Iran installing 3,000 nuclear centrifuges
Pastor Dale Morgan
Sunday January 28, 3:19 AM Reuters
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Iran installing 3,000 nuclear centrifuges*
By Edmund Blair
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has started installing 3,000 nuclear
centrifuges, a senior Iranian parliamentarian said on Saturday, in a new
sign Tehran was defying U.N. calls to halt a programme the West fears is
being used to make atomic bombs.
The U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on Iran on December 23 and
gave the Islamic Republic 60 days to suspend uranium enrichment, a
process which can be used to make fuel for nuclear power plants or
material for nuclear bombs.
Once Iran has 3,000 machines in place and running smoothly, it could
make enough material for at least one warhead in a year. But Tehran says
its aims are entirely peaceful.
"We are now installing 3,000 centrifuges," Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of
parliament's foreign affairs and national security committee, was quoted
as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
"Installing and using 3,000 centrifuges establishes Iran's strength in
nuclear technology," he said in comments to a meeting of a conservative
political grouping.
Boroujerdi's remarks followed reports earlier this month from diplomats,
who said inspectors from the U.N. watchdog, the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA), had concluded Iran was ready to start installing
the centrifuges.
He did not give a date when installation would be completed, only
saying: "By God's will, it will done by the assigned date."
Diplomats close to the IAEA said it would take several months to have
all the machines in place and operational.
U.S. STANCE
The United States has said Iran must suspend enrichment as a
precondition for talks on its nuclear programme and would face tougher
sanctions if it did not halt the work.
In Washington, the White House reiterated the U.S. stance that the
installation of the centrifuges would be a "major miscalculation" by the
Iranian government.
U.N. sanctions imposed last month banned the transfer of sensitive
materials and know-how to Iran's nuclear and missile programmes. The
United States has also imposed sanctions on two big Iranian state banks,
ratcheting up the pressure on Tehran.
The Islamic Republic said on Tuesday it was barring entry to 38 IAEA
inspectors, who were nationals of Western countries which sponsored the
U.N. sanctions or backed them.
The IAEA has a pool of 200 inspectors for assignments to verify Tehran
is not diverting materials into bomb production.
Iran has the legal right to reject any inspector and says it is still
cooperating with the IAEA.
The IAEA urged Iran to reconsider its decision. Diplomats have said the
IAEA did not want a precedent set for hampering inspections and thereby
escalating confrontation with the West.
The United States has said it wants a diplomatic solution to the
standoff but has not ruled out military action if that failed. In a move
analysts said was a warning to Iran, it has sent a second aircraft
carrier to the Gulf.
Three IAEA inspectors arrived in Tehran on Friday night to inspect
Iran's nuclear facilities in Natanz and Isfahan, state television
reported on Saturday.