by Craig S. Smith
PARIS, Sept. 21 - Iran defied the United Nations' nuclear agency on Tuesday,
announcing that it had begun converting tons of uranium into gas, a crucial
step in making fuel for a nuclear reactor or a nuclear bomb. The
International Atomic Energy Agency called Saturday for Iran to suspend all
such activities. . . .
The nuclear agency's resolutions are not legally binding, and many
countries, including Brazil and South Africa, may resist American pressure
to sanction Iran for activities they support: the development of a complete
nuclear fuel cycle, from mining uranium ore to reprocessing nuclear waste.
Mastering the cycle can make countries nearly independent in fulfilling
their energy needs. But it brings them to within months of being able to
build nuclear weapons.
Iran, as a signer of the nonproliferation treaty, has the right to convert
uranium into a gas and to concentrate the fissile 235 isotope of that gas
with high-speed centrifuges, a process called enrichment. . . .
One concern is that Israel, an I.A.E.A. member that has not signed the
nonproliferation treaty and has nuclear weapons, may decide to take the
matter into its own hands if diplomacy fails to deter Iran.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Tuesday that Israel was planning to
buy 500 so-called bunker-busting bombs capable of penetrating six feet of
concrete.
Those bombs could be used to destroy Iran's underground nuclear facilities.
While analysts say such a pre-emptive strike is unlikely, in 1981 Israel
bombed a nuclear reactor in Iraq to stop that country from developing
nuclear weapons.
Iran argues that it is being unfairly penalized and that it has repeatedly
proposed keeping the Middle East free of nuclear weapons.
The nuclear agency is trying to force Iran to accept limits on what it can
do under the nonproliferation treaty without causing Iran to withdraw from
the treaty.
Iran argues that discrimination among signatories is prohibited under the
treaty and that accepting any limits would set a dangerous precedent for
other treaties it has signed.
On Sunday Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Hassan Rowhani, warned in Tehran
that Iran might drop out of the treaty if its case were sent to the Security
Council. The treaty permits any country to withdraw on three months' notice.
North Korea withdrew in 2001.
"We have made our choice: yes to peaceful nuclear technology and no to
nuclear weapons," Iran's president, Mohammad Khatami, said . . .
FULL TEXT
Enver Masud, "U.S. Violating Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty," The Wisdom Fund, March 11, 2003
[Such a demand goes beyond what is covered in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT). This does not ban a country from making fuel but says that it
has to be under inspection.--Paul Reynolds, "Iran faces
'nuclear ultimatum'," BBC News, September 8, 2004]
Guy Dinmore, "US
debates military strikes on 'nuclear Iran'," Financial Times, September 15, 2004
Guy Dinmore, "US
debates military strikes on 'nuclear Iran'," Financial Times, September 15, 2004
[An Iranian negotiator, Hoseyn Moussavian, noted that the resolution cited
the legal right of all countries to develop a nuclear energy program.--Dafna
Linzer, "Allies
at IAEA Meeting Reject U.S. Stand on Iran," Washington Post, September 18, 2004]
Grant F. Smith, "An End to Ambiguity:
US Counter-Proliferation from Tel Aviv to Tehran," CounterPunch, September 18, 2004
George Jahn, "UN
Official: 40 Nations Can Make Nukes," Guardian, September 20, 2004
[Dr. Gordon Prather, a nuclear physicist who was the top scientist for the
army in the Reagan years, tells me that Iran has not only been living up to
the letter of its commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but
going beyond the commitment in order to satisfy international concerns.--Jude Wanniski,
"Regime Change in Iran?," Wanniski.com,
September 22, 2004]
[The NPT has never banned uranium enrichment.--John Barry and Dan Ephron,
"The U.S. weighs
the price of a pre-emptive strike," Newsweek, September 27, 2004]
William Clark, "The
Real Reasons Why Iran is the Next Target: The Emerging Euro-denominated
International Oil Market," Centre for Research on Globalisation, October
27, 2004
"UN
probe backs Iran nuclear claim," BBC News, November 15, 2004
Dafna Linzer, "Iran Agrees to
Suspension of Its Nuclear Program," Washington Post, November 29, 2004
Gordon Prather, "Lying About Iran,"
CounterPunch, November 29, 2004
VIDEO: "Just what
are Iran's nuclear intentions?," BBC Hardtalk, December 7, 2004
Gordon Prather, "Threatening Iran
- despite the evidence," WorldNet Daily, December 19, 2004