Does Iran plan to expand their nuclear program?”
WASHINGTON – Iran angrily refused Sunday to comply with a demand by the U.N. nuclear agency to cease work on a once-secret nuclear fuel enrichment plant, and escalated the confrontation by declaring it would construct 10 more such plants. The response to the demand came as Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said his Cabinet also would order a study of what it would take for Iran to further enrich its existing stockpile of nuclear fuel for use in a medical reactor — rather than rely on Russia or another nation, as agreed to in an earlier tentative deal. While it is unclear whether Iran has the fuel technology, the declaration appeared intended to convince the West that Iran was prepared to move closer to bomb-grade quality, while stopping short of crossing that threshold. Even if Iran proceeded with an ambitious plan to build 10 enrichment plants, it is doubtful Iran could execute that plan for years, maybe decades. But the announcement itself was enough to draw immediate condemnat
A top Iranian nuclear official said Monday that the country’s decision to build 10 more uranium-enrichment sites is a direct response to last week’s censure by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The facilities will be built inside mountains, the official added, to secure them from military attack. “We had no intention of building many facilities like the Natanz site,” Ali Akbar Salehi told state radio, referring to an enrichment plant that was launched in the 1990s but is still not fully operational. “But apparently the West doesn’t want to understand Iran’s peaceful message.” The head of Iran’s parliament, former nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, accused Western nations of “haggling,” “lying” and “cheating” during talks over Iran’s nuclear program. Larijani also questioned the usefulness of the IAEA, the U.N. international watchdog agency, and the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which calls for curbing the spread of nuclear weapons but encourages member countries to share
