| Submit your comments on this article |
| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Officials rebuke Iran for nuclear policy, Iran reconsiders |
| 2004-06-26 |
| Well no, Iran didn’t reconsider. In fact, Iran will go nuclear in 5,4,3... The United States, the European Union and the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog condemned Iran on Saturday for deciding to resume a production process that could make purified uranium for an atomic bomb. They urged Iran, which says its nuclear ambitions are peaceful, to rethink its decision to produce parts again for centrifuges that can purify uranium. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei, said he hoped the move was temporary. What, the condemnation?? But a joint U.S.-EU statement, issued after talks between President Bush and European leaders in Ireland, stopped short of threatening new action to punish Iran for breaking a deal it struck with Britain, France and Germany. "That would be counterproductive. Iran must join France as a nuclear power." ...ElBaradei echoed EU and U.S. concerns over Iran while talking to reporters on a flight to Moscow for a four-day official visit. ...to pick up some spare parts on behalf of Iran. "I hope Iran will go back to the full suspension they have committed themselves to," he said. A letter from Iran to the IAEA, seen by Reuters, told the agency that Tehran "intends to resume, under IAEA supervision, manufacturing of centrifuge components and the assembly and testing of centrifuges as of 29 June." So El Baradei will become an active participant in their nuclear weapons program. Makes sense. Iran’s decision was a retaliation against an IAEA resolution last week saying the agency’s board of governors "deplores" Iran’s failure to cooperate fully with IAEA inspectors. But Iran also pledged in the letter to continue to allow IAEA inspectors access to nuclear sites for short-notice, intrusive inspections under the IAEA’s so-called Additional Protocol, which Tehran signed last year but has yet to ratify. Asked when the IAEA would be inspecting a site in Tehran called Lavizan, where all the buildings have been razed and the topsoil removed, ElBaradei said "soon" but said there was no evidence that Iran was hiding anything there. Of course he’s never been there yet so he can say that with full confidence. Washington says Iran razed the site in an attempt to cover up signs of activities at Lavizan related to what it says is Tehran’s secret atom bomb program. Tehran denies wanting nuclear weapons and insists its nuclear program is aimed solely at generating electricity. It’s a new type of electricity, you see. Nothing to worry about. Iran promised France, Germany and Britain in October it would suspend all activities related to uranium enrichment, a process of purifying uranium for use as fuel for nuclear power plants or weapons, in exchange for peaceful nuclear technology. And thus the Euros got duped. Centrifuges are machines that purify uranium gas by spinning at supersonic speeds. Germany, Britain and France have adopted a strategy of engagement with Iran that contrasts sharply with the U.S. policy of isolating Iran and threatening it with U.N. Security Council sanctions for violating its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). And thus nothing changes. Except for Iran. In a big way. A mushroomy kind of way. The IAEA began investigating Iran after an Iranian exile group reported in August 2002 that Tehran was hiding a massive uranium enrichment facility and other sites from the IAEA. |
| Posted by:Rafael |
| #3 I'm waiting for the ultimate rejoinder, " I double dog dare you." |
| Posted by: Anonymous5410 2004-06-26 9:37:59 PM |
| #2 Iran reconsiders, my ass. More like lies through their teeth. As usual. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-06-26 4:20:40 PM |
| #1 A "rebuke"? What's next, the "stern lecture"? Morons. Only judicious application of high explosives in massive amounts will stop Iranian nuclear aspirations in time to avoid catastrophe. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-06-26 3:23:17 PM |