Iran says talks are "test", U.S. weighs sanctions

By Hossein Jaseb

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said on Wednesday it viewed talks with six world powers in Geneva as an "opportunity and a test", while the United States weighed sanctions over Tehran's nuclear programme if Thursday's meeting fails.

A suspected uranium-enrichment facility near Qom, 156 km (97 miles) southwest of Tehran, is seen in this September 27, 2009 satellite photograph released by DigitalGlobe on September 28, 2009. (REUTERS/DigitalGlobe/Handout)

As Iran's chief nuclear negotiator left for Switzerland expressing goodwill, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Tehran had broken a transparency law by failing to disclose much earlier a nuclear plant being built for uranium enrichment.

Iran reported the site to Mohamed ElBaradei's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Sept. 21. Western powers said Tehran was forced to do so after learning they were about to discover a plant whose construction began 3-1/2 years ago.

"Iran was supposed to inform us on the day it was decided to construct the facility. They have not done that," ElBaradei said in an interview with CNN-India during a visit to New Delhi, in remarks relayed by the IAEA's Vienna headquarters.

With Iran ruling out any discussion in Geneva about its own atomic programme, which the West suspects is aimed at making bombs, there was little sign that Thursday's session would lead to any breakthrough in the long-running dispute.

Iran has offered wide-ranging security talks while making clear its nuclear "rights" will be off-limits. It says its nuclear technology is to generate electricity, not make bombs.

The United States and its Western allies have made clear they will focus on Iran's nuclear activities at the first such meeting since U.S. President Barack Obama took office.

While Iran and the six powers -- the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany -- prepared for talks, British and U.S. officials appeared to differ over Iran nuclear capability.

A British security source said London suspected Iran had been seeking nuclear weapons for the past few years, in contrast to a U.S. view that Tehran halted work on design and weaponisation in 2003.

"We didn't share the U.S. assessment and still do not," the British source said.

ElBaradei said he had no evidence to back up the British assessment.

U.S. officials are focusing for now on diplomatic efforts, but the White House is considering sanctions targeting Iran's dependence on gasoline imports and insurance firms that underwrite the trade.

President Barack Obama warned Iran last week to come clean about its nuclear work or face "sanctions that bite."

AHMADINEJAD CHALLENGE

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made clear Tehran was looking for a changed approach from the West, while showing no sign of any Iranian readiness to compromise in the nuclear dispute.

He said the Geneva talks represented an "exceptional opportunity for (Western countries) to change their situation in the world and correct their way of dealing with nations."

"These talks could be a test to verify whether some governments are determined to follow up the slogan of change," Ahmadinejad said according to IRNA news agency, referring to Obama.

Ahmadinejad proposed an organised structure for the discussions, with three committees dealing with different issues, and an "assembly" of heads of states of the countries involved as the top decision-making body, Fars News Agency said.

"We are entering the talks with goodwill," chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said at Tehran's international Imam Khomeini airport.

Washington has suggested possible new sanctions on banking and the oil and gas industry if Iran, the world's fifth-largest crude exporter, fails to assuage Western fears it seeks nuclear weapons.

Ahmadinejad said Iran had prepared itself for all possibilities: "The Iranian nation has learnt to stand on its own feet during the past 30 years."

On Tuesday, an Iranian MP, Mohammad Karamirad, was quoted as saying parliament may advocate Iran's withdrawal from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if talks with big powers fail and the United States keeps putting pressure on Tehran.

Another MP, Hassan Ghafourifard, made similar remarks in an interview carried by state Press TV on Wednesday.

Parliament can formally oblige the government to take such a step, as happened when Iran stopped permitting wide-ranging snap U.N. nuclear inspections in 2006, but Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say on matters of state.

Top Iranian officials have repeatedly said Tehran has no intention to leave the NPT, under which its nuclear facilities are subject to regular U.N. nuclear watchdog inspections, or seek nuclear weapons it says violate the tenets of Islam.

Analysts believe Iran would think twice before quitting the NPT since such a move would betray nuclear weapons ambitions and could provoke pre-emptive attack by Israel and possibly the United States.

Copyright © 2008 Reuters

Obama condemns Iran over secret nuclear plant

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, warns the US president his ultimatum on nuclear programme is a mistake

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8275117.stm

The US, Britain and France issued a strongly worded ultimatum to Iran today after US officials disclosed the existence of a secret nuclear plant which the Iranian authorities have kept hidden from UN inspectors for years.

Days ahead of a showdown meeting with Iran in Geneva, Barack Obama demanded that the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) be allowed access to the plant, which is built inside a mountain near the ancient city of Qom, one of the holiest Shia cities.

Obama described the site, apparently a second Iranian facility for enriching uranium, as a "disturbing revelation". Iran denied it was clandestine and said it had informed the IAEA about the plant earlier this week.

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, fired a warning back at Obama saying: "If I were [President] Obama's adviser, I would definitely advise him to refrain from making this statement because it is definitely a mistake."

He told Time magazine that Obama's ultimatum "simply adds to the list of issues to which the United States owes the Iranian nation an apology over."

Western leaders, increasingly exasperated at Iran's nuclear truculence, were little assuaged by Iran's belated admission of the site's existence, which appears to have come after Iran learned that western intelligence services were on to its secret establishment.

Obama said: "This site deepens a growing concern that Iran is refusing to live up to those international responsibilities, including specifically revealing all nuclear-related activities. As the international community knows, this is not the first time that Iran has concealed information about its nuclear programme."

He added that the size and configuration of this facility was inconsistent with a peaceful nuclear programme. "Iran is breaking rules that all nations must follow," he said.

Both Gordon Brown and the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, signalled a move towards new United Nations sanctions being imposed against Iran, a move that will heighten tensions in the already volatile region.

"We cannot let the Iranian leaders gain time while the motors are running," Sarkozy said. "If by December there is not an in-depth change by the Iranian leaders, sanctions will have to be taken."

"I am expecting from the IAEA an exhaustive, strict, and rigorous investigation."

Brown said Iran was guilty of "serial deception" and it was time for the international community to draw a line in the sand.

"On 1 October, Iran must now engage with the international community and join the international community as a partner," Brown said. "If it does not do so, it will be further isolated."

Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, was reportedly concerned at the development, saying the revelation of a new Iranian nuclear site was disturbing.

Iran denies it is pursuing a nuclear weapon and insists its programme is solely for the generation of electricity. But western experts question why a legitimate operation would need to be concealed in a facility in a clandestine, underground site.

Iran also argues that the reported scale of the facility is too small to be suitable for a civil nuclear programme.

If Iran does not comply with its demands, the US will lead a push to impose new United Nations sanctions. Russia, which has a veto on the UN security council, has previously opposed sanctions but appears to be shifting. China is still opposed but could abstain rather than exercise its veto.

There are sanctions in place against Iran at present but they have been largely ineffective. David Albright, a former UN weapons inspector in Iraq and head of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, said that the west could simply stop buying Iranian oil. "It has consequences for us but it would be devastating for Iran," he said.

If sanctions fail, Israel has hinted it is prepared to order air strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.

Map showing location of Qom, near to the secret nuclear base

Iran sent details of its latest nuclear facility to the IAEA on Monday, saying it had established a second "pilot" enrichment plant, parallel to the one monitored by the IAEA near the city of Natanz.

But US and French intelligence services have been aware of the plant for some time, and western officials said that the Iranian letter was only sent after Iran discovered that its adversaries already knew of the plant.

IAEA officials reported that the Iranian letter claimed the site was under construction and that no nuclear material had yet been put into its centrifuges – the machines that can be used to enrich uranium for nuclear power or bombs.

An IAEA spokesman, Marc Vidricaire, confirmed the receipt of the letter and said the agency had been informed "that a new pilot fuel enrichment plant is under construction". The letter said the plant would not enrich uranium beyond the 5% level suitable for civilian energy production. That would be substantially below the threshold of 90% or more needed for a weapon. The plant is understood to be equipped with around 3,000 centrifuges.

Iran told the agency "that no nuclear material has been introduced into the facility", Vidricaire said. "In response, the IAEA has requested Iran to provide specific information and access to the facility as soon as possible."

According to Reuters, an Iranian news agency quoting an "informed source" said the second plant was similar to Iran's first facility near Natanz.

"Reports by some foreign news agencies that Iran has launched its second enrichment centre are correct and Iran has informed the [UN nuclear watchdog] about this," the ISNA news agency quoted its source as saying. "The second enrichment centre is similar to the enrichment installations at Natanz."

Iran admits secret uranium enrichment plant

Confession of secret underground complex south of Tehran pre-empts nuclear accusation by US, France and UK
•

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Iran has admitted developing a secret uranium enrichment plant. Photograph: Str/AP

Iran has admitted the existence of a secret uranium plant revealed by US officials this morning, bringing the long crisis over the country's nuclear programme to a head.

Iran sent a letter to Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on Monday, saying it had established a second pilot uranium enrichment plant, parallel to the one monitored by the IAEA in Natanz.

According to western officials, the letter was only sent after the Iranian government discovered the secret plant had been discovered by western intelligence.

Barack Obama, flanked by Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, is expected to deliver an ultimatum to Iran on the fringes of the G20 summit in Pittsburgh later today.

The late admission to the IAEA is unlikely to spare Iran from immediate demands from the international community to show IAEA inspectors the secret plant, and to halt all uranium enrichment.

The revelation of the second plant's existence now make harsh new UN sanctions much more likely if Iran refuses to stop enriching.

According to the New York Times the secret site is built inside a mountain near the ancient city of Qom, one of the holiest Shia cities in the Middle East.

The IAEA, the UN's nuclear watchdog, which has been investigating the Iranian programmes for six years, received a letter on Monday from Tehran, confessing to the establishment of another secret, underground complex south of Tehran for the enrichment of uranium that can be used for power generation and also, when highly enriched, for warheads.

The Associated Press reported that diplomats accredited to the IAEA had been shown the letter, in which the Iranians admitted developing the undeclared plant at an undisclosed location south of Tehran.

According to Reuters, an Iranian news agency, quoting an "informed source", confirmed reports of a second uranium enrichment plant, saying it was similar to Iran's first such plant near Natanz.

"Reports by some foreign news agencies that Iran has launched its second enrichment centre are correct and Iran has informed the [UN nuclear watchdog] about this," the ISNA news agency quoted its source as saying. "The second enrichment centre is similar to the enrichment installations at Natanz," the source said.

Analysts speculated that the Iranians had delivered a partial confession because they knew that US intelligence was monitoring the activities and they were about to be exposed.

The three leaders in Pittsburgh are to demand that the Iranians make the new site accessible to the UN inspectors, the New York Times reported.

According to the NYT, US officials have been tracking the covert project for years. Obama decided to go public after Iran discovered that western intelligence agencies had breached the secrecy surrounding the project.

According to the newspaper the facility is not complete. American officials said they believe it was designed to hold about 3,000 centrifuges, the machines that enrich uranium for nucleur power plants and potentially for bombs.

An Iranian MP claimed yesterday that there is proof that some reformists were sexually abused in prison after the disputed presidential election in June. “Raping of some detainees through baton and soda bottle has been proved to us,” the unnamed member of the investigative committee was quoted as saying. His comments are the first official acknowledgment that prisoners were violated. Until now, Iran’s leaders had dismissed such opposition claims as mischief-making. But in response yesterday, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (pictured above), rebuked opposition leaders for calling attention to alleged abuses of detainees. The Ayatollah criticised them for highlighting claims of mistreatment in Kahrizak prison, one of the main sites where protesters are being detained. “Some ignore defacing of the system while highlighting the issue of Kahrizak,” he was quoted as saying by the state Islamic Republic News Agency. “This way of thinking is an open unfairness.” Hey, with a relaxed attitude like that to alleged sexual abuse, if he was ever considering converting to Roman Catholicism he’d doubtless be welcomed with open arms and a senior position in the Hierarchy. Mind you, with a German in charge at the Vatican there would only be room for one Supreme Leader. Ein Congregation – Ein Church – Ein Fuhrer.

Khamenei says protests planned before vote

TEHERAN (Aug 27, 2009): Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday he did not believe the leaders of opposition protests that erupted after the country’s June presidential vote were agents of foreigners.

Iranian officials have previously portrayed the protests as a foreign-backed bid to topple the clerical establishment. They have accused Western powers, particularly the United States and Britain of fomenting the unrest, a charge denied by Washington and London.

"I do not accuse the leaders of recent events as being the agents of foreigners, including America and Britain because it has not been proven to me," Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted as saying by state television.

"But there is no doubt that this movement, whether its leaders know or not, was planned in advance," Khamenei said in a meeting with university students.

Some hardliners have repeatedly called for the arrest of opposition leaders who say the vote was rigged to secure the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Former President Mohammad Khatami said trial confessions by moderates accused of fomenting the post-election unrest were made under "extraordinary conditions" and were invalid, an Iranian news agency reported.

At Tuesday’s trial, the fourth since the June polls, senior reformer and Khatami ally Saeed Hajjarian was reported as saying he had "made major mistakes during the election by presenting incorrect analyses".

"I apologise to the Iranian nation for those mistakes."

A prosecutor demanded maximum punishment for Hajjarian who is accused of acting against national security, a crime which can carry the death sentence.

"These confessions are invalid and have been obtained under extraordinary conditions ... such claims are sheer lies and false," Khatami, who backed the main moderate candidate in the election, was quoted as saying by the Ilna news agency. Also in the dock on Tuesday were several other moderate figures, including former Deputy Interior Minister Mostafa Tajzadeh and former Deputy Foreign Minister Mohsen Aminzadeh – both of whom held their positions under Khatami.

All were charged with fomenting huge street protests that followed the June presidential election that returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. – Reuters