Top Iranian security official Hassan Rohani (left, shown meeting with IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei in June) confirmed today that Iran would be willing to suspend some controversial nuclear activity as part of a deal with the United Kingdom, France and Germany (AFP photo/Atta Kenare). Iran Offers to Suspend Some Nuclear Work; United States Sees Effort to Stall Sanctions Iranian officials yesterday pledged to suspend some aspects of their nuclear work in exchange for a trade deal with France, Germany and the United Kingdom, the Washington Post reported (see GSN, Sept. 7). The offer followed a weekend meeting between Iranian and European diplomats. French, British and German officials are considering the proposal, which would not require Iran to freeze all parts of the uranium conversion process that could be used for nuclear weapons development, officials said...Full Story

Charges Dropped in South Africa Nuclear Case South African officials dropped charges today against an engineer arrested last week under suspicion of preparing uranium enrichment centrifuges for Libya’s former nuclear weapons program (see GSN, Sept. 7)...Full Story

Iraq Shipped Banned Missile Engines Out of Country Shortly After War, UNMOVIC Says The Iraqi Ministry of Trade began shipping scrap metal, including missile engines and equipment that could be used in WMD production, to Jordan and other countries less than three months after the United States and its allies overthrew former President Saddam Hussein, according to a report released yesterday by the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (see GSN, June 10)...Full Story

	Wednesday, September 8, 2004

Iraq Shipped Banned Missile Engines Out of Country Shortly After War, UNMOVIC Says The Iraqi Ministry of Trade began shipping scrap metal, including missile engines and equipment that could be used in WMD production, to Jordan and other countries less than three months after the United States and its allies overthrew former President Saddam Hussein, according to a report released yesterday by the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (see GSN, June 10). The report, expected to be presented today to the U.N. Security Council, criticizes “the systematic removal” of items subject to U.N. monitoring from a number of Iraqi sites, the Associated Press reported. Exported items include at least 42 engines from missiles with ranges that exceeded the 150-kilometer limit imposed by the United Nations following the 1991 Gulf War, according to AP. Several Iraqi sites once used to manufacture missiles and precursors for chemical weapons have been destroyed or emptied, according to commercial satellite photographs. Scrap yard managers estimated that 60,000 tons of scrap metal, stainless steel and other alloys passed through Jordan’s largest free trade zone in 2003, followed by an additional 70,000 until June of this year, the report says. U.N. inspectors learned that was “only a small part of all scrap materials exported from Iraq to the other countries that border Iraq and further to Europe, North Africa and Asia,” according to the report. U.N. inspectors said Jordan and the Netherlands, another country where large quantities of the scrap were found, agreed to allow inspectors to observe the destruction of the engines and the other equipment. Nevertheless, 18 SA-2 missile engines, seven high-tech machines that could be used to make missile parts, and other equipment essential to missile production remain missing, according to the report (Edith Lederer, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Sept. 7). Back to top       Former U.K. Official Says Iraq WMD Evidence ‘Thin’ Prewar evidence that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction was “very thin,” but the British government failed to make that clear in the buildup to the 2003 invasion, the former civil servant who headed the inquiry into British intelligence said yesterday (see GSN, July 14). Robin Butler, speaking before the House of Lords for the first time since issuing his committee’s July report, did not say “no one was to blame for the shortcomings,” only that “no individual” was to blame, according to the London Guardian. “Although none of us on the committee doubted or doubt today the prime minister’s and the government’s good faith in concluding that Saddam Hussein had concealed stocks of chemical and biological weapons — that was a view shared by most other countries and indeed by (chief weapons inspector) Dr. Hans Blix — the government’s dossier in September 2002 did not make clear that the intelligence underlying those conclusions was very thin,” Butler said during a parliamentary debate on Iraq. “How grave a fault that was in the context of the lead-up to the war is a matter on which people will and should reach their own conclusions,” he added. “But we regard it as a serious weakness, a weakness which subsequently came home to roost as the conclusions about deployable stocks of chemical and biological weapons have turned out to be wrong” (Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian, Sept. 8). Back to top

Iran Offers to Suspend Some Nuclear Work; United States Sees Effort to Stall Sanctions Iranian officials yesterday pledged to suspend some aspects of their nuclear work in exchange for a trade deal with France, Germany and the United Kingdom, the Washington Post reported (see GSN, Sept. 7). The offer followed a weekend meeting between Iranian and European diplomats. French, British and German officials are considering the proposal, which would not require Iran to freeze all parts of the uranium conversion process that could be used for nuclear weapons development, officials said. Top Iranian national security official Hassan Rohani confirmed today Iran was in talks with the European Union, and had pledged to renew suspension on the assembly of centrifuges used to enrich uranium (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Sept. 8). Iran’s latest offer is a ruse, a U.S. official said yesterday. “You don’t have to look back too far to find Iranian officials saying that they were going to suspend production of centrifuge and use of centrifuges, and then to find them saying that, no, they were going to go ahead anyway,” said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. Iran made a similar deal with the European powers last year (see GSN, Sept. 22, 2003) that enabled the International Atomic Energy Agency board to defer taking tough action against Tehran. The agreement collapsed in June when Iran announced that it had restarted programs it agreed to suspend (see GSN, June 2). The Bush administration and the three European states have drafted separate resolutions on Iran to be presented at the IAEA board meeting next week in Vienna, the Post reported. The U.S. resolution, according to the Post, would declare Iran in noncompliance of Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty requirements and would refer the matter to the U.N. Security Council, which could impose sanctions. The European proposal would call for a full suspension of Iran’s nuclear program but delay the possibility of Security Council action until late November, when the board is scheduled to meet again. Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan have indicated that they would support the U.S. position if the European nations could be persuaded to do the same. In hopes of gaining support for its plan, the United States agreed not to press for sanctions from the Security Council, instead seeking support for further IAEA inspections in Iran (Dafna Linzer, Washington Post, Sept. 8). U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday said the matter should be put before the Security Council “as quickly as possible,” the Associated Press reported. Regarding reports that Iran agreed in principle to temporarily suspend some nuclear activities, Powell said he “would be more interested in seeing Iranian action to stop the steps that they are now embarking upon with respect to the production of materials that, in our judgment, leads to nuclear weapons” (Barry Schweid, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Sept. 7). Rohani warned that the Islamic republic had already prepared for a “response” if the Europeans did not prevent the International Atomic Energy Agency from taking a harder stance with Tehran, Agence France-Presse reported. “If the Europeans do not respect their commitments or present an illogical or harsh resolution, Iran has already decided its response,” he was quoted as saying by the official Iranian news agency IRNA. Meanwhile, an Iranian group is set to begin recruiting tomorrow for a “suicide battalion” to defend the country’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, which is under construction with assistance from Russia, AFP reported. “We are going to have a ceremony to recruit volunteers for suicide operations and create the first suicide battalion to defend the Bushehr power station, which is the target of Israeli propaganda,” a member of the Committee for the Glorification of the Martyrs of the World Islamic Movement said. The anonymous source did not specify whether volunteers would be used as human shields or to respond to an attack (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Sept. 8). Back to top       Charges Dropped in South Africa Nuclear Case South African officials dropped charges today against an engineer arrested last week under suspicion of preparing uranium enrichment centrifuges for Libya’s former nuclear weapons program (see GSN, Sept. 7). Johan Meyer, 53, had been charged with possessing sensitive nuclear-related equipment and illegally importing and exporting nuclear material. “The state informed me that charges were being withdrawn. I was not given a reason,” Meyer said today after his second court hearing on the charges (South African Press Association/Mail & Guardian, Sept. 8). Back to top       South Korea Admits It Should Have Reported 2000 Uranium Enrichment Experiments to IAEA South Korean officials this week acknowledged their failure four years ago to report uranium enrichment work to the International Atomic Energy Agency, but maintained that the experiments were never meant to develop nuclear weaponry (see GSN, Sept. 7). Scientists at South Korea’s main government-affiliated research center produced 0.2 grams of enriched uranium in 2000, according to the Associated Press. “We should have reported that uranium was used during this experiment,” a senior official with the South Korean Foreign Ministry said today, speaking anonymously (Hawon Jung, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Sept. 8). Uranium was enriched only to an average of 10 percent in three tests, according to Chang In-soon, South Korea’s top nuclear energy official. South Korean representatives last week reportedly told IAEA officials that enrichment levels had neared 80 percent, which would bring the material close to weapon-grade, according to the Washington Post. Chang said there had been a “misunderstanding” regarding the enrichment level of the uranium, the Post reported. “Yes, we did enrich uranium, but an amount so small it was almost invisible and to levels that were not even close” to weapon-grade, Chang said. “This was an academic exercise, nothing more. We have no ambition beyond science. Any suggestion to the contrary is wrong.” Chang said he authorized the experiments, and had not thought they violated requirements under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that member states report all uranium enrichment activities to the International Atomic Energy Agency. “On the surface, it appears to be a violation no matter what the enrichment level was,” said a diplomat in Vienna familiar with the situation. “But the consequences have a range, depending on what is found” (Anthony Faiola, Washington Post, Sept. 8). Meanwhile, a North Korean official today issued his country’s first public statement on the controversy, Reuters reported. “It has become difficult to prevent expansion of a nuclear arms race because of South Korea’s test,” Yonhap quoted Pyongyang’s envoy to the United Nations, Han Sung Ryol, as saying (Reuters/Yahoo!News, Sept. 8). Back to top       South Korean President to Visit Russia; U.K. to Urge North Korea to End Nuclear Standoff South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sept. 21 in Moscow to discuss the standoff over North Korea’s suspected nuclear weapons programs, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Sept. 7). The talks would be part of Roh’s expected four-day trip to Russia. “President Roh’s visit to Russia is aimed at … securing Russia’s cooperation and its constructive role in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue,” said presidential foreign affairs adviser Chung Woo-sung (Agence France-Presse, Sept. 7). Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday that the United Kingdom would send a “very clear message” to North Korea that relations between the two nations would not improve until Pyongyang resolves the nuclear standoff, Agence France-Presse reported. Foreign Office minister Bill Rammell is expected to visit Pyongyang later this week, according to AFP. “I think it is important to send a very clear message to North Korea about the priority we attach to North Korea getting into a proper dialogue, which means that we deal with the nuclear arms issue in relation to North Korea,” Blair said. “We do this without any doubts or illusions about the nature of the regime in North Korea, how it treats its own people, and the programs that we think they are engaged in” (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Sept. 7). Back to top       Russia Test-Fires Ballistic Missiles The Russian nuclear submarines Yekaterinburg and Borisoglebsk yesterday conducted ballistic missile test launches, Interfax reported (see GSN, Aug. 12). “Both launches proceeded successfully. The missiles’ warheads hit their training targets at the Kura testing ground on the Kamchatka (Peninsula) at their designated time,” Russian Navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo said. Navy commander Adm. Vladimir Kuroyedov observed the launches from the cruiser Pyotr Veliky, Dygalo said (Interfax, Sept. 8). Back to top

Diluted Smallpox Vaccine Could Save More Lives The 85 million doses of smallpox vaccine in the U.S. stockpile could be heavily diluted to provide expanded protection in case of a biological attack, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 9). A study published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that test volunteers who received an inoculation of even one-tenth the strength of the original treatment developed a pustule at the shot site, indicating a successful vaccination. Findings of the study, which was completed in early 2003, support previous research indicating a diluted smallpox vaccine provides sufficient protection against infection, Reuters reported. “This allows for amplification of the current smallpox vaccine stockpile … if needed,” wrote study author Thomas Talbot of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tenn. All but one of the 340 volunteers experienced at least some discomfort after receiving the vaccine. Symptoms included itching or pain at the inoculation site, fatigue, headaches and fever. Five volunteers experienced temporary “cardiac symptoms,” according to the study (Reuters/CNN.com, Sept. 7). Back to top

Umatilla Ready to Begin Chemical Weapons Disposal The U.S. Army’s Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility was scheduled today to begin destroying sarin-filled rockets stored at the Oregon depot (see GSN, Aug. 18). Work was set to begin in mid-August, but was delayed while officials addressed safety concerns that arose during testing. Those issues — which included trace amounts of vapor found in the facility’s ventilation system following a trial burn — have been resolved, depot officials said yesterday in a press release. “We knew many people were anxious for us to start, but our drivers are safety, security and complying with our permit. We are not on a production schedule,” Lt. Col. David Holliday, depot commander, said in the release. One pallet of M55 rockets carrying sarin was to be moved yesterday from a storage facility to the disposal plant. Plans called for one rocket to be punched, drained and sheared this morning, according to the press release. The rocket pieces were set to be decontaminated in a furnace, while the drained sarin is expected to be stored for about a month until enough agent is collected from rockets to be destroyed in a liquid incinerator (U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency release, Sept. 7). Back to top

Shahab 3 Missile Ready for More Testing, Iran Says Following a successful test last month, Iran is ready again to demonstrate the Shahab 3 medium-range missile, Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani said yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 11). “The ministry is ready to organize a new test of the Shahab 3 missile in the presence of observers,” Shamkhani said in a statement carried by the official Iranian news agency IRNA. “The recent test that was carried out was a success.” The updated Shahab reportedly has a range of up to 2,000 kilometers, while the earlier version could reach no more than 1,700 kilometers, according to Agence France-Presse (Agence France-Presse/The Australian, Sept. 7).   Back to top

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