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Explosives were used to cut the electricity power lines to Iran's Fordow underground enrichment plant last month in an apparent attempt to sabotage Tehran's atomic advances, its nuclear energy chief said on Monday.
It was believed to be the first time Iran has mentioned the incident, which Iranian atomic energy organization chief Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani said took place on Aug. 17.
He also told the annual member state gathering of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that "the same act" had been carried out on power lines to Iran's main enrichment plant near the central town of Natanz, without giving a date.
The latest reference to Khamenei's declaration is seen as a bid to close the door on debates that Iran may have carried out atomic bomb trigger tests as inspectors from the U.N. atomic watchdog were on their way to Tehran for a new round of discussions. Iran authorities have often cited Khamenei's religious edict, made more than seven years ago, in attempts to counter Western suspicion that Iran could be moving toward nuclear arms. But Iranian leaders now appear increasingly desperate to reopen talks with world powers as a possible way to ease sanctions.
Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast touched on a cultural rift between the Islamic Republic and the West, saying the United States and its allies don't understand the significance of the edict. "There is nothing higher than the exalted supreme leader's fatwa to define the framework for our activities in the nuclear field," he told a press conference. Mehmanparast could not be more definitive in dispelling suspicions that Iran may ultimately develop a nuclear weapon. "We are the first country to call for a Middle East free of nuclear weapons," he said. When the highest jurist and authority in the country's leadership issues a fatwa, this will be binding for all of us to follow. So, this fatwa will be our top agenda."
Mehmanparast said Westerners "don't have an accurate understanding of Islamic beliefs and fatwas issued by great scholars," suggesting that the U.S. and its allies must take Khamenei's edit seriously. To highlight its seriousness, he said Iran is willing to "register the fatwa as an international document." Although Iran views Khamenei's 2005 fatwa as a binding declaration, the West and its allies have repeatedly accused Iran of using any tactic to prolong the standoff and possibly advance its nuclear capabilities.
The perception gap also strikes at the role of the supreme leader himself. The most ardent followers consider the post as divinely imbued and answerable only to God. For Iran's opponents, Khamenei is often seen as guiding a ruling system seeking to outwit the West and threaten Israel. They want Iran to stop enriching uranium to a level that could be turned relatively quickly into the fissile core of nuclear arms. Iran denies such aspirations, insisting it is enriching only to make reactor fuel and to make isotopes for medical purposes.
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Iran already announced last week that it had begun mounting the new enriching centrifuges, but one diplomat said at the time that the announcement was premature with only a "small number" on site and not yet installed. Diplomats told The Associated Press on Wednesday, however, that installation was now well on its way, with inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency seeing close to 100 or more machines mounted when they toured the site a few days ago. Depending on experts' estimates, the new-generation centrifuges can enrich uranium three to five times faster than Iran's present working model.
The Islamic Republic insists it is not working on a nuclear weapons program, but rather is enriching uranium only to make reactor fuel and for scientific and medical purposes - as allowed by international law. But many nations are suspicious because Iran went underground after failing to get international help for its uranium enrichment program in the 1980s, working secretly until its activities were revealed a decade ago. More recent proposals for international shipments of reactor fuel in exchange for Iranian enrichment concessions have foundered, with each side blaming the other.
Shrugging off demands to mothball enrichment - and growing international sanctions - Iran has instead vastly expanded the program to where experts say it already has enough enriched uranium for several weapons if the material is further enriched. The start of the centrifuge upgrade at Natanz, Iran's main enrichment site southeast of Tehran, flies in the face of world-power efforts to induce Iran to scale back on enrichment. As such, it is likely to hurt chances of progress at Feb. 26 talks in Kazakhstan between the two sides - adding to a string of negotiating failures.
When Iran announced its intentions last month, Western diplomats downplayed the proclamation's significance, noting Tehran did not say when it would start populating Natanz with the new machines. But any start of an upgrade is sure to increase international concerns, particularly if verified as expected in an IAEA report later this week. The three diplomats speaking to the AP on Wednesday all are involved in the Vienna-based IAEA's attempts to monitor Iran's nuclear program. They demanded anonymity because they were not allowed to discuss confidential information. Meeting Iran in Kazakhstan are the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.
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Iran has begun installing advanced centrifuge machines for enriching uranium at its nuclear plant at Natanz, says the UN's nuclear watchdog. The US said if confirmed it would be "another provocative step". International talks over Iran's nuclear programme are due to resume in Kazakhstan next week. Western powers fear Tehran is seeking weapons technology, but Tehran says it is refining uranium only for peaceful energy purposes. The Natanz facility, in central Iran, is at the heart of the country's dispute with the UN's watchdog.
'Further isolation'
The IAEA released a report each quarter detailing its progress at monitoring Iran's nuclear development. The BBC obtained a copy of the latest report, which has not yet been officially released. It concludes: "The director general is unable to report any progress on the clarification of outstanding issues including those relating to possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear programme." It adds that despite intensified dialogue with Iran, no progress has been made on how to clear up the questions about Iran's nuclear work. The IAEA has made similar complaints in previous quarterly reports, and Iran is under an array of sanctions as a result of its lack of co-operation.
Iran had informed the IAEA in a letter on 23 January that it planned to introduce a new model of centrifuge called the IR2m, which can enrich two or three times faster than current equipment. Gas centrifuges are used to increase the proportion of fissile uranium-235 atoms within uranium. For uranium to work in a nuclear reactor it must be enriched to contain 2-3% uranium-235 while weapons-grade uranium must contain 90% or more uranium-235. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the new centrifuges could cut by a third the time Iran, one of Israel's fiercest opponents in the Middle East, needed to create a nuclear bomb.
US state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the report development at Natanz was "not surprising". "The installation of new advanced centrifuges would be a further escalation, and a continuing violation of Iran's obligations under the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and IAEA board resolutions," she said. But she added that Iran had the opportunity to allay the international community's concerns during talks in Kazakhstan next week. Starting on 26 February, the talks will involve Iranian officials, the five permanent members the UN Security Council, and Germany.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21537206
