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Iran Insists Enrichment Goal Is Peaceful
AP on Yahoo ^ | 4/11/06 | Ali Akbar Dareini - ap

Posted on 04/11/2006 2:43:30 PM PDT by NormsRevenge

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's hard-line president said Tuesday that the country has joined the club of nuclear countries by successfully enriching uranium for the first time — a key process in what Iran maintains is a peaceful energy program.

The announcement from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was certain to heighten international tensions surrounding Iran's nuclear program. The U.N. Security Council has demanded that Iran stop all enrichment by April 28 because of suspicions the program is designed to make nuclear weapons.

Ahmadinejad warned the West that trying to force it to abandon uranium enrichment would "cause an everlasting hatred in the hearts of Iranians."

The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, was heading to Iran on Wednesday for talks aimed at resolving the standoff. The timing of the announcement suggested Iran wanted to present him with a fait accompli and argue that it cannot be expected to entirely give up a program showing progress.

Former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, a powerful member of Iran's ruling clerical regime, said the breakthrough means ElBaradei "faces new circumstances."

The White House, which is pressing for U.N. sanctions against Iran, said the enrichment claims "show that Iran is moving in the wrong direction."

"Defiant statements and actions only further isolate the regime from the rest of the world," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

Britain's Foreign Office issued a statement reiterating the U.N. call for a halt to enrichment work and warned that "if Iran does not comply, the Security Council will revisit the issue."

The Iranian enrichment announcement "is not particularly helpful," it said.

Uranium enrichment can produce either fuel for a nuclear energy reactor — as Iran says it seeks — or the material needed for an atomic warhead.

Tuesday's announcement does not mean Iran is immediately capable of doing either. So far it has succeeded only in getting a series of 164 centrifuges to work in the enrichment process. Thousands of centrifuges are needed for a workable program.

But successfully carrying out the highly complicated and delicate process even on a small scale would be a breakthrough, and Iran's nuclear chief said the program would be expanded to 3,000 centrifuges by the end of the year.

Ahmadinejad announced it at a nationally televised ceremony clearly aimed at drumming up popular Iranian support for the nuclear program. He addressed an audience that included top military commanders and clerics in an ornate hall in one of Iran's holiest cities, Mashhad. Before he spoke, screens on the stage showed footage of nuclear facilities and scientists at work.

"At this historic moment, with the blessings of God Almighty and the efforts made by our scientists, I declare here that the laboratory-scale nuclear fuel cycle has been completed and young scientists produced enriched uranium needed to the degree for nuclear power plants Sunday," Ahmadinejad said.

"I formally declare that Iran has joined the club of nuclear countries," he said. The crowd broke into cheers of "Allahu akbar," or "God is great."

As part of the ceremony, costumed dancers performed on the stage, holding aloft vials of raw uranium and also chanting "Allahu akbar."

Ahmadinejad said the West "has to respect Iran's right for nuclear energy."

He said Iran wanted to operate its nuclear program under supervision by the International Atomic Energy Agency and within its rights and the regulations the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

In Vienna, officials of the IAEA, whose inspectors are now in Iran, declined to comment on the announcement.

But a diplomat familiar with Tehran's enrichment program said it appeared to be accurate. He demanded anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss information restricted to the agency.

Speaking before the president, Iran's nuclear chief — Vice President Gholamreza Aghazadeh — told the audience that Iran has produced 110 tons of uranium gas, the feedstock that is pumped into centrifuges for enrichment.

The amount is nearly twice the 60 tons that Iran said last year that it had produced — an amount that former U.N. nuclear inspector David Albright said would be enough to produce up to 20 nuclear bombs if Iran developed the capacity.

Aghazadeh also said a heavy water nuclear reactor, under construction near Arak in central Iran, will be completed by early 2009. The U.S. fears that the spent fuel from a heavy-water reactor can be reprocessed to extract plutonium for use in a bomb.

The IAEA is due to report to the U.N. Security Council on April 28 whether Iran has met its demand for a full halt to uranium enrichment. If Tehran has not complied, the council will consider the next step. The U.S. and Europe are pressing for sanctions against Iran, a step Russia and China have so far opposed.


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: ahmadinejad; enrichment; goal; insists; iran; irannukes; peaceful
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Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks in Mashhad, Iran's holiest city Tuesday, April 11, 2006. Iran has successfully enriched uranium for the first time, a landmark in its quest to develop nuclear fuel, Ahmadinejad said Tuesday, insisting his country does not aim to develop nuclear weapons. (AP Photo/Mehr News Agency)


1 posted on 04/11/2006 2:43:32 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
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To: NormsRevenge

2 posted on 04/11/2006 2:44:10 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
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To: NormsRevenge

Iranian artists perform as they hold up samples of enriched uranium after Iran said on Tuesday it had produced low-grade enriched uranium, in Mashad, April 11, 2006. REUTERS/Stringer


Ahamad Alavi, head of the Astan Qods Razavi museum, holds a sample of enriched uranium during a ceremony to mark Iran's successful production of enriched uranium in Mashad, 924 km (574 miles) east of Tehran April 11, 2006. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday Iran had joined the group of countries possessing nuclear technology and was determined to achieve industrial-scale uranium enrichment. REUTERS/Stringer


3 posted on 04/11/2006 2:45:42 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
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To: NormsRevenge

Riiiiight. Just like the Sudetenland was Hitler's last territorial demand in Europe.


4 posted on 04/11/2006 2:47:00 PM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: mainepatsfan

LOL we all go back to the Nazis, I was going to write, And work shall set you free.


5 posted on 04/11/2006 2:54:18 PM PDT by SF Republican
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To: SF Republican

Arbeit macht frei.


6 posted on 04/11/2006 2:56:00 PM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: NormsRevenge
Iran knows that Bush and the US are in no political position, at home or abroad, to use force to restrain Iran's nuclear eagerness.

The Iranian Oil bourse wiuld harm US, short term, far more than a nuclear Iran. A nuclear Iran, will of course, be more dangerous down the long road, but that can be dealt with later.

Therefore, I suspect the Oil bourse will diplomatically go away and the Iranian's will continue with nuclear technology with nothing more than a sharp reprimand from the world and the US.

But I'm no prophet.

7 posted on 04/11/2006 3:01:29 PM PDT by Bear_Slayer (When liberty is outlawed only outlaws will have liberty)
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To: NormsRevenge

let's dance and look gay as we hold these vials of enriched uranium....


for some reason I don't trust these fools


8 posted on 04/11/2006 3:02:39 PM PDT by hercuroc
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To: mainepatsfan
LOL!

Wouldn't have believed it without the picture.

What is clear is that Ahmadinejad is not doing this for the international crowd but for his own people.
9 posted on 04/11/2006 3:02:41 PM PDT by dhs12345
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To: NormsRevenge

Hmmmm.... Let's see here. Doves... ok. Flowers... Pretty blue sky... Cindy Sheehan giving her blessings, earlier.....

I feel MUCH better 'bout all this. Ahhhh!

A tip of my cap and a uranium toast to you, Heir Monkeymoud Ahmadinacantprounounceyourname!


10 posted on 04/11/2006 3:04:43 PM PDT by LittleBillyInfidel ("Hello Mullah. Hello Fatwa. Little Billy. Not Sinatra." (Extreme Apologies to Mr. K and Mr. Sherman))
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To: dhs12345

Isn't it vice versa?


11 posted on 04/11/2006 3:06:24 PM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: mainepatsfan

Yup.


12 posted on 04/11/2006 3:09:12 PM PDT by dhs12345
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To: NormsRevenge
Iran's hard-line president said Tuesday that the country has joined the club of nuclear countries by successfully enriching uranium for the first time — a key process in what Iran maintains is a peaceful energy program.

Hey, Prime Minister Chamberlain, your legacy may live on after all.

13 posted on 04/11/2006 3:13:05 PM PDT by EGPWS
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To: NormsRevenge

They'll want to store their enriched uranium in fifty pound chunks to save space.


14 posted on 04/11/2006 3:14:53 PM PDT by RightWhale (Off touch and out of base)
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To: NormsRevenge
If Tehran has not complied, the council will consider the next step.

Let me guess, thousands of broken resolutions put forth by the U.N.

That will put a stop to this madness.

15 posted on 04/11/2006 3:16:10 PM PDT by EGPWS
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To: NormsRevenge

"Hey we've been duped. This isn't Enriched Uranium, this is oregano."

16 posted on 04/11/2006 3:18:21 PM PDT by dfwgator (Florida Gators - 2006 NCAA Men's Basketball Champions)
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To: dfwgator

LOL!


17 posted on 04/11/2006 3:25:20 PM PDT by zarf (It's time for a college football playoff system.)
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To: NormsRevenge
If you believe him, there's some prime swampland in Florida and good bridges in Brooklyn available for sale.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

18 posted on 04/11/2006 3:31:35 PM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: goldstategop
"in an ornate hall in one of Iran's holiest cities, Mashhad"

Mashhed, Mashhead, ...you can't make this stuff up.

And I hope those guys playing with the enriched Unanium have taken their iodine tablets this week..

19 posted on 04/11/2006 3:37:56 PM PDT by spokeshave (I'd rather go hunting with Dick Cheney than drive over a bridge with Ted Kennedy)
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To: NormsRevenge
"Iran Insists Enrichment Goal Is Peaceful"

But even the leaders of Britain, France and Germany are irked at having caught Iran's leaders lying about their nuclear activities in the past. Iran has no credibility.
20 posted on 04/11/2006 4:01:13 PM PDT by familyop ("Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." --President Bush)
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