Iran Warns of Weapons Inspection Pressure
By GEORGE JAHN
The Associated Press
VIENNA, Austria - Iran is warning the United States and other nations against pushing for too much too soon at a meeting of the U.N. atomic agency, suggesting that harsh demands could heighten nuclear tensions.
The meeting, which opens Monday, likely will urge Iran to make its nuclear program accessible by agreeing to a protocol allowing tougher International Atomic Energy Agency inspections without notice.
Under strong international pressure, Iran last month offered to negotiate the IAEA protocol. Delegates at the meeting also will ask Tehran to explain agency findings that the Americans and others say point to the existence of a covert nuclear weapons program.
Iran's delegate, Ali Akbar Salehi, said his country still was open to negotiating the inspection issue with the International Atomic Energy Agency, but he indicated the offer could be withdrawn.
Salehi, while not going into specifics, warned of "unexpected or surprising consequences" should the Iranian leadership decide the IAEA board was making harsh demands - in effect suggesting that such a move might escalate nuclear tensions.
"We are sitting on a very thin edge," Salehi said. "It could tilt one way or the other very easily."
The United States accuses Iran of working on a secret nuclear weapons program and a recent confidential IAEA report, obtained by The Associated Press, said traces of highly enriched, weapons-grade uranium were found at an Iranian nuclear facility.
The report also said Iran was conducting tests that experts say make little sense unless the country was pursuing nuclear weapons.
Tehran insists its nuclear programs are for generating electricity and says its equipment was "contaminated" with enriched uranium by a previous owner.
Kenneth Brill, the chief U.S. IAEA delegate, declined comment on what the Americans were seeking. But he said the United States and other board members believe Iran is trying "to evade international obligations and to seek the capacity to build nuclear weapons."
"It's fair to say that the majority of board members will want to see Iran ... enhance its cooperation" and "provide the answers to all the questions that are outstanding," he said.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Sunday the IAEA did not share the view of the United States, "which pursues an extremist position and its behavior is politically motivated."
In an apparent victory for Iran, the Bush administration last week decided not to ask the Vienna meeting to endorse a resolution finding Iran in noncompliance of IAEA obligations - a move that could have led to U.N. sanctions.
Instead, the resolution being drafted likely will call on Iran to answer questions raised in the report and provide full disclosure of its program. It also could set a deadline for Tehran to comply, diplomats said on condition of anonymity.
Iran has said it would agree to unfettered inspections if it is granted access to advanced nuclear technology as provided for under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Tehran says Washington's influence is blocking that technology.
Suspicions about Iran's nuclear activities prompted Mohamed ElBaradei, the IAEA director-general, in February to tour Iran's nuclear facilities, including the incomplete plant in Natanz, about 300 miles south of Tehran. Diplomats said he was taken aback by the advanced stage of a project using hundreds of centrifuges to enrich uranium.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/93-09082003-155397.htmlNuclear chief calls for 'full transparency' from Iran
08/09/2003 - 10:43:38
The chief of the UN nuclear agency pressed Iran today to come clean with “full transparency” on uranium enrichment and other evidence that could point to a covert atomic weapons programme.
In a statement to the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran has been showing increased cooperation, but that his experts still do not have enough information to determine the nature of Tehran’s nuclear activities.
“I would urge Iran in the coming weeks to show proactive and accelerated cooperation, and to demonstrate full transparency by providing the agency with a complete and accurate declaration of all its nuclear activities,” ElBaradei said.
“Much urgent and essential work still remains to be completed before the agency can draw conclusions,” ElBaradei cautioned.
Some of the information Iran recently has handed over is “piecemeal” or “inconsistent with that given previously,” he said without elaborating.
The IAEA’s 35 nation board of governors, meeting at the agency’s Vienna headquarters, was expected to urge Iran to make its nuclear programme accessible by agreeing to allow more intrusive inspections without notice.
“Iran should move rapidly” toward signing the measure, ElBaradei said, adding: “The more transparency that is provided, the more assurance we can give.”
The outcome, he said, “will have major implications for the non-proliferation regime” worldwide.
Iran, however, has been warning the United States and others not to push for too much too soon, warning that nuclear tensions could grow if it is handed an ultimatum on opening its programs to full outside examination.
Iran’s delegate, Ali Akbar Salehi, said before the meeting that Tehran remained open to negotiating the inspection issue with the IAEA, but indicated the offer could be withdrawn if this week’s board review “disrupted the whole process.”
“We are sitting on a very thin edge,” Salehi said. “It could tilt one way or the other very easily.”
The United States accuses Iran of working on a secret nuclear weapons programme and a recent confidential IAEA report said traces of highly enriched, weapons-grade uranium were found at an Iranian nuclear facility.
The report also said Iran was conducting tests that experts say make little sense unless the country was pursuing nuclear weapons.
Tehran insists its nuclear programs are for generating electricity and says its equipment was “contaminated” with enriched uranium by a previous owner.
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=79496306&p=79497xyz