Iran’s Manhattan Project Speeds Ahead
Charles Johnson
Sun Sep 4, 2005 at 3:07 pm PDT • Views: 214
Judging from their defiant rhetoric, Iran has entered a new phase in their nuclear weapons program—as they drop any pretense of caring about the European Union’s strongly-worded letters: Iran Rejects European Threat of Sanctions.
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran will continue uranium reprocessing despite Europe’s threat to refer it to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions if it does not freeze the work within two weeks, a Foreign Ministry official said Sunday.
The Iranian defiance is the latest in its highly charged dispute with the international community over its contentious nuclear program, which the United States alleges is aimed at building nuclear weapons, claims which Tehran denies.
International attention is focussed on the Uranium Conversion Facility in Isfahan in central Iran, where Tehran last month resumed activities related to the conversion of uranium concentrate ore — known as yellowcake — into hexaflouride gas, the feedstock for enrichment.
Uranium enrichment is an activity of even higher concern for the international community. Enriched to a low level, uranium can be used to produce nuclear fuel used to generate electricity. Further enrichment makes it suitable for use in nuclear weapons.
“The issue of Isfahan is a thing of the past,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters Sunday. “The era of threats to force Iran to give up its rights is over. We have said it and say it again, that threat and resorting to two-sided language won’t help Europe.”
Frank says: