Global Security Newswire

The United States yesterday criticized Iran’s announcement that it is converting an undisclosed portion of 37 tons of raw uranium into uranium hexafluoride gas, a feed material for uranium enrichment. Iranian officials said yesterday that the processing was a test run (see GSN, Oct. 6).

“Clearly, 37 tons is not a test, as Iran suggests; it’s a production run,” said State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli.

“There is no peaceful use for this enriched uranium, and at the present time, in our view, it clearly indicates that Iran is continuing its efforts in a nuclear weapons program,” he said (State Department briefing, Oct. 6).

Iranian Finance Minister Tahmasb Mazaheri said yesterday that Iran’s pursuit of nuclear energy is a component of its economic plan to become a regional power and is not aimed at development of nuclear weapons, the Washington Times reported.

“We are not interested in employing nuclear weapons,” said Mazaheri. “We are just seeking the peaceful utilization of this energy (and) in fact, it has many economic impacts.”

Mazaheri said Iran, one of the world’s top-10 oil producers, is looking to strengthen its economy through new energy initiatives.

“We should replace oil revenues with another source of energy, because it is a political commodity; so we should employ some other instruments to make the development of the country easier,” he said.

“Our aim is to be the first-ranking economy in the region,” Mazaheri added (Sharon Behn, Washington Times, Oct. 7).

Meanwhile, a senior Russian official said today that Moscow would not be deterred from helping Iran to complete a nuclear reactor at Bushehr, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Sept. 9).

“We have been cooperating and will continue to cooperate with Iran in the peaceful usage of nuclear energy,” Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev said, according to the Interfax news agency. “It does not matter if there is pressure or not, but it does matter that we will comply with all legal commitments in cooperation with Iran.”

Russia has maintained that Iran has the right to develop a nuclear energy program, but has also urged Iran to halt all efforts to enrich uranium, according to AP (Associated Press/Boston Herald, Oct. 7).