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Iran to Remove Some IAEA Cameras
Iran yesterday announced its intention to remove several International Atomic Energy Agency surveillance cameras from some nuclear facilities, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Feb. 14). “We are getting ready to remove the cameras in some sites where they were installed according to the (Additional) Protocol,” said Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization. He was referring to Iran’s supplementary safeguards agreement with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, which Tehran has signed but not ratified. Saeedi said Tehran would strictly limit any future international inspections to the terms of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and would not provide additional cooperation or access. “We are in the transition stage and the inspectors will work under the NPT. We will not do anything beyond our commitments to the NPT,” he said (Agence France-Presse I/IranMania.com, Feb. 14). Iran’s decision this week to resume uranium enrichment, albeit on a small scale, heightens the international dispute over its nuclear program, the Washington Post reported today. “They’ve now walked across the line in such a blatant way that it’s hard to see where any other red line could be drawn,” said Mark Fitzpatrick, an analyst with the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London. “Now they’ve done what everybody was afraid of.” Diplomats, however, said the U.N. Security Council was unlikely to take any action until March 6, when IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei is expected to present a report on the progress of the investigation of Iran’s activities to the agency’s governing board. That document is expected to include Iran’s decision to resume enrichment, said a Vienna-based diplomat. Agency inspectors at the Natanz facility reported that Iran is using fewer than five centrifuges, the diplomat said. “This means the IAEA will have to produce a report that is quite negative with regard to Iran,” Fitzpatrick said. “The director general would have been looking to produce a report that described ways in which Iran was cooperating. … Iran is not giving ElBaradei anything to work with here.” Western diplomats added that Iran’s decision to step back from providing additional access to the agency would impede the work of its inspectors. “It is very difficult for us to provide assurance that there is no parallel or secret program happening,” one diplomat said. Russia has offered a compromise deal, whereby Moscow would enrich uranium on Tehran’s behalf, a proposal Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ridiculed in a speech on Saturday. “They say that they will produce the fuel somewhere else and then they will hand it over to us,” he said. “We say, ‘What a surprise! Do you expect us to be stupid enough to believe you?’” (Molly Moore, Washington Post, Feb. 15). The U.N. Security Council in unlikely to take quick action on the issue, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said yesterday. “There is no action planned at the moment, pursuant to the agreement reached by the five permanent foreign ministers,” Bolton told the New York Sun. Keeping the five permanent Security Council members together on the issue is considered the key goal in the short term, several diplomats told the Sun. The cooperation of China and Russia, both of which have remained opposed to dealing harshly with Iran, is crucial, said one European diplomat. One expert said he expected Iran to retract hard-line positions just before the March board meeting in order to appear conciliatory. “Iran is playing brinkmanship,” said Middle East Data Project President Kenneth Timmerman. “They’ve used that tactic before, indicating interest in proposals they have rejected for 10 years” (Benny Avni, New York Sun, Feb. 15). France and Russia yesterday called on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, United Press International reported. The statement, released in Moscow, urges Iran to abide by IAEA guidelines, “including the suspension of the entire uranium enrichment process,” ITAR-Tass reported. The two countries recognized Iran’s right to a nuclear energy program, however, and said countries that do not have nuclear fuel cycle programs should have access to uranium enrichment services (United Press International, Feb. 15). Moscow announced yesterday that it is not troubled by Tehran’s request to delay until Feb. 20 a meeting to discuss the Russian compromise nuclear proposal, AFP reported. “There is no problem with this. I think that we will host the Iranian delegation,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak was quoted as saying by Interfax (Agence France-Presse II/IranMania.com, Feb. 14). Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is scheduled to discuss the Iran standoff with senior European Union officials today, Deutsche-Presse Agentur reported. Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and EU Foreign Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner were expected to attend a morning meeting in Vienna, according to DPA, with Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel expected at an afternoon session. Lavrov yesterday rejected the possibility of U.N. sanctions against Iran. “Sanctions have not solved a single conflict in modern history,” he said. “The people talking about sanctions have political goals,” Lavrov added (Deutsche-Presse Agentur, Feb. 15). The United States yesterday called on Iran to accept the Russian proposal, AFP reported. “That’s an offer that remains on the table. … We’ve expressed support for Iran’s right to have civilian nuclear energy and the proposal that Russia has put forward,” said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. McClellan said Iran must suspend uranium enrichment and reprocessing work, cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency and resume negotiations with the European Union. “If they’re going to start restoring confidence with the international community, those are essential steps that the regime must take,” he said (Agence France-Presse III/IranMania.com, Feb. 14). Iran is reportedly making a push to procure nuclear technology, particularly from Europe, Germany’s DDP news agency reported yesterday. Its efforts are focused in France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Germany, that latter of which alone hosts more than 100 Iranian front companies, DDP reported. “We can scarcely keep tabs on them,” said one European intelligence expert. “This lucrative trade takes precedence over all misgivings over security,” another intelligence source said. Small firms run by Iranians resident in Germany have been playing a large role in the illicit dual-use trade, DDP reported (DDP news agency/BBC Monitoring, Feb. 14). The U.S. Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency is scheduled to meet this week with Turkish Foreign Ministry officials to discuss the standoff, AFP reported yesterday. Gregory Schulte plans to consult “with Turkish officials regarding Iran’s efforts to acquire nuclear weapons and international diplomatic measures to resolve the issue,” the U.S. Embassy in Ankara announced. “We are saddened to learn that Iran has resumed uranium enrichment. We hope the issue is resolved through diplomacy. There is still an opportunity for that,” Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said yesterday (Agence France-Presse IV/IranMania.com, Feb. 14). Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday called on the world to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, Reuters reported. “From this day today there must be a very concrete, joint action by the international community that will stop the Iranians from continuing their efforts to possess nuclear weapons,” Olmert said. He added that he hoped a debate in the U.N. Security Council would “end up with a clear and powerful action to stop the Iranians” (Reuters, Feb. 14).
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