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Iran planning âfirst nuke next yearâ
Exiled Iranian opposition officials claimed Friday that the Tehran regime plans to have its first nuclear bomb built by the middle of next year. The National Council of Resistance of Iran, speaking ahead of a meeting next week of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to discuss Iran's nuclear capability, said Tehran has allocated some 16 billion dollars to the programme. "The Iranian regime is trying every means to avoid a decision by the IAEA's Board of Governors next week to refer Iran's case to UN Security Council," the group said, citing "accurate information" from opposition inside Iran. Khamenei "has ordered the relevant apparatus of the regime to produce the first nuclear bomb by mid 2005," it added.Iran is using numerous front companies to buy materials for its secret nuclear weapons programme, a group of Iranian exiles that has reported accurately about Tehran's atomic programme said on Friday. The NCRI listed four such front companies: Rah-e Kar New Industry company, Pishgam Development Industrial Energy, Iran Pars Terash Company and Rah-e Kar-e Sanayea Novin. EU trio: France, Britain and Germany have toughened their stance on Iran's nuclear programme, demanding that Tehran halt all parts of the atomic fuel cycle that can be used to make a bomb, Western diplomats said on Friday. Western diplomats said that unless Iran satisfies the European Union's "big three" and verifiably halts its uranium conversion and enrichment programmes, it would probably be reported to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions. Talks between Iranian officials and the UN nuclear watchdog ahead of Monday's key meeting at the agency's Vienna headquarters had produced no agreement by Friday afternoon. Posted by: Fred 2004-09-11 |
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