King Solomon
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VIENNA/ ST. GALLEN: Iran said Friday it will never suspend its uranium enrichment program and sees no reason to close the Fordow underground site, making clear Tehrans red lines in nuclear talks with world powers later this month.
Last month a senior U.S. official said the United States and its allies would demand that Iran halt higher-grade enrichment and immediately close the Fordow facility at talks over Tehrans nuclear standoff with the West.
The New York Times reported that negotiators for Western countries would press Iran to ultimately dismantle the site near the city of Qom, which has been used to expand the higher-grade enrichment the Islamic Republic began just over two years ago.
But Irans Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said he saw no justification for closing Fordow, which he said was under IAEA surveillance.
When you have a safe place, secure place under IAEA control, then why do you tell me that I should close it? he said, making clear Iran built the site to better protect its nuclear program against any Israeli or U.S. attacks.
Fordow is a safe place. We have spent a lot of money and time to have a safe place, Soltanieh added.
Iran and major powers resumed talks in mid-April in Istanbul after a gap of more than a year a chance to ease escalating tension and help to avert the threat of a new Middle East war. Iran and the IAEA will meet for two days of talks in Vienna on May 14-15, just over a week before world broader political negotiations in Baghdad on May 23.
The West says Irans nuclear work is a cover for developing atomic bombs and wants verifiable assurances to the contrary from Tehran.
Reiterating those concerns Friday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Irans nuclear strategy could eventually allow it to build an atomic bomb with just 60 days notice.
They are currently trying to achieve immunity for the nuclear program, Barak told the Israel Hayom newspaper.
Iran denies having a weapons agenda, saying it is enriching uranium solely for peaceful energy purposes.
One thing is clear: The enrichment in Iran will never be suspended, Soltanieh said.
He declined to comment however on Western demands that Iran halt the higher-grade enrichment, to a fissile concentration of 20 percent, it started in 2010 and has since sharply increased.
The U.N. Security Council has demanded in a series of resolutions since 2006 that Iran suspend all enrichment but Western diplomats have indicated the immediate priority is to get it to cease the more sensitive higher-grade work.
Ahead of the Vienna talks, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano said Friday gaining access to another key Iranian military facility will be the priority for the watchdog.
But Amano said so far there was not a positive response from Iran regarding the request for nuclear inspectors to visit the Parchin site, where the IAEA believes nuclear-related military research may also have taken place.
We need to look at all the outstanding issues, but Parchin is the priority and we should start with that, Amano told journalists on the sidelines of a conference in the Swiss town of St. Gallen.
Western diplomats say Iran is stonewalling the IAEAs request to go to Parchin and they suspect it may be sanitizing the site southeast of Tehran of any incriminating evidence before any visit, a suspicion Tehran dismisses.
Analysts say it will be possible to find a negotiated solution to the long-running row only if both sides compromise: Iran would be allowed to continue some lower-level enrichment if it accepts more far-ranging U.N. inspections.
Iranian officials say they are optimistic that the talks with U.S., Russia, China, Germany, France and Britain will make progress and they underline their expectations that the negotiations will lead to an end of sanctions.
However, the United States and its allies have made clear Tehran must take action to allay their concerns about its nuclear ambitions before they can consider relaxing sanctions.
Western states have imposed expanded, more biting sanctions against Irans energy and banking sectors since the beginning of this year. The European Union is preparing to slap a total embargo on the purchase of Iranian crude oil in July.
Speaking during a visit to Beijing Friday U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on China to show a united front on Iran, saying the U.S. and China shared the goal of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
If we ease off the pressure or waver in our resolve, Iran will have less incentive to negotiate in good faith or to take the necessary steps to address the international communitys concerns about its nuclear program, Clinton told senior Chinese officials during annual talks.
Soltanieh said the sanctions could not stop Irans nuclear program: Neither sanctions, nor military actions, nor terror against our scientists will stop the enrichment.
THE DAILY STAR :: News :: Middle East :: Iran dismisses demand to close nuclear bunker
Last month a senior U.S. official said the United States and its allies would demand that Iran halt higher-grade enrichment and immediately close the Fordow facility at talks over Tehrans nuclear standoff with the West.
The New York Times reported that negotiators for Western countries would press Iran to ultimately dismantle the site near the city of Qom, which has been used to expand the higher-grade enrichment the Islamic Republic began just over two years ago.
But Irans Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said he saw no justification for closing Fordow, which he said was under IAEA surveillance.
When you have a safe place, secure place under IAEA control, then why do you tell me that I should close it? he said, making clear Iran built the site to better protect its nuclear program against any Israeli or U.S. attacks.
Fordow is a safe place. We have spent a lot of money and time to have a safe place, Soltanieh added.
Iran and major powers resumed talks in mid-April in Istanbul after a gap of more than a year a chance to ease escalating tension and help to avert the threat of a new Middle East war. Iran and the IAEA will meet for two days of talks in Vienna on May 14-15, just over a week before world broader political negotiations in Baghdad on May 23.
The West says Irans nuclear work is a cover for developing atomic bombs and wants verifiable assurances to the contrary from Tehran.
Reiterating those concerns Friday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Irans nuclear strategy could eventually allow it to build an atomic bomb with just 60 days notice.
They are currently trying to achieve immunity for the nuclear program, Barak told the Israel Hayom newspaper.
Iran denies having a weapons agenda, saying it is enriching uranium solely for peaceful energy purposes.
One thing is clear: The enrichment in Iran will never be suspended, Soltanieh said.
He declined to comment however on Western demands that Iran halt the higher-grade enrichment, to a fissile concentration of 20 percent, it started in 2010 and has since sharply increased.
The U.N. Security Council has demanded in a series of resolutions since 2006 that Iran suspend all enrichment but Western diplomats have indicated the immediate priority is to get it to cease the more sensitive higher-grade work.
Ahead of the Vienna talks, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano said Friday gaining access to another key Iranian military facility will be the priority for the watchdog.
But Amano said so far there was not a positive response from Iran regarding the request for nuclear inspectors to visit the Parchin site, where the IAEA believes nuclear-related military research may also have taken place.
We need to look at all the outstanding issues, but Parchin is the priority and we should start with that, Amano told journalists on the sidelines of a conference in the Swiss town of St. Gallen.
Western diplomats say Iran is stonewalling the IAEAs request to go to Parchin and they suspect it may be sanitizing the site southeast of Tehran of any incriminating evidence before any visit, a suspicion Tehran dismisses.
Analysts say it will be possible to find a negotiated solution to the long-running row only if both sides compromise: Iran would be allowed to continue some lower-level enrichment if it accepts more far-ranging U.N. inspections.
Iranian officials say they are optimistic that the talks with U.S., Russia, China, Germany, France and Britain will make progress and they underline their expectations that the negotiations will lead to an end of sanctions.
However, the United States and its allies have made clear Tehran must take action to allay their concerns about its nuclear ambitions before they can consider relaxing sanctions.
Western states have imposed expanded, more biting sanctions against Irans energy and banking sectors since the beginning of this year. The European Union is preparing to slap a total embargo on the purchase of Iranian crude oil in July.
Speaking during a visit to Beijing Friday U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on China to show a united front on Iran, saying the U.S. and China shared the goal of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
If we ease off the pressure or waver in our resolve, Iran will have less incentive to negotiate in good faith or to take the necessary steps to address the international communitys concerns about its nuclear program, Clinton told senior Chinese officials during annual talks.
Soltanieh said the sanctions could not stop Irans nuclear program: Neither sanctions, nor military actions, nor terror against our scientists will stop the enrichment.
THE DAILY STAR :: News :: Middle East :: Iran dismisses demand to close nuclear bunker
