UN confirms Iran producing nuclear fuel

Independent:

Tension over Iran's nuclear programme heightened last night after the United Nations nuclear agency confirmed that Tehran has crossed a new threshold by producing fuel in its underground uranium enrichment plant.

The confirmation, contained in a letter signed by Olli Heinonen, the International Atomic Energy Agency's deputy director general, follows a visit to the Natanz enrichment plant in Iran by nuclear inspectors. But the country is still believed to be a year or so away from the point of no return, which Israel regards as a red line in the Iranian quest for a nuclear capability.

The letter, dated 18 April, says that Iran was now running more than 1,300 centrifuges and had begun feeding small amounts of uranium gas into them. Centrifuges produce nuclear fuel for energy or for a bomb, depending on the level of enrichment. The IAEA also said that Iran had managed to link the centrifuges into eight cascades, suggesting that scientists had mastered a further stage of the complex and notoriously unreliable process.

The IAEA confirmation follows an announcement by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President, who boasted last week that Iran had now joined the nuclear club of nations, while the country's chief negotiator said that enrichment was taking place on an "industrial scale".

However, the IAEA does not appear to confirm that all 1,300 of the centrifuges are actually operating. As of last year, just over 300 were spinning to enrich uranium but experts said that the Iranians were experiencing difficulties in sustaining the operation. Iran, which has consistently defied international demands to rein in its nuclear programme, plans to have 3,000 centrifuges running in a month.

The IAEA also complained of Tehran's decision to prevent UN inspectors visiting the country's heavy water reactor, which can also be used in production of a bomb. Both the uranium enrichment and the restrictions on the inspectors violate UN Security Council resolutions demanding that Iran stop enriching uranium because of fears that Tehran's supposedly civilian nuclear fuel programme is a cover for building an atomic weapons. Coming hard on the heels of the recent crisis over the British sailors captured by Iranian forces, the claims could to bring Tehran closer to confrontation with the West. The Security Council is due to discuss Iran's compliance next month.

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It is not particularly surprising since it merely confirms what Iran has stated was its intent all along. It does suggest that we should take their threat seriously and act to defend ourselves and allies before Iran move from fuel stock to bomb making.