks with Britain, France and Germany, insists
on its right under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to enrich
uranium for peaceful purposes.
The Iranian authorities restarted Isfahan after rejecting a package of
security and economic incentives submitted to Iran 10 days ago by the
three countries which sought a binding commitment that Iran would not
pursue fuel cycle activities. "It's difficult to see things moving
ahead if Europeans think that every country can have enrichment
facilities except Iran," one Western diplomat said.
Dr Ian Davis, the director of the British-American Security
Information Council (Basic), an independent nuclear thinktank, said
that if the Europeans were prepared to compromise on the fuel cycle
issue, "the negotiations may yet prevent a crisis".
However, a Foreign Office spokesman insisted that a new round of
negotiations scheduled with Iran for 31 August would go ahead only if
Tehran again suspended uranium conversion. "There are no talks with no
suspension," the spokesman said.
Iran, sensing that it is gaining international support for its stand
and with a new hardline President in power, also looks as if it is in
no mood to compromise at this point.
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| User: "FourCell" |
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| Title: Re: UN claims Iran not making A-Bomb |
15 Aug 2005 09:07:26 AM |
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The UN announced that Iraq had no WMD, but that sue didn't even
delay the US attack and invasion. WMD was a lie, and the flimsiest of
excuses.
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