U.N. watches as Iran prepares uranium

By Seattle Times news services

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Iran's president said Iran would not give in to foreign pressure aimed at stopping what he said was a peaceful nuclear-energy program, but which the United States says is a covert scheme aimed at building weapons.

Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said the agency was closely monitoring uranium processing to ensure that nothing would be diverted for weapons purposes.

The head of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, today said he hoped Iran would fully suspend its uranium enrichment-related activities and that his agency was working with it to do so.

It was unclear how much processed uranium had been produced so far, although Iran's chief delegate to the IAEA, Hossein Mousavian, indicated the amount was not large.

"It is an experimental process, and we have not entered the industrial phase," Mousavian told Reuters in Tehran.

Iran's uranium conversion plant at Isfahan intends to process a total of 37 tonnes of yellowcake, which experts say could be enriched into material for up to five atomic weapons.

The IAEA board of governors passed a resolution last month demanding Iran freeze all activities connected with uranium enrichment, including making feed material for centrifuges.

Iran had originally promised France, Germany and Britain in October 2003 that it would suspend its entire enrichment program and all related activities. While it has yet to enrich any uranium, Iran never entirely froze the program and recently resumed key parts of it.

If Iran fails to heed the demands, the board said it would consider possible "further steps" when it meets next month. Diplomats on the board said this included possibly referring Iran to the U.N. Security Council, which can impose sanctions.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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