Posted on 09/01/2004 6:16:25 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AP) - Raising new alarms about Iran, the Bush administration concluded Wednesday that the country is getting ready to produce enough enriched uranium for four nuclear weapons.
Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton, the administration's point man on nuclear proliferation threats, said "we view with great concern" revelations in a classified report circulated among member governments by the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran is about to convert 37 tons of "yellowcake" uranium into uranium hexafluoride gas.
Bolton said that move combined with Iran's recent announcement that it intends to test its gas centrifuges "are further strong evidence of the compelling need to take Iran's nuclear program to the U.N. Security Council."
Uranium hexafluoride is spun in centrifuges to produce enriched uranium, which in turn can be used to generate power or make nuclear warheads, depending on the degree of enrichment.
The United States will continue to urge other members of the U.N. agency's board of governors "to join with us in this effort to deal with the Iranian threat to international peace and security," Bolton said.
Another senior Bush administration official said after Bolton left for talks in Europe that Iran was positioning itself to produce 220 pounds of enriched uranium, enough for four nuclear weapons.
"You are talking serious business here," the official said in an interview in which his identity was withheld. Despite denials by Iran, he said the United States remained convinced that Iran was proceeding to develop nuclear weapons.
However, while Bolton indicated the Bush administration might move unilaterally to try to impose economic or other U.N. sanctions on Iran, there was little likelihood of such a move at least until after the IAEA board holds its next scheduled meeting in Vienna, Austria, beginning Sept. 13.
U.N. inspectors have been looking for evidence that Iran has a secret nuclear weapons program. Such a finding could be critical to the Bush administration's effort to gain support from the other 34 members of the agency to seek U.N. Security Council action.
Tom Casey, a State Department spokesman, said the report being circulated by the IAEA "continues to document the fact that through the past 18 years Iran has amassed a record of deception and denial about its nuclear activities."
"It will be up to the board to decide what the next steps are," Casey said.
Many of the questions the IAEA has about Iran's activities are outlined in its sixth and latest report, the spokesman said as he accused Iran of violating pledges to refrain from proliferation of nuclear technology and to "come clean" with the IAEA about its activities.
Henry Sokolski, a former Pentagon official who heads a private proliferation research group, said after reading the report that "we need to be backing the inspectors by putting much more pressure on Pakistan."
That is, Sokolski said in a telephone interview, Pakistan should clarify how much of the enriched uranium found in Iran came from Pakistan and how much was illicitly made by Iran.
Also, he said, "the problem with the IAEA isn't the inspectors, it is getting the board to confirm what the inspectors have found."
Not to worry.
If Kerry is elected to the presidency (shudder), he'll talk to the Iranians. He's already said so. And he'll get our allies to talk to them.
That should fix everything.
"If Kerry is elected to the presidency (shudder), he'll talk to the Iranians."
... but if he dosen't get elected, he will burn his super-secret, sure-fire, can't fail to protect us from Iranian Nukes plan.
That'll show those Republicans !
Hopefully I am right that Israel is being restrained until after the elections. And hopefully there will be a coordinated U.S./Israeli attack on all of Iran's nuclear assets...
how? most of the facilities are underground, impenetrable by anything other then a nuclear weapon. similar to the Libya installation.
You give the answer in the question. Nuke 'em, Dano.
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