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Iran Set to Resume Building Centrifuges Tomorrow
Iran said yesterday it would resume building uranium-enrichment centrifuges tomorrow, adding that it welcomed international supervision of their manufacture (see GSN, June 25). International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohammad ElBaradei said he hoped Tehran would reverse its decision. “I hope that this decision is of a temporary nature. I hope it will be reversed,” ElBaradei said. “Iran needs to do the maximum to build confidence after a period of confidence deficit. I look at this whole suspension of enrichment as part of this confidence-building,” he added (Associated Press/South Florida Sun-Sentinel, June 28). The United States and the European Union condemned Iran on Saturday for planning to resume its nuclear work, Reuters reported. “The U.S. and the EU were disturbed by Iran’s recent announcement of its intention to resume manufacturing and assembly of centrifuges and called on Iran to rethink its decision,” a joint statement released by the two parties said (Reuters, June 26). Iran responded yesterday to Saturday’s statement with indifference, Agence France-Presse reported. “Nothing very important has happened,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi. Asefi added that, while Iran would resume building centrifuges tomorrow, it remains committed to its suspension of uranium enrichment (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, June 27). Iran is set to hold talks with the United Kingdom, France and Germany this week, according to AFP. “The Islamic republic will have discussions with the Europeans this week,” said top national security official Hassan Rohani. “We are ready for dialogue and we accept the invitation from the three Europeans,” he added. Talks are set to begin Tuesday at the experts level, with ministerial-level meetings coming later, according to Iranian television (Agence France-Presse/Pakistan Daily Times, June 27). Meanwhile, Russia said yesterday it would step up talks aimed at finalizing a nuclear fuel supply agreement for the power reactor Russia is building in Iran, despite U.S. pressure to abandon the deal, Gateway to Russia reported. The long-sought agreement hinges on Russia’s demand that Iran return spent fuel from the Bushehr reactor to Moscow. However, the document signing has been delayed repeatedly, raising speculation that Russia could bend to U.S. pressure and end the $800 million reactor project, according to Gateway to Russia. Russian officials have consistently said, however, that there is no fundamental disagreement over the spent fuel arrangement. “We don’t face any difficulties with signing of the deal on the return on nuclear fuel from the Bushehr nuclear plant,” said Alexander Rumyantsev, head of Russia’s nuclear agency. “Our Iranian colleagues have confirmed they are ready to sign this document ... We will speed up talks if we see the process is being delayed because we need to fulfill our contractual obligations,” he added (Gateway to Russia, June 28). Elsewhere, an influential member of the U.S. House of Representatives said last week that the United States should enlist Russia’s assistance in halting Iran’s drive to acquire nuclear weapons, Defense Today reported. “I have no doubt that Iran is crashing on a nuclear weapons program,” said Representative Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. He added that he would offer legislative and policy proposals aimed at winning Russia’s support in reigning in Tehran (Richard Mullen, Defense Today, June 28).
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