Iran says it will not answer to the IAEA
Source: Agencies |
December 5, 2009, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
AN Iranian nuclear official said yesterday the country will not answer to the United Nations nuclear watchdog about its plans to build 10 new uranium enrichment sites beyond the barest minimum required under the international nonproliferation treaty.
The comments by Abolfazl Zohrehvand, an adviser to the country's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, came days after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran was considering whether to scale back cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency after it approved a resolution censuring Iran over its nuclear program.
If Iran follows through on the threat, it would be another slap to Western efforts to curtail Iran's nuclear program for fear it is building weapons.
Tehran on Sunday announced it intends to build the 10 new sites -- a statement that followed a strong rebuke from the Vienna-based IAEA and heightened Western concerns over Iran's real nuclear intentions.
Zohrehvand said Iran will only inform the IAEA after it installs equipment at the new sites and no less than six months prior to injecting uranium gas into centrifuges during the enrichment process. Uranium enriched to low levels is used to produce nuclear fuel but further enrichment could produce material for a nuclear weapon.
"We, like other member states, will inform the agency only after installing the equipment and only 180 days before injecting gas," Zohrehvand said, according to the official IRNA news agency.
The IAEA says Iran must provide all information about the new sites as soon as it decides to build them.
The comments by Abolfazl Zohrehvand, an adviser to the country's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, came days after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran was considering whether to scale back cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency after it approved a resolution censuring Iran over its nuclear program.
If Iran follows through on the threat, it would be another slap to Western efforts to curtail Iran's nuclear program for fear it is building weapons.
Tehran on Sunday announced it intends to build the 10 new sites -- a statement that followed a strong rebuke from the Vienna-based IAEA and heightened Western concerns over Iran's real nuclear intentions.
Zohrehvand said Iran will only inform the IAEA after it installs equipment at the new sites and no less than six months prior to injecting uranium gas into centrifuges during the enrichment process. Uranium enriched to low levels is used to produce nuclear fuel but further enrichment could produce material for a nuclear weapon.
"We, like other member states, will inform the agency only after installing the equipment and only 180 days before injecting gas," Zohrehvand said, according to the official IRNA news agency.
The IAEA says Iran must provide all information about the new sites as soon as it decides to build them.
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