Iran Using Uranium in Centrifuges

Iran today announced that it has introduced uranium hexafluoride into centrifuges for enrichment, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Feb. 16).

“Yes, we have injected UF6 gas into a limited number of centrifuge machines, but it is even less than what is needed for a pilot project,” said Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization.

“To get enriched uranium with 3.5 percent purity, you need to employ 164 machines, and I should say we are not at that stage yet. It could take several months for us to reach that point,” he said (Agence France-Presse I/IranMania.com, Feb. 16).

Meanwhile, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei has warned that it would be difficult to reach a negotiated solution on Iran’s nuclear program that did not include allowing Tehran to conduct small-scale enrichment work, diplomats told AFP.

ElBaradei has discussed such a compromise with the United States and other agency governing board members, but the United States and the European Union have balked at the possibility, AFP reported.

“Some board delegations ElBaradei spoke to were literally speechless that the director general of the IAEA would advocate allowing a serial safeguards violator like Iran to master centrifuge operations,” a Western diplomat said.

“At the end of the day, the West is going to have to accept a pilot plant,” said another Western diplomat.

Analyst and former U.S. nonproliferation official Gary Samore, however, said allowing Iran to conduct limited enrichment was “not a practical option.”

“Iran is not interested in a deal. Iran’s interest is in getting its weapons option,” he said (Michael Adler, Agence France-Presse II/Yahoo!News, Feb. 17).

British Foreign Minister Jack Straw said yesterday that there remains no conclusive evidence that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, AFP reported.

“There are strong suspicions internationally that it may be seeking to use its nuclear program in order to develop a weapons capability,” Straw said.

“I have said before and I will say again: We do not have absolute proof, we do not have conclusive evidence of this. There are strong suspicions,” he added.

Asked, however, about French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy’s statement yesterday calling Iran’s nuclear program a “military” project, Straw said he shared that view (Agence France-Presse III/IranMania.com, Feb. 16).

Chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani rejected Douste-Blazy’s claim, the Washington Post reported today. “We want civilian nuclear energy,” he said. “We don’t want to have the bomb.”

Iranian officials have begun rallying the public in support of the regime if international sanctions are applied, the Post reported.

“The Iranian nation is brave enough to stand against any threats posed by the enemies,” Interior Minister Mostafa Pour Mohammadi yesterday told military volunteers. “If the enemies resort to the language of force in dealing with the Iranian nation, there is no doubt they will face strong reaction from our nation.”

Iran is also seeking support from foreign governments, according to the Post. Iran’s charge d’affaires in Beijing, Farhad Assadi, highlighted the importance of ties between China and Iran in a statement published in the China Daily (Molly Moore, Washington Post, Feb. 17).

Iranian parliament speaker Gholamali Haddadadel yesterday played down the possibility of a U.S. strike against Tehran’s nuclear facilities, Reuters reported.

“We believe it is almost impossible that the United States would want to repeat the experience of Iraq,” he said. “We hope the United States is not so stupid” (Anthony Boadle, Reuters I, Feb. 16).

Elsewhere, the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday voted 404-4 in favor of a resolution condemning Iran’s resumption of uranium enrichment, AFP reported.

“Protecting American citizens from terrorism means keeping a watchful eye on nations like Iran,” said House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.).

“The Iranian government has blatantly ignored its international obligations and the Paris Agreement and instead headed down a path of dangerous, deadly destruction,” Hastert said. “With this resolution, we let the Iranian government know that its nuclear ambitions are simply unacceptable” (Agence France-Presse IV/Yahoo!News, Feb. 16).

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to visit Arab countries next week to lobby for pressure against Iran, Reuters reported yesterday.

“We will not be able to address the Iranian nuclear program and problem in a vacuum,” Rice told U.S. lawmakers at a hearing yesterday on Capitol Hill. “It is Iran’s regional policies that really are concerning, as we watch them, with their sidekick Syria, destabilizing places like Lebanon and the Palestinian territories and, indeed, even in southern Iraq.”

Rice plans to travel to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

“What the secretary would like to do is broaden that international discussion and discuss with the Arab countries, who obviously have a lot of concerns about Iran, not just the nuclear issue but the terrorism issue,” said a senior Bush administration official (Reuters II/Yahoo!News, Feb. 16).