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chitown

Iran ends cooperation with UN nuclear arms probe


Iran ends cooperation with UN nuclear arms probe - Yahoo! News

VIENNA, Austria - Iran signaled Thursday that it will no longer cooperate with U.N. experts probing for signs of clandestine nuclear weapons work, confirming the investigation is at a dead end a year after it began.

The announcement from Iranian Vice President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh compounded skepticism about denting Tehran's nuclear defiance, just five days after Tehran stonewalled demands from six world powers that it halt activities capable of producing the fissile core of warheads.
Besides demanding a suspension of uranium enrichment — a process that can create both fuel for nuclear reactors and payloads for atomic bombs — the six powers have been pressing Tehran to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency's probe.


Iran, which is obligated as a signer of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty not to develop nuclear arms, raised suspicions about its intentions when it admitted in 2002 that it had run a secret nuclear program for nearly two decades in violation of its commitment.


The Tehran regime insists it halted such work and is now only trying to produce fuel for nuclear reactors to generate electricity. It agreed on a "work plan" with the Vienna-based IAEA a year ago for U.N. inspectors to look into allegations Iran is still doing weapons work.


At the time, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei hailed it as "a significant step forward" that would fill in the missing pieces of Tehran's nuclear jigsaw puzzle — if honored by Iran. He brushed aside suggestions Iran was using the deal as a smoke screen to deflect attention from its continued defiance of a U.N. Security Council demand for a halt to uranium enrichment.


The investigation ran into trouble just months after being launched. Deadline after deadline was extended because of Iranian foot-dragging. The probe, originally meant to be completed late last year, spilled into the first months of 2008, and beyond.


Iran remains defiant. It dismisses as fabricated the evidence supplied by the U.S. and other members of the IAEA's governing board purportedly backing allegations that Iranians continue to work on nuclear weapons.


Officials say that among the evidence given to the IAEA are what seem to be Iranian draft plans to refit missiles with nuclear warheads; explosives tests that could be used to develop a nuclear detonator; and a drawing showing how to mold uranium metal into the shape of warheads. There are also questions about links between Iran's military and civilian nuclear facilities.


On Thursday, Aghazadeh appeared to signal that his country was no longer prepared even to discuss the issue with the IAEA.


Investigating such allegations "is outside the domain of the agency," he said after meeting with ElBaradei. Any further queries on the issue "will be dealt with in another way," he said, without going into detail.
Britain, one of those suspicious of Iran's nuclear activities, was critical.


"We are concerned by reports that Iran is refusing to cooperate with the IAEA on allegations over nuclear weapons," the British Foreign Office said in a statement. "The IAEA has raised serious concerns over Iran's activities with a possible military dimension. If Iran is serious about restoring international confidence in its intentions, it must address these issues."


The IAEA asked in vain for explanations from Iran, and its last report in May said Iran might be withholding information on whether it tried to make nuclear arms. Reflecting ElBaradei's frustration, the report used language described by one senior U.N. official as unique in its direct criticism of Tehran.
Aghazadeh's comments Thursday appeared to jibe with those of diplomats familiar with the probe who told The Associated Press that the IAEA had run into a dead end.


A senior diplomat on Thursday attributed Tehran's intransigence in part to anger over a multimedia presentation by IAEA Deputy Director-General Olli Heinonen to the agency's 35 board members based on intelligence about the alleged weapons work. The diplomat, like others, agreed to discuss the matter only if not quoted by name because his information was confidential.
Tehran dismisses the suspicions of the U.S. and allies, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday again vowed that his country would not "retreat one iota" from pursuing uranium enrichment.


On Saturday, a U.S. diplomat had participated in talks with Iran held in Geneva, raising expectations that a compromise might be reached under which Iran would agree to temporarily stop expansion of enrichment activities. In exchange, the six world powers — the U.S., Germany, Britain, France, Russia and China — would hold off on adopting new U.N. sanctions against Iran.


But participants at Geneva said Iranian negotiators skirted the freeze issue despite the presence of U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns.


Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday accused Iran of not being serious at the Geneva talks. She warned that all six nations were serious about a two-week deadline for Iran to agree to freeze suspect activities and start negotiations or else be hit with a fourth set of U.N. penalties.


Aghazadeh, who is also head of Iran's atomic agency, played down the international complaints, but he also evaded a direct answer on whether Tehran would give any ground on an enrichment freeze.


"Both sides are carefully studying the concerns and expectations of both sides," he told reporters.

__________________
I don't have any great love for Chicago. What the hell, a childhood around Douglas Park isn't very memorable. I remember the street fights and how you were afraid to cross the bridge 'cause the Irish kid on the other side would beat your head in. I left Chicago a long time ago.
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chitown

"The investigation ran into trouble just months after being launched. Deadline after deadline was extended because of Iranian foot-dragging. The probe, originally meant to be completed late last year, spilled into the first months of 2008, and beyond."

Sounds like the same game Saddam was playing in Iraq.

kingwilly

and did anyone really think any differently...

sabang

More brinkmanship? We'll see.

Iran is serious about getting nuclear energy, and serious about having it's own enrichment capacity to do so. It has become an issue of national pride. The UN proposal to build reactors but import fuel rods is akin to building massive oil refineries- but relying on hostile outsiders for the crude oil to supply them. Their current situation of having massive crude oil reserves- but only being able to refine a fraction of them for domestic energy, thanks to Western sanctions- understandably chafes at them.

My Guess is that the message Iran is sending is that more UN sanctions could also mean no more IAEA co-operation in Iran. International sanctions are hurting Iran economically, quite significantly. One to keep an eye on- Personally, I'd much rather have the IAEA in Iran and observing proceedings than not.

Frankly, an Iran with nuclear power generation does not bother me one bit. An Iran with nukes bothers me somewhat, but not unduly if they are a signatory to the IAEA. Such 'evidence' as has been presented that they are going along this road has inevitably been full of holes and often trumped up, when I have looked at it a bit closer. A common one is presenting research that was carried out several years ago- when Iran was researching nuclear weapons- as evidence that they are doing so currently.

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East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,

Sakeopete

Nuclear weapons in the hands of religious extremists who have publicly declared their wish to eradicate their neighbor, who also believe their own deaths would bring them glory and virgins in paradise. Hmmm that scares me a little.

blackgang

scares the hell out of me for the thousands that would die, to say nothing of those that would die in the Muslim countrys.

anae03

OMG....