Iran Begins Fueling Nuclear Reactor at Bushehr

Iran on Saturday began fueling its Bushehr nuclear power plant, a process that is likely to take many days. The reactor’s operations must then be tested before it starts producing electricity, which is expected in about two months. Russia’s Rosatom state nuclear power company, which built the reactor, has assigned Russian technicians to jointly operate the reactor for several years, as Iranian technicians gradually gain full control over the operations.

The startup of the reactor is another sign of Iran’s steady progress across many nuclear fronts. Although the Bushehr reactor is a relatively minor proliferation risk, because it will be monitored by IAEA inspectors and Iran has much better options for obtaining bomb-grade fissile material from other sources, the impending startup is one more nuclear threshold that Iran is on the verge of crossing. This has fueled speculation about the increasing likelihood of an Israeli preventive attack to destroy Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. Iran’s Defense Minister, Ahmad Vahidi, warned Israel against such an attack: “We may lose a power plant, but the whole existence of the Zionist regime will be jeopardized.”


Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, also made an appearance on Sunday to participate in the ongoing war of nerves between Iran and the West. Appearing at a press conference to unveil the prototype of a long range drone aircraft, Ahmadinejad said that Iran should seek the ability to make preemptive strikes against an enemy. He said: “We should reach a point when Iran would serve as a defense umbrella for all freedom-loving nations in the face of world aggressors. We don’t want to attack anywhere, Iran will never decide to attack anywhere, but our revolution cannot sit idle in the face of tyranny, we can’t remain indifferent.”

Author: James Phillips

Post details: Iran accepts nuclear-fuel swap deal

Brazilian-brokered deal obliges Iran to ship 1,200kg of low-enriched uranium to Turkey. The announcement followed a day of meetings between Iranian and Brazilian officials [AFP]


Iran has signed an agreement brokered by Brazil to ship low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for nuclear fuel for its power plant, according to official media.




The deal agreed on Monday would oblige Iran to send Turkey 1.2 tonnes of uranium under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), beginning next month.



In exchange, Iran would receive - within a year's time - 120kg of highly-enriched nuclear fuel rods through a still to be negotiated agreement with the so-called Vienna Group.



The Vienna Group refers to the four parties of the United States, Russia, France and the IAEA.

Iran would then - as per the terms of the agreement - use the nuclear fuel rods for its Tehran medical research reactor.

The move aims to ease Western concerns over Iran's nuclear programme, and stave off a possible new round of sanctions by the United Nations.



Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, signed the deal on Monday following a breakfast with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister.



After the deal's announcement, Ahmadinejad called on the permanent members of the UN Security Council, as well as Germany, to relaunch dialogue over Iran's nuclear programe.



"It is time for the 5+1 countries to enter talks with Iran based on honesty, justice and mutual respect," he said.

AHMADINEJAD AT U.N. SAYS ISRAELI NUKES THREATEN THE MIDEAST

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is doing everything he can this week to turn international attention away from Iran’s nuclear weapons program and Iran’s repeated threats to annihilate the U.S. and Israel by trying to get the world to focus on Israel’s alleged nuclear weapons stockpile instead. His objective during his visit to New York City: to persuade the U.N. to force Israel to disclose and dismantle all of her defensive weapons even as Iran completes its own offensive weapons.

“The Zionist regime continues to threaten the countries of the Middle East with its arsenal,” said the Iranian leader. “It continues to threaten the world’s countries with acts of terror and invasion, and even gets the necessary assistance for its nuclear program.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on NBC’s “Meet The Press” on Sunday that the U.S. would not be side-tracked by the tactics of the Iranian delegation. “I think they’re coming to try to divert attention and confuse the issue,” she said. “[But] there is no confusion. They have violated the terms of the NPT, they have been held under all kinds of restrictions and obligations that they have not complied with by the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, by the U.N. Security Council. So we’re not going to permit Iran to try to change the, the story from their failure to comply and in any way upset the efforts we are in the midst of, which is to get the international community to adopt a strong Security Council resolution that further isolates them and imposes consequences for their behavior.”

Tough talk from Clinton, but the fact remains the U.S. still has not persuaded the U.N. to pass tough new sanctions against Iran and it’s not clear even a weakened new round of sanctions will be passed by the Security Council before summer.

Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad is turning his rhetorical firepower against the U.S. “Ahmadinejad on Monday called for states that threaten to use atomic weapons to be punished, a clear reference to a new U.S. nuclear strategy released last month,” reports Reuters. Ahmadinejad also rejected allegations that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, reported AP, saying the U.S. has produced ”not a single credible proof.”

By Joel C. Rosenberg