IAEA: Iran has produced 7 tons of UF6 (but IAEA still 'confused' as to Iranian goal)

Geostrategy-Direct ^ | 9-9-05 | Geostrategy-Direct

[FreedomNeocon]

IAEA: Iran has produced 7 tons of UF6

LONDON — A UN group reported Iran produced 6.8 metric tons of uranium hexafluoride gas in August, sufficient to assemble one nuclear bomb.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran produced UF6 following its decision to renew uranium conversion activities. UF6 is the feeder gas for uranium enrichment by using centrifuges.

The UN agency submitted its report on Iran to the IAEA board of governors on Sept. 2. As in previous reports, the IAEA did not take a position as to whether Teheran was pursuing nuclear weapons.

"The International Atomic Energy Agency is not yet in a position to clarify some important outstanding issues after two and a half years of intensive inspections and investigation," the report said. "Iran's full transparency is indispensable and overdue."

The agency report said Iran has conducted 18 years of clandestine nuclear activity. Despite 30 months of inspections the IAEA could not rule out that Iran was concealing a secret nuclear program.

Iran has refused IAEA inspectors full access to the Parchin military site and Lavizan, the report said. The agency has suspected Iran of using Parchin to develop explosives for nuclear weapons. Lavizan was where the agency suspected that Iran conducted enrichment activities.

On Sept. 19, the IAEA board of governors is scheduled to meet on Iran's resumption of uranium conversion and enrichment activities. The European Union has urged Iran to renew its nearly two-year freeze on such activities.

The United States has urged the submission of the Iranian nuclear issue to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions. The EU has refused to renew a dialogue with Teheran but has not decided whether to support Washington's proposal to relay the nuclear issue to the council.

[Chode]

those dumb asses will be Confused even AFTER it goes off!!!

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Despite 30 months of inspections the IAEA could not rule out that Iran was concealing a secret nuclear program.

Never forget -- inspections and sanctions will always work given enough time. /sarc

[FreedomNeocon]

Well the sad truth is that they know... anyone with a brain knows.

In the USA, even Bush has given up and at the very least waiting for the EU3 to 'give up' the 'negotiations'

In the EU3 they know, but they are unwilling to do anything about it and are ultimately "OK" with Iran getting nukes, but afrait to own up to the USA.

The end result is, once again the UN will be exposed as useless, Iran will get Nukes, and the final action (whatever that may be) will be 10 times more costly than any pre-empttive action (which will be blamed on the USA, somehow)

[FreedomNeocon]

Meanwhile the Iranian are BRAGGING how they play the UN:

http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=805

Chief Iranian Negotiator on the Nuclear Issue Hosein Musavian: The Negotiations with Europe Bought Us Time to Complete the Esfahan UCF Project and the Work on the Centrifuges in Natanz

The following are excerpts from an interview withIranian chief negotiator on nuclear affairs, and member of the Iranian Supreme Council for National Security Hosein Musavian, which aired on Iranian Channel 2 on August 4, 2005

Musavian: Those (in Iran) who criticize us and claim that we should have only worked with the IAEA do not know that at that stage – that is, in August 2003 – we needed another year to complete the Esfahan (UCF) project, so it could be operational. They say that because of that 50-day (ultimatum), we should have kept (the UCF) in Esfahan incomplete, and that we needed to comply with the IAEA's demands and shut down the facilities.

The regime adopted a twofold policy here: It worked intensively with the IAEA, and it also conducted negotiations on international and political levels. The IAEA gave us a 50-day extension to suspend the enrichment and all related activities. But thanks to the negotiations with Europe we gained another year, in which we completed (the UCF) in Esfahan.

[...]

There was a time when we said we would not work with Europe, the world, or the IAEA, and that we would not comply with any of their demands. There were very clear consequences: After 50 days, the IAEA Board of Governors would have undoubtedly handed the Iranian dossier over to the (U.N.) Security Council. There is no doubt about it. As for those who say we should have worked only with the IAEA – this would have meant depriving Iran of the opportunity to complete the Esfahan project in the one-year extension.

Esfahan's (UCF) was completed during that year. Even in Natanz, we needed six to twelve months to complete the work on the centrifuges. Within that year, the Natanz project reached a stage where the small number of centrifuges required for the preliminary stage, could operate. In Esfahan, we have reached UF4 and UF6 production stages.

[...]

We suspended the UCF in Esfahan in October 2004, although we were required to do so in October 2003. If we had suspended it then, (the UCF) in Esfahan would have never been completed. Today we are in a position of power: (The UCF) in Esfahan is complete and UF4 and UF6 gasses are being produced. We have a stockpile of products, and during this period, we have managed to convert 36 tons of Yellow Cake into gas and store it. In Natanz, much of the work has been completed.

[...]

Thanks to our dealings with Europe, even when we got a 50-day ultimatum, we managed to continue the work for two years. This way we completed (the UCF) in Esfahan. This way we carried out the work to complete Natanz, and on top of that, we even gained benefits. For 10 years, America prevented Iran from joining the WTO. This obstacle was removed, and Iran began talks in order to join the WTO. In the past, the world did not accept Iran as a member of the group of countries with a nuclear fuel cycle. In these two years, and thanks to the Paris Agreement, we entered the international game of the nuclear fuel cycle, and Iran was recognized as one of the countries with a nuclear fuel cycle. An Iranian delegate even participated in the relevant talks. We gained other benefits during these two years as well.

[...]

Host: Mr. Musavian, there is a point that our viewers might find interesting - the comparison between Iran's nuclear activity dossier and North Korea's.

[...]

There is a belief that if we adopted the North Korean model, we could have stood much stronger against the excessive demands of America and Europe.

[...]

Musavian: During these two years of negotiations, we managed to make far greater progress than North Korea. North Korea's most important achievement had to do with security guarantees. We achieved the same thing a year ago in the negotiations with the Europeans. They agreed to give us international guarantees for Iran's security, its national rule, its independence, non-intervention in its internal affairs, its national security, and not invading it.