Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has inflamed tensions with Israel and the United States with an ambiguous promise to unveil a "very important" nuclear achievement in the near future.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has inflamed tensions with Israel .
Speaking at celebrations marking the 33rd anniversary of the Iranian Revolution at the weekend, where he was joined by Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, the Iranian president told a rally of thousands in Tehran's Azadi Square: "In the coming days the world will witness Iran's announcement of its very important and very major nuclear achievements.
"All countries have put pressure on us for not obtaining nuclear know-how, but all these pressures are futile. We not only now have the nuclear know-how but also are capable of providing for our [nuclear] needs by our own local experts."
The announcement sparked anxious speculation in Israel, where the military is calling for a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear production facilities before the work moves into bombproof underground bunkers.
However Dr Ephraim Asculal, one of Israel's foremost experts on nuclear proliferation, believes that if Iran has made a significant nuclear development, it will be not be the production of weaponry. It is more likely, Dr Asculal says, that Iran has made nuclear fuel rods to be inserted into the reactor at the Tehran nuclear research centre.
"This would be an achievement of sorts. Producing these fuel rods is quite a difficult technical challenge,"
Tehran's research reactor is small but this development would allow the facility to produce medical isotopes for the treatment of disease.
If the majority of Iran's store of 20 per cent enriched uranium has been used to produce these rods, the threat posed by the rapid development of nuclear weaponry would be lessened.
Alternatively, Dr Asculal adds, Iran may have advanced centrifuges for uranium enrichment to replace their current weak models. This innovation would be of much greater concern as it would guarantee a faster production of more uranium.
Brigadier-General Uzi Eilam, former director general of Israel's ministry of defence, warned Israeli leaders against taking Mr Ahmadinejad's inflammatory announcement too seriously.
"The way [this achievement] was announced and where points to it being another PR effort from the Iranian president," General Eilam said."I would not be too disappointed if this balloon turned out to be empty. I am one of the few who does not accept this urgent need [for military] action [against Iran]".
The United States has led the international community in applying tight sanctions to persuade Iran to halt the nuclear programme.
In January, the EU agreed to ban oil imports and to freeze the assets of Iran's central bank. The sanctions have already inflicted serious economic damage – Iran's currency has plunged by 80 per cent – but the country's leadership remains defiant. Tehran continues to insist that its nuclear development is for peaceful purposes.
As Mr Ahmadinejad spoke on Saturday, Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's foreign minister, told journalists: "This nation will never ever yield to pressure from outside. When you can't differentiate between people and the government, what does pressure mean?"
While the US and Israel have refused to rule out military action should sanctions fail, a recent NBC report claims that Israel is already taking covert action. The report quotes US officials supporting Iran's accusation that Israel is responsible for the assassination of several of its key nuclear scientists, including Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan killed last month in Tehran by a bomb attached to his car by a motorcyclist.
The unnamed officials claim these attacks were carried out by Iranian dissidents trained, armed and funded by the Mossad. The Obama administration is said to be aware of the operation but not directly involved.
Iran has warned of a "painful" response to Israeli or US military strikes, a message that was reiterated on Saturday. "If attacked by the Zionist regime (Israel), we will turn it to dust," Mohammed Shirdel, a commander in the Revolutionary Guard, warned.
Source:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9077595/Mahmoud-Ahmadinejad-promises-very-important-nuclear-achievement-in-Iran.html
If the majority of Iran's store of 20 per cent enriched uranium has been used to produce these rods, the threat posed by the rapid development of nuclear weaponry would be lessened.
Alternatively, Dr Asculal adds, Iran may have advanced centrifuges for uranium enrichment to replace their current weak models. This innovation would be of much greater concern as it would guarantee a faster production of more uranium.
Brigadier-General Uzi Eilam, former director general of Israel's ministry of defence, warned Israeli leaders against taking Mr Ahmadinejad's inflammatory announcement too seriously.
"The way [this achievement] was announced and where points to it being another PR effort from the Iranian president," General Eilam said."I would not be too disappointed if this balloon turned out to be empty. I am one of the few who does not accept this urgent need [for military] action [against Iran]".
The United States has led the international community in applying tight sanctions to persuade Iran to halt the nuclear programme.
In January, the EU agreed to ban oil imports and to freeze the assets of Iran's central bank. The sanctions have already inflicted serious economic damage – Iran's currency has plunged by 80 per cent – but the country's leadership remains defiant. Tehran continues to insist that its nuclear development is for peaceful purposes.
As Mr Ahmadinejad spoke on Saturday, Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's foreign minister, told journalists: "This nation will never ever yield to pressure from outside. When you can't differentiate between people and the government, what does pressure mean?"
While the US and Israel have refused to rule out military action should sanctions fail, a recent NBC report claims that Israel is already taking covert action. The report quotes US officials supporting Iran's accusation that Israel is responsible for the assassination of several of its key nuclear scientists, including Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan killed last month in Tehran by a bomb attached to his car by a motorcyclist.
The unnamed officials claim these attacks were carried out by Iranian dissidents trained, armed and funded by the Mossad. The Obama administration is said to be aware of the operation but not directly involved.
Iran has warned of a "painful" response to Israeli or US military strikes, a message that was reiterated on Saturday. "If attacked by the Zionist regime (Israel), we will turn it to dust," Mohammed Shirdel, a commander in the Revolutionary Guard, warned.
Source:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9077595/Mahmoud-Ahmadinejad-promises-very-important-nuclear-achievement-in-Iran.html
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