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U.S. Intelligence Says Iran Wants Complete Nuclear Fuel Cycle
Bush administration officials believe Iran continues to pursue a nuclear weapons capability by developing a full nuclear fuel cycle, a U.S. official said yesterday (see GSN, May 4). Iran has admitted to pursuing uranium enrichment in an effort to generate electricity, but the U.S. officials have said there is evidence suggesting that Tehran is running parallel military and civilian nuclear power programs, according to the Associated Press. Diplomats from the European Union, France, Sweden and Japan met last week in New York with U.S. officials and expressed concern about Iran’s nuclear program. However, they could not agree on how to handle the matter, the U.S. official added. Yesterday in Berlin, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi met with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and promised that Iran would fulfill its obligations to the International Atomic Energy Agency. “This is not an Iranian project, but a joint project by Iran, the European countries and the International Atomic Energy Agency. A success in this project will be a success for everyone,” Kharazi said (Barry Schweid, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, May 5). Meanwhile, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei told a foreign relations committee of the French Parliament today that Iran must divulge the full extent of its nuclear activities before the world loses patience. “People have to be a little bit patient, but Iran also has to understand that the world is not going to wait forever for them to come clean,” ElBaradei said. He added that nuclear inspections in Iran were proceeding despite some setbacks (see GSN, April 26). “There are still some hiccups in the cooperation, but overall I think we are moving in the right direction,” he said (Reuters, May 6).
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