Iran Centrifuge Installation Progressing, France Warns

Iran could have nearly 3,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges in operation by the end of October, French diplomats said yesterday, potentially putting it on track to produce weapon-grade uranium in usable quantities (see GSN, Oct. 3).

France received a telegram from the U.N. nuclear watchdog yesterday indicating the agency’s belief that Iran is set to have 18 centrifuge cascades — slightly  under 3,000 centrifuges — running at the end of the month, the Associated Press reported.

While Iran has insisted its nuclear program is intended only for power production, France, the United States and other Western powers suspect that Tehran aims to build a nuclear weapon. 

Western diplomats have said Iran’s stated interim goal of installing 3,000 centrifuges could produce uranium for one nuclear bomb per year if the equipment is run continuously.

“The clock is ticking,” French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a letter to his EU counterparts on Tuesday.  “If we want to be able to obtain a negotiated solution with Iran, we cannot wait without reacting until we are faced with an Iranian fait accompli.”

Kouchner encouraged EU countries to consider independent sanctions against Iran to “increase the pressure” on the country to comply with U.N. Security Council demands that it halt uranium enrichment activities.

Potential targets could include companies, “particularly in the banking sector,” or suspect individuals who have not yet had their assets frozen or been banned from obtaining EU visas (Associated Press I/USA Today, Oct. 3).

Reaction to the French call for penalties was mixed, Agence France-Presse reported.

“We support Kouchner’s position wholeheartedly and we’re looking forward to a discussion with our EU partners,” said a British Foreign Office spokesman (Agence France-Presse I/Spacewar.com, Oct. 4).

A Spanish Foreign Ministry official told AFP, though, that “we have a preference for diplomatic solutions” (Agence France-Presse II/Spacewar.com, Oct. 4).

Kouchner is expected to receive time to discuss his proposal during a meeting of EU foreign ministers planned for Oct. 15 in Luxembourg (Agence France-Presse III/Spacewar.com, Oct. 4).

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana warned yesterday that Tehran could face new sanctions before the end of this year if EU countries do not see notable progress in negotiations over the country’s nuclear program, AP reported.

“We can't wait forever, and we have to see those negotiations are moving ahead, he said.  “There is a risk of more sanctions and it is a real risk, we have to get that across.”

“The situation is not good as you know, it's very difficult,” Solana said.  “There is a lot of pressure from different quarters, from the EU and elsewhere" for action on Iran (Constant Brand, Associated Press II/Google News, Oct. 3).

Solana added that he wants to meet several times with Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani before reporting to U.N. powers in November on the status of the negotiations.

“I hope to be able to see Larijani as soon as possible and not just once but several meetings, which will be needed for the report to the Security Council,” he said (Agence France-Presse IV/EU Business, Oct. 3).

Meanwhile, U.S. President George W. Bush said yesterday that the United States remains open to negotiating with Iran on the condition that it first suspends its disputed nuclear activities, AP reported.

“If your question is, will you ever sit down with them?  We've proven we would with North Korea.  And the answer is yeah, just so long as we can achieve something, so long as we are able to get our objective,” he said (Deb Riechmann, Associated Press III/New Jersey Star-Ledger, Oct. 4).

Elsewhere, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said yesterday that the United States does not have the money to attack Iran, AP reported.

While the Bush administration has said that all options are on the table for dealing with Iran’s nuclear program, Mottaki said the U.S. threats were an act of “psychological war.”  He added that U.S. officials have publicly discussed possible military intervention against Iran every six months for the last two years.

The “U.S. is not in a position to impose another war in our region against their taxpayers,” he said (Edith Lederer, Associated Press IV/Google News, Oct. 3).

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