Iran to resume nuclear conversion, Khatami tells EU
TEHRAN (AFP) Jul 27, 2005
Iran will end a suspension of sensitive uranium ore conversion activities regardless of what proposals the European Union makes in the coming days to change its mind, President Mohammad Khatami announced Wednesday. "I hope that their proposals will, as agreed, allow for the resumption of (conversion) activities at Isfahan," Khatami told reporters, referring to a key nuclear plant in central Iran.
"But whether they do or not, we're going to resume the activities at Isfahan," added the outgoing reformist president.
Khatami, who hands over office to ultra-conservative Mahmood Ahmadinejad in early August, announced the decision after a cabinet meeting and said it had been taken at an earlier gathering of top leaders of the regime.
The president gave no date for the resumption of conversion, the process that turns uranium ore into a gas as a precursor to enrichment.
But he said the "deadline" for ending the suspension was the end of July or beginning of August when the EU-3 of Britain, France and Germany are supposed to submit a detailed package of proposals on the future of Iran's nuclear programme.
Iran suspended both conversion and enrichment last November as part of talks with the European Union on providing guarantees that its nuclear programme is exclusively civil in return for a package of incentives.
The Europeans want Iraq to give up conversion and enrichment indefinitely but Iran is adamantly opposed, insisting on its right to produce its own fuel for its reactors under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"Iran knows the consequences if it begins activities that have been suspended up until now, which can only be negative for Iran," said Cecile Pozzo di Borgo, deputy spokeswoman for the French foreign ministry.
But she added the European offer "will allow a more open perspective for new relations between Iran and Europe."
Khatami reiterated Iran's contention that conversion is separate from enrichment, a position rejected by the Europeans.
"For the moment, there is no question of resuming enrichment itself. We're only talking about Isfahan but one day we will resume our enrichment activities too," he said.
The EU three have warned Iran that if it resumes either conversion or enrichment they will back US demands for it to be referred to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.
US President George W. Bush has refused to rule out military strikes if necessary to stop Iran developing a nuclear weapon. Washington insists the whole nuclear programme is just a cover for weapons development.
"America threatens a lot but, with all their worries in Iraq and the world, I think they would never do anything so senseless," Khatami said.
"If America were to commit such an error, of course we would have losses but theirs would be bigger," he said, insisting he had no desire to raise tension with Washington.
"My government and I have made all the political, military and economic preparations for any such attack."
Israel Demands Ukraine Get Missiles Back From Iran
Aug 1 2005, 02:32 AM
Israel has asked the government of Ukraine to demand that Iran return 12 long-range cruise missiles purchased during the tenure of the previous Ukrainian government via arms dealers whom the current government claims were acting illegally.
The issue was raised during Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko's visit to Israel last week.
However, Ukraine has not yet responded to Israel's request, and it seems doubtful that Iran would agree to return the missiles in any case.
The missiles in question, known as the Kh-55 in their Russian/Ukrainian version and as AS-15 Kent in the NATO version, have a range of 2,000 to 3,000 kilometers, depending on the weight of the warhead (lighter warheads enable a longer range). That is far longer than the 1,300-kilometer range of Iran's surface-to-surface Shihab-3 missiles.
In addition, a cruise missile can strike its target from any direction, since the ship that launches it is mobile. The Shihab-3, in contrast, could only be launched at Israel from the northeast, where Iran's territory lies.
On the flip side, cruise missiles are slower than ground-based missiles, and therefore easier for a fighter jet to down in flight.
The Kh-55 was developed in the 1980s by Russian experts, but the Soviet Union decided to have it in manufactured in Ukraine. Later, however, a U.S.-Soviet arms control agreement dictated the destruction of all medium-range missiles on both sides, which should have included the Kh-55. Thus the missiles' very existence constitutes a major treaty violation, and when the Americans learned several months ago about the sale to Iran, they consequently began an investigation. It later emerged that eight of the missiles were also sold to China.
A parallel Ukrainian investigation, which was first reported a few months ago by Britain's Financial Times, found that the sale was arranged via a fictitious company established for that purpose on Cyprus, and that the export papers falsely declared the missiles' destination to be the Russian defense ministry. The Ukrainian prosecution also said that a Russian company had promised to supply spare parts for the Iranian missiles.
The Ukrainians told Israel that the warheads had been dismantled before the missiles were sold to Iran, but that is cold comfort, since Iran can easily make new warheads.
The real concern is the guidance system, which enables the missile to strike its target with great accuracy. Moreover, NATO believed that the Soviets were able to arm the Kh-55 with nuclear warheads.
The sub rosa purchase of cruise missiles from Ukraine demonstrates the enormous effort that Iran is investing in improving its missile capabilities. Iran is also working on the Shihab-4 surface-to-surface missile, which would have a range of over 2,000 kilometers. In addition, it made a major breakthrough on the Shihab-3 several weeks ago when it succeeded in making a solid fuel engine for the missile. Earlier versions had used liquid fuel, which requires a much longer launch time and therefore leaves the missile more vulnerable to preventive air strikes.
see also: Crash Of US U-2 Spy Plane - Iran Related #msg-7123196
TEHRAN, April 9 (AFP) Apr 09, 2006 Iran has shot down an unmanned surveillance plane in the south amid reports that the United States is planning military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, a press report said Sunday.
"This plane had taken off from Iraq and was filming border areas," a report in the hardline Jumhuri Eslami newspaper said.
It added the Islamic Republic "officials have obtained information from the plane system and recordings", without giving any further details.
US publications reported over the weekend that the White House is studying options for military strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities to pressure Tehran to abandon its controversial nuclear program.
The US media have reported that the US military has been secretly flying surveillance drones over Iran since 2004 using radar, video, still photography and air filters to detect traces of nuclear activity not accessible to satellites.
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