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| Iran |
| Iran admits to having uranium |
| 2003-02-10 |
| Iran acknowledged yesterday for the first time that it had uranium ore reserves and that it would reprocess the spent fuel. But it insisted the nuclear programme was designed solely for civilian use. The Iranian president, Mohammad Khatami, made the surprise admission only days before the arrival of international inspectors and follows lobbying by European governments to reveal details of its nuclear power project. This is not good. "Iran has discovered reserves and extracted uranium... we are determined to use nuclear technology for civilian purposes," Mr Khatami said in a televised speech. And we should trust you ... because? The reformist president said the uranium had been extracted in the Savand area, 125 miles from the central city of Yazd, and processing facilities had been set up in the central cities of Isfahan and Kashan. The US has accused Iran of planning to develop nuclear weapons. But the timing of yesterday's announcement indicated Iran may be trying to come clean over its nuclear programme ahead of inspections from the International Atomic Energy Agency later this month. It certainly didn't hurt the NKors. Has the IAEA even referred that one to the UNSC? Diplomats say that Tony Blair urged Tehran to sign up to more extensive inspections during talks last week in London with Kamal Kharrazi, the Iranian foreign minister. Although Iran has signed the non-proliferation treaty, it has so far refused to sign an additional protocol to allow for more intrusive inspections of its nuclear programme. European diplomats hope Iran is considering signing the additional protocol. Iran, which Washington has labelled a member of an "axis of evil" alongside Iraq and North Korea, insists its nuclear plans are purely for civilian purposes, aimed at meeting the growing demand for electricity from its 65 million citizens. Whilst floating on a sea of oil. Washington has long been at odds with Russia over its help in building a £550m nuclear plant in the south-western port of Bushehr, which Tehran expects to come on stream by early 2004. US fears were But Mr Khatami said that Iran intended to control the whole fuel cycle itself, from mining and processing the uranium ore to reprocessing the spent fuel. "If we need to produce electricity from our nuclear power plants, we need to complete the circle from discovering uranium to managing remaining spent fuel," he said. "The government is determined to complete that circle." Go ahead. Just remember, we know where the processing plants are, and our guided weapons are really good. In another development, state television quoted the defence minister, Ali Shamkhani, as saying Iran had developed the capacity to make composite solid fuels for its missiles. Iran makes medium-range missiles, anti-tank missiles, air-to-surface missiles and surface-to-surface guided missiles that use composite solid fuel. Simultaneous announcements about a potential warhead and a potential delivery system. Anyone get the message yet? Diplomats said that Mr Khatami's announcement stemmed from world pressure to come clean about the scope of its nuclear programme. "They seem to be making a creeping The head of the Iranian parliament's energy commission, Hossein Afarideh, told Reuters that the extracted uranium, after being processed, could be used as fuel at Bushehr. Let's hope the students rise up soon. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 Ptah --- Boeing (NYSE: BA) makes the JDAM kits for MK 82, MK-83, BLU-110, BLU-111 bombs. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-02-10 20:35:11 |
| #3 Yes, it was referred to the UNSC today. No link, though, I saw it on Fox News. |
| Posted by: Brian 2003-02-10 14:09:50 |
| #2 And JDAMs! Who the heck makes the JDAMs???? |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-02-10 12:14:06 |
| #1 Who makes Tomahawks? I want to buy some stock. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-02-10 11:20:38 |