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Khan May Have Offered Iran Nuclear Parts; Russia, Tehran Sign Nuclear Fuel Agreement
International investigators have concluded that a 1987 meeting in Dubai between Iranian officials and members of the underground nuclear network established by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan launched both Tehran’s nuclear program and the Khan network, the Washington Post reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 25). Iran is believed to have acquired centrifuge blueprints and a starter kit for uranium enrichment, the Post reported. “The offer is the strongest indication to date that Iran had a nuclear weapons program, but it doesn’t prove it completely,” said one Western diplomat. Recently, however, Iranian officials told the International Atomic Energy Agency that the country had declined the opportunity to purchase more sensitive atomic weapons components at the time. Evidence indicates, however, that Iran may have acquired some items elsewhere, officials said. Investigators for the U.N. nuclear watchdog believe Iran outmaneuvered Khan and his associates by purchasing many components and technology at lower prices from European, Russian and Chinese dealers during the early 1990s, according to the Post Inspectors began pursuing information on the 1987 offer in November, according to the Post (Dafna Linzer, Washington Post, Feb. 27). Meanwhile, Russia and Iran signed a deal Sunday for Moscow to supply nuclear fuel for the operation of the Bushehr reactor, Reuters reported. “This is a very important incident in the ties between the two countries and in the near future a number of Russian experts will be sent to Bushehr to equip the power station,” Iranian state television quoted Alexander Rumyantsev, head of Russia’s Federal Atomic Energy Agency, as saying. Under the agreement, Iran must repatriate all spent nuclear fuel to Russia to ensure it is not used for weapons purposes. International Atomic Energy Agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said inspectors would “monitor closely the use of the fuel and where it goes.” Rumyantsev said Bushehr would go online in late 2006. “We are planning the physical launch at the end of 2006. About half a year before this the first delivery of fuel will take place,” ITAR-Tass quoted him as saying. U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) said the United States and the European Union should, in reaction to Russia’s decision, seek to exclude Moscow from the expected July summit of the world’s eight leading industrialized nations. “The United States and our European allies should start out by saying, ‘Vladimir, you’re not welcome at the next G-8 conference,’” said McCain, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin (Reuters, Feb. 27). Bushehr could produce enough plutonium for 30 bombs per year, experts have said, the Associated Press reported today (Associated Press/NewsFromRussia.com, Feb. 28). The United States is considering joining the European Union in offering incentives to Iran in exchange for a statement from Tehran renouncing any intentions to develop a nuclear weapon, according to senior U.S. officials, the Post reported today. U.S. President George W. Bush met Friday with principal members of his foreign policy team to discuss requests made by European leaders. The White House wants to move quickly to finalize a list of incentives, officials said. “The reason we’re comfortable considering this tactically is because strategically, when the president was in Europe, he found them solid on the big issue: that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon,” said a senior State Department official. Following Bush’s re-election late last year, British Prime Minister Tony Blair encouraged Bush to join or endorse the European negotiations, according to U.S. and European sources. “He said, ‘Even if you stand apart, take an approach that is seen as reinforcing what we’re doing, give the impression that you’re empowering us,’” said another U.S. official. The White House is not looking at major incentives, U.S. and European officials said. They could include considering Iran for membership in the World Trade Organization. “The kind of [economic and political] changes required for membership in the World Trade Organization are very much what we’d want to see anyway,” the State Department official said. “So it’s not giving Iran something. It’s making clear this could lead to that, if they comply” (Robin Wright, Washington Post, Feb. 28). The United States is willing to allow the European nations to negotiate with Iran until June before seeking referral to the U.N. Security Council, U.S. diplomatic documents show, according to Reuters. According to a paper circulated Thursday by U.S. officials to members of the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors, Washington will not pressure the agency to refer Iran’s case to the U.N. Security Council this week. If no progress in the European negotiations is seen by the next Board of Governors meeting in June, however, the Washington plans to pursue Security Council referral, according to the document. In addition, the United States wants agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei to report again on Iran’s nuclear program before the June meeting. “We believe it is essential that the director general provide to the board in advance of the June board meeting another comprehensive written report describing in full the IAEA’s inspection activities in Iran,” the document says. “The board in June must then be prepared to take further action as needed” (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters, Feb. 25). Top Iranian nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani said reports that Iran has built underground tunnels in which to protect its nuclear technology from a potential attack “could be true” “From the moment the Americans threaten to attack our nuclear sites, what are we to do? We have to put them somewhere,” Rohani told France’s Le Monde newspaper. Rohani did not seem reassured by U.S. President Bush’s statement last week that speculation about a U.S. attack was “simply ridiculous.” Bush “immediately added that all options were open. So the second phrase neutralizes the first,” Rohani said, according to AP. Rohani was optimistic, however, that a negotiated settlement with the European Union would be reached soon. “We are confident that we will, through positive measures from all sides, see positive results in March,” he said. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, however, said “the positions of the two sides are complex and difficult to bridge” (Associated Press/USA Today, Feb. 25). German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said he was satisfied with Bush’s remarks last week that Washington was not planning to attack Iran, AP reported. “[Bush] said the words ‘Iran is not Iraq’ deliberately — no one, and that includes the American government, is thinking of military action against Tehran,” Schroeder said in an interview published in Friday’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (Associated Press/Khaleej Times, Feb. 26). Iran has finished processing a batch of uranium begun prior to a November nuclear freeze agreement with the European Union, diplomats said, according to AFP. The freeze, which Tehran agreed to in a deal with the European Union, began on Nov. 22. However, Iran needed to finish processing uranium ore that had been introduced into fragile uranium conversion machines ahead of the suspension. “Iran stopped making UF4 (uranium tetrafluoride) a week ago,” said one diplomat. Iran was processing a total of 37 tons of uranium yellowcake ore into UF4, the precursor to UF6 gas, under IAEA supervision. Another diplomat said the agency has “under seal all the UF4 that was produced” at the Isfahan facility (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Feb. 26).
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