Posted on 03/12/2004 4:35:41 PM PST by Nachum
VIENNA, Austria - Iran abruptly froze further U.N. inspections of its nuclear program for six weeks on Friday, throwing into turmoil international attempts to verify Tehran's claims that it is developing atomic power and not weapons.
The move was dismissed as unimportant by Iranian representatives. But diplomats familiar with the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency described it as a potentially insurmountable obstacle to the agency's efforts to deliver a judgment by June on the nature Tehran's past and present nuclear ambitions.
One diplomat described the freeze until the end of April as counterproductive to Iran's stated aim of dispelling suspicions about more than two decades of secret nuclear activities that included uranium enrichment and other activities that can be used to make weapons.
"If they really have nothing to hide, it is further against their interests" to raise questions about why they are placing their nuclear activities off limits to outside inspections, said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The diplomat said that the move may indicate fear that inspectors will find new incriminating evidence. It could also be an attempt to show "political muscle" at the ongoing meeting of the IAEA board of governors, which is debating how harshly to censure Iran for its spotty record of revealing past nuclear secrets, the diplomat added.
The United States insists Iran tried to make nuclear weapons, something Tehran denies. A U.S.official said the freeze on inspections "is going to hurt Iran's chances" of proving the Americans wrong, adding, "if they take a step like this, they certainly look guilty."
He said the move had alarmed IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, who had planned to put the results of his inspectors' new findings into a report by the end of May for the next meeting of the 35-nation board in June.
Iran "is certainly being pressured by ElBaradei and members of the board to take their measure back," the official told the AP.
An IAEA spokeswoman declined to comment. But the diplomat said the freeze on inspections would likely block the agency's ongoing investigation of the origins of weapons-grade uranium traces that Iran claims was inadvertently imported on equipment it bought for low-grade enrichment as a fuel for power generation.
It would also likely stymie the probe into the scope of advanced nuclear enrichment equipment that Iran admitted only recently — and only after the equipment was found by inspectors, said the diplomat.
The inspectors were to have been in Iran next week as part of the U.N. agency's examination of Iran's nuclear program.
Iran's chief delegate to the IAEA, Pirooz Hosseini, told The Associated Press that the inspections would be postponed because they conflicted with next week's celebration of the Iranian New Year.
Asked why the celebrations — which end well before the end of April — were not taken into account when the invitations were first issued, Hosseini said officials made "a simple mistake."
Iran, which insists its nuclear intentions are peaceful, has threatened repeatedly over the past few days to reduce cooperation with the U.N. agency if its 35-nation board of governors comes down hard on the Islamic republic.
On Thursday, the nonaligned bloc at the board of governors watered down a draft resolution backed by the United States, Canada, Australia and European countries. The Western group then rejected the draft as being too gentle on Iran.
The deadlock left Australian, Canadian and Irish diplomats shuttling between U.S. and nonaligned representatives trying to bridge the differences. A Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity that U.S. patience was wearing thin.
Another diplomat said the United States and the Europeans considered the nonaligned modifications unacceptable because they did not sufficiently criticize Iran's record on nuclear openness.
Recent discoveries by IAEA inspectors of undeclared items and programs have cast doubt on Tehran's assertions it has no more nuclear secrets.
An IAEA report last month accused Tehran of hiding evidence of nuclear experiments and noted the discovery of traces of radioactive polonium, which can be used in nuclear weapons.
The report also expressed concern about the discovery of a previously undisclosed advanced P-2 centrifuge system for enriching uranium.
Iran asserts its now-suspended enrichment plans are geared only toward generating power.
But on Wednesday, Iran announced plans to resume enrichment, eliciting a negative response from ElBaradei, who said it would hurt Tehran's chances of proving it has no interest in nuclear weapons.
There needs to be a Political Ad made that UNLERLINES this point.
How does one "unlerline" something?
A Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity that U.S. patience was wearing thin.
Immediately before the aforementioned JDAMs and GBU-28s??
They love us. I know that they love because that is what Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Maxine, Louie, Dan Rather, Ton Brokaw, Peter, have told us.
God help us if Kerry and Fonda Should win in 04.
KERRY AND FONDA IN 04.
Time to dismiss the mullahs as umimportant. They can keep there tents and herds, but the nukes go to the junkyard.
Immediately before the aforementioned JDAMs and GBU-28s??
Decisions, decisions...
Remember: It's always better to screw them before they even get a chance to screw you.
If they are going to play games, we should begin the bombing in the morning. Unfortunately, the internal counter-revolution has failed. The clerics banned all the moderate candidates from the recent election, denying the true will of the Iranian people. The Islamo-fascist Muslim clerics have won.
This is no time to pussy foot around, unless you want to die of radiation sickness.
Actually, they are probably putting too much stock in the polls showing Kerry beating Bush. Al Quaeda tested Clinton in his first year in office with the WTC I bombing. When there was no response, they continued. Al Quaeda tested Bush in his first year in office, and they paid dearly. Saddam tested Clinton throughout his 8 years, and only suffered a few Tomahawk cruise missiles. Saddam tested Bush and the last we saw of Saddam, he was having lice plucked from his head.
So now the mullahs are playing the equivilent of Dean Smith's four corner stall game, betting Kerry wins. They obviously are paying attention to his appeasement policies and his past voting record. My guess is that if Bush is re-elected, the Mullahs will be whistling a different tune come November.
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