Iran Refuses UN Uranium Demand, Is Rebuked by U.S. (

Iran refused a demand by the United
Nations' nuclear watchdog to halt all uranium-enrichment
activities, prompting a U.S. rebuke as the Islamic Republic faces
possible economic sanctions.
The U.S. reproached Iran today for refusing an International
Atomic Energy Agency resolution urging an immediate halt to
Iranian enrichment-related activities. The agency, which
acknowledged Iran's right to enrich uranium, asked Iran to
further open its atomic program to UN inspectors.
``Iran will drag out negotiations with the IAEA and the
Europeans, who are unlikely to agree to sanctions because of
their oil interests in Iran,'' Youssef Ibrahim, managing director
of the Dubai, United Arab Emirated-based Strategic Energy
Investment Group, said in a telephone interview.
The U.S. says Iran, which holds the world's second-biggest
proven oil reserves after Saudi Arabia, is hiding a nuclear-
weapons program and is seeking imposition of UN sanctions on the
country. New sanctions may force European oil companies such
Royal Dutch/Shell Group to stop working in Iran.
Iran won't accept any UN demand to halt the enrichment of
uranium, Hassan Rowhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National
Security Council, said in Tehran, the state-run IRNA news agency
reported. Iran's nuclear program is peaceful and is only intended
to generate energy, he said.

Inspections

Iran has had more than 800 IAEA inspections in the last
year, Hossein Mousavian, head of Iran's delegation to the IAEA,
said this week.
Total SA, Europe's third-largest oil company, OAO Lukoil,
Russia's top oil producer, and Norway's Norsk Hydro ASA are among
other international oil companies working in Iran. The country is
the second-largest oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries after Saudi Arabia.
The ``clock is ticking'' for Iran to stop its activities and
cooperate with the IAEA, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham
said today in Vienna.
``We should all expect that Iran should follow the
obligations and cooperate with the IAEA,'' Abraham said at a
conference of the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, a movement
backed by the U.S., Russia and International Atomic Energy Agency
seeking to secure radioactive materials around the world.

`Dialogue'

Iran's suspension of its uranium-enrichment program since
October 2003 was voluntary and could be extended, Rowhani said.
``Only dialogue can stop us from resuming (uranium-
enrichment) activities,'' Rowhani said.
Doubts about Iran's nuclear program are gone now that the
country revealed the goals for the activities, he said. The
International Atomic Energy Agency's resolution proved that
Iran's nuclear program is peaceful, Rowhani said.
The U.S. has failed to achieve its goal of seeking a UN
Security Council resolution to impose sanctions on Iran, he said.
The Iranian official didn't rule out the possibility of resuming
nuclear talks with the U.S.
The U.S. is pleased the IAEA has set Nov. 25 as a deadline
for Iran to cease its pursuit of nuclear weapons, Jackie Sanders,
the head of the U.S. delegation, said yesterday.

Trade Sanctions

U.S. companies are prohibited from investing in Iran by
government trade sanctions. The U.S. law, known as the Iran-Libya
Sanctions Act, hasn't kept European and Asian companies from
operating there.
Shell and Spain's Repsol YPF SA signed an accord on Sept. 16
to build a liquefied natural-gas plant in Iran, which may take
years to develop. Shell, an Anglo-Dutch oil company, produces oil
from two fields in Iran and is bidding to develop more in the
country.
``The U.S. sanctions haven't hurt Iran and if the UN
sanctions are imposed I doubt they would be respected,'' Youssef
said.
Russia, which is helping Iran develop its nuclear program,
has also refused to back out of an $800 million project to build
a nuclear unit at Bushehr on the Persian Gulf, Youssef said.
Iran recently retested its Shahab-3 missile in the presence
of observers to prove it isn't afraid to use force to defend
itself from a potential attack, Youssef said.
Israel, a U.S. ally in the Middle East, destroyed the Osirak
nuclear reactor in neighboring Iraq in 1981.
Iran and North Korea are two counties that the U.S. warns
are working on nuclear weapons. Earlier this month, an explosion
in North Korea prompted speculation, dismissed by U.S. and South
Korean officials, that the country may have carried out a nuclear
test. North Korea denied making such a test.
IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said the explosion
in North Korea didn't appear to be nuclear, based on what he was
told by an IAEA sister organization responsible for monitoring
explosive devices. ElBaradei said North Korea has the plutonium
necessary for a nuclear weapon, and wouldn't rule out the
possibility that the country has tested or may be ready to test a
nuclear device.
``I do not exclude at all that they have assembled a nuclear
weapon or more than one nuclear weapon,'' he said on Cable News
Network's ``Late Edition'' program. ``They have the fissile
material. They have the industrial infrastructure.''

UN Nuclear Agency Demands Iran Suspend Uranium Enrichment

The United Nation's nuclear watchdog
agency demanded Iran cease all uranium enrichment activities and
said it will decide on Nov. 25 whether to take steps to ensure
the country's atomic program isn't a threat to the international
community.
The International Atomic Energy Agency ``considers it
necessary that Iran immediately suspend all enrichment-related
activities,'' it said in a three-page resolution. The Vienna-
based agency also demanded Iran further open its atomic program
to inspectors. It did acknowledge the country has a right to
enrich uranium.
The U.S. says Iran, with the second-highest oil reserves in
the world, is concealing a nuclear weapons program and wants it
sent before the UN Security Council for possible sanctions. Iran
says its atomic program is peaceful and only intended to generate
energy.
Iran's uranium enrichment activities have been suspended
since October 2003, and the nation will decide in coming days if
that will continue, said Hossein Mousavian, the head of Iran's
delegation to the IAEA. It is Iran's ``national right,'' to
convert uranium, he said earlier this week.
``We will continue our cooperation with the IAEA fully and
transparently to clarify and resolve any remaining issues,''
Mousavian said at a press conference after the passage of the
resolution.
Iran has had more than 800 IAEA inspections in the last
year.

U.S. `Pleased'

The U.S. is ``pleased'' the IAEA has set Nov. 25 as a
``deadline for Iran to cease its pursuit of nuclear weapons,''
said Jackie Sanders, the head of the U.S. delegation.
``The resolution calls on Iran to take confidence building
measures related to enrichment and reprocessing activities,''
Mohamed ElBaradei, the IAEA director general, said at a press
conference. ``I think people were ready to listen to Iran's point
of view, and I look forward to resolving the outstanding issues
at the board meeting in November.''
The so-called Non-Aligned Movement of nations, representing
13 of the 35 seats on the International Atomic Energy Agency's
board of governors, succeeded in making the resolution recognize
a distinction between Iran's commitment to the Nuclear Non-
Proliferation Treaty and its voluntary ``confidence building
measures'' to stop enriching uranium.

`Confidence Building'

All signatories to the Non-Proliferation Treaty are allowed
to enrich uranium as long as the activities are for producing
energy and declared to the IAEA. Iran signed an additional
protocol last year to suspend enrichment after engaging in
undeclared activities.
``We are fully cognizant of the distinct difference between
legal obligations and confidence building measures,'' Germany's
delegation said in a statement. ``Signatories of the NPT should
benefit fully from the peaceful use of nuclear energy.''
The Non-Aligned Movement has been in existence since the
1960s. It's members on the IAEA's Board of Governors come from
Cuba, Egypt, India, Nigeria, Tunisia, Vietnam, Panama, Peru,
Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sudan, Malaysia and Pakistan. The
group is composed of more than 100 member countries.

UN Watchdog Rebukes Iran on Nuclear Questions

The United Nation's nuclear
technology watchdog has rebuked Iran for providing too
little information on its nuclear program and said it still
has questions about the country's adherence to a treaty
banning the development of atomic weapons.
The 11-page International Atomic Energy Agency report
about Iranian cooperation with international inspectors was
circulated to diplomats today, and a copy was obtained by
Bloomberg News. Mohamed ElBaradei, the IAEA director
general, will present the document to the agency's board of
governors next week.
The Vienna-based agency still has questions about the
origin of uranium found during site inspections in Iran, the
report said. Questions also remain about how and where Iran
obtained centrifuges that can be used to enrich uranium to a
concentration needed for a nuclear bomb.
The report comes as the U.S. is making a case for
increased international pressure on Iran, which says its
nuclear program is peaceful, according to the state-run
Islamic Republic News Agency.

U.S. Concern

John Bolton, U.S. undersecretary of state for arms
control and international security, said in an e-mailed
statement the report highlights ``the Iranian threat to
international peace and security.''
``We view with great concern the IAEA report that Iran
is about to convert 37 tons of 'yellowcake' uranium into
uranium hexaflouride gas, as well as Iran's recent
announcement that it intends to test its gas centrifuges,''
said Bolton.
``Iran's announcements are further strong evidence of
the compelling need to take Iran's nuclear program to the
Security Council,'' he said.
The U.S. is pushing for the IAEA's board of governors
to censure Iran for non-compliance with the nuclear non-
proliferation treaty and send the matter to the UN Security
Council.
The IAEA praised Iran for its cooperation in some
areas. Iran's declarations about its laser enrichment and
uranium conversion activities are ``consistent'' with the
IAEA's findings. The agency also ``welcomes Iran's
willingness to discuss'' nuclear activities at the Lavisan-
Shian site in Tehran.

Iran's Reaction

Hamid-Reza Assefi, spokesman for the Foreign Affairs
Ministry, said the report vindicated Iran, according to the
Islamic Republic News Agency
``Iran is determined to abide by all its commitments
within the framework of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty
and its additional protocol,'' he told IRNA.
The timing of any Iranian progress on building nuclear
weapons isn't clear. The Reuters news agency quoted Bolton
earlier this month as saying that France, Britain and
Germany had been informed by Iran that it could build a
nuclear weapon in three years.
The State Department couldn't confirm whether Bolton
made the statement, spokeswoman Susan Pittman said in a
telephone interview.
``It would be highly unusual for us to discuss
something like that with a third party,'' British foreign
affairs spokesman Simon Shercliff said in an interview.
Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday discussed
Iran at a news conference in the Black Sea resort of Sochi
with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French
President Jacques Chirac, saying the Islamic republic
shouldn't be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.
Russia is involved in the construction of a nuclear
power plant in Iran.