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ElBaradei Clears Iran-Russia Nuclear Deal; Rafsanjani Says Iran Will Prevail in Nuclear Standoff
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei yesterday discounted concerns about Russia’s construction of a nuclear power plant for Iran at Bushehr, according to Agence France-Presse (see GSN, May 26). “Bushehr is a bilateral project between the Russian Federation and Iran,” ElBaradei said. “Bushehr is not currently at the center of international concern because Bushehr is a project to produce nuclear energy, and it has the agreement to send the spent fuel back to Russia,” he added, referring to an as-yet-unsigned agreement in principle (Associated Press/Moscow Times, June 30). ElBaradei, traveling in Russia, added that the controversial $800 million project was not on his agenda for discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Bushehr was not discussed,” ElBaradei said. “We did not discuss it with Putin because it is not a subject of any concern on our part,” he added (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, June 29). Meanwhile, former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said yesterday that Iran would continue developing its nuclear program “to the end,” Agence France-Presse reported. “The United States has put pressure on Iran since the Islamic revolution but has always suffered setbacks,” said Rafsanjani. “This time too it will suffer a defeat and we will continue our program to the end,” he told Iran’s official news agency. However, he added that Iran would adhere to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency. “We are ready to work within the framework of NPT, with all our activities being transparent, so that they can see for themselves our nuclear program is for peaceful and not military applications,” he said (Agence France-Presse/Daily Times, June 29). Rafsanjani also warned Europeans yesterday not to do anything that might force Iran to withdraw from the treaty or to reject ratifying the Additional Protocol to its IAEA safeguards agreement. “We have not started gaining access to nuclear technology with the help of Europeans, so we are not dependent on them,” Rafsanjani said. “[The Europeans] should act wisely and admit that we are ready to act within the framework of the NPT and that everything is transparent and that they should admit our nuclear programs are geared to peaceful, not military purposes,” he added (Tehran Times, June 30). Elsewhere, environmental samples taken Monday by IAEA inspectors at the Lavizan suspected nuclear site in Iran will take several weeks to be analyzed, an agency spokesman said (see GSN, June 29). Inspectors visited additional sites on yesterday (CNN, June 28).
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