May be its time for US to stop foaming at mouth and accept ground realities… BTW how is Iraq going? I’d say bring em on too, I mean the Persians..
Iran expands nuclear enrichment
Mohamed ElBaradei delivered his report ahead of a crucial meeting
Iran has begun feeding uranium gas into centrifuge “cascades”, the UN’s chief nuclear inspector says, apparently expanding its nuclear enrichment.
Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran began using a 10-machine cascade on 15 February and was testing a 20-machine version.
In a report, Mr ElBaradei said Iran was still not co-operating fully with his inquiries, and he could not tell if it had a nuclear weapons programme.
Mr ElBaradei’s IAEA has voted to report Iran to the UN Security Council.
The board of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) will discuss the report at a meeting next Monday, says the BBC’s Bethany Bell in Vienna, where the IAEA is based.
It will also go to the Security Council, she says.
The US and other Western countries accuse Iran of concealing a programme that could be used to make nuclear weapons. Tehran insists it only wants a civilian nuclear capability.
‘Regrettable’
At a meeting on 4 February, the IAEA board demanded that Tehran stop hindering its inspectors’ inquiries.
Otherwise, Western diplomats said, the Security Council could consider imposing sanctions against Iran.
Mr ElBaradei’s report said: “It is regrettable and a matter of concern that the uncertainties related to the scope and nature of Iran’s nuclear programme have not been clarified after three years of intensive agency verification.”
“To clarify these uncertainties, Iran’s full transparency is still essential.”
The report said that although inspectors had not seen any diversion of nuclear materials to a weapons process, because of continuing lack of co-operation, they were “not in a position to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran”.
Uranium enriched to a high level can be used to make an atomic bomb.
Iran says its research is solely aimed at energy production, but Western powers are concerned that Iran’s uranium enrichment programme is part of a plan to acquire nuclear weaponry.
Iranian officials had warned they would restart small-scale uranium enrichment by early March, but they did not specify a date.