Sunday Telegraph: Iran has announced its intention to start processing 37 tons of uranium yellowcake that Western intelligence officials estimate will provide Teheran with enough weapons grade material to build up to five nuclear bombs, the Telegraph can reveal.
The decision to begin work on the yellowcake this month was disclosed in a submission last week to officials at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, the international nuclear watchdog.
Sunday Telegraph
By Con Coughlin
Iran has announced its intention to start processing 37 tons of uranium yellowcake that Western intelligence officials estimate will provide Teheran with enough weapons grade material to build up to five nuclear bombs, the Telegraph can reveal.
The decision to begin work on the yellowcake this month was disclosed in a submission last week to officials at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, the international nuclear watchdog.
The agency’s governors are due to meet tomorrow to discuss Iran’s continuing failure to comply with its obligations to provide a comprehensive and detailed account of its nuclear programme. The Iranians insist that their programme is designed for purely peaceful purposes, but many Western intelligence agencies believe that they have a clandestine operation to build a nuclear bomb.
In their submission to the IAEA, details of which will be made public this week, the Iranians claim that they intend to process the yellowcake to provide fuel for new nuclear power stations. Iran is the only leading Opec oil producer to be developing a nuclear energy industry. Intelligence officials fear that the yellowcake will provide Teheran with a vital component in its drive to become a nuclear weapons power.
“This is a classic ploy by the Iranians to conceal their true intentions,” said a senior official. “They want to spin out the negotiations in Vienna to cover up the rapid progress they are making on their nuclear weapons programme. They are buying time to string out the diplomatic process.”
A Foreign Office spokesman said that the Iranians were guilty of “serious obfuscation” and called on Teheran to suspend work immediately. “We are extremely concerned about all aspects of Iran’s nuclear programme,” he said, “and we call on Iran to suspend all their nuclear activities, including the processing of uranium yellowcake.”
He said that the Iranians had maintained a secret nuclear programme for 12 years, but details had come to light only in the past 18 months. Iran’s declaration that it was indulging only in peaceful nuclear activities did not tally with evidence uncovered by IAEA inspectors. “The Iranians have not been able to inspire confidence that they are telling the truth,” the spokesman said.
Until now, Washington has reluctantly supported the IAEA’s view that the issue could be resolved through constructive dialogue with Iran. Last October, Teheran signed an agreement with Britain, France and Germany to suspend all nuclear research until IAEA inspectors had conducted a thorough investigation.
The Iranians reneged on that agreement last June after fundamentalists took control of parliament in what was seen as a rigged election. They announced that they were to resume work on building and testing centrifuges, which are used for enriching uranium to weapons grade. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the hardline spiritual adviser, said recently that he expects Iran’s nuclear weapons programme to be completed by next summer.
The new Iranian announcement is likely to intensify Washington’s determination to bring the issue before the United Nations Security Council in November.
Last night it emerged that Britain, France and Germany were falling into line with Washington’s position when it was revealed that they planned a November deadline for Iran to comply fully with IAEA demands, or face the consequences at the UN. John Bolton, the US under-secretary for arms control and international security wants the issue put before the Security Council to force UN members to take the Iranian threat seriously.
