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Πέμπτη 27 Νοεμβρίου 2008

Iran aiming for 50,000 centrifuges

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 18:24:19 GMT
Iran's Atomic Energy Organization plans to install
50,000 centrifuges in the country's nuclear facilities in the space of five years. Gholam-Reza Aqazadeh, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, told reporters that over 5,000 centrifuges are currently operational in the country. "Given that Iran intends to generate 5,000 megawatt nuclear power, we plan to install 50,000 centrifuges over the next five years," said the Iranian nuclear official, who attended an exhibition of the country's nuclear achievements on Wednesday. Earlier in April, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced plans to install 6,000 new centrifuges in the Natanz nuclear facility by March 2009. Deputy Foreign Minister Ali-Reza Sheikh-Attar later in August said Iran was using 4,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium and planned to install an additional 3,000. The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear monitoring agency, which routinely inspects Iran's main enrichment facility at Natanz through visits and permanent video surveillance, confirms that Iran has managed to enrich uranium-235 to a level 'less than 5 percent'. The rate is consistent with the developing of a nuclear power plant. Nuclear arms production requires an enrichment level of above 90 percent. Western countries claiming that Iran's enrichment is aimed at building a nuclear weapon have proposed a "freeze-for-freeze," where Iran would suspend uranium enrichment and the sanctions against the country over its nuclear activities would be lifted. Aqazadeh, however, said Iran would not consider suspending uranium enrichment, adding that suspension is not an option. Iran argues that the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), of which it is a signatory, gives the country the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, adding that nuclear energy is essential for meeting its growing energy demand. Regarding the issue of the "alleged studies", which accuses Iran of pursuing a "green salt project, high explosives testing, and the missile re-entry vehicle project", the IAEA, in its November report, called on Tehran to implement the Additional Protocol to help the agency clarify the nature of its nuclear activities. The Additional Protocol requires member states to provide an expanded declaration of their nuclear activities and grants the agency the right of access to any site in the country. Aqazadeh, however, said, "certain political grounds should be established first before Iran can accept the Additional Protocol."
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Hurriyet - ’Israel may attack Iran via Turkey’
WASHINGTON - If Israel were to attack Iran's alleged nuclear weapons facilities, its bomber aircraft would most likely fly through Turkish air space, a prominent neo-conservative U.S. columnist has said. "The Israelis would not attack over Iraq. The way to go is through Turkey," Charles Krauthammer, a syndicated columnist who writes for the Washington Post and some other publications, said on the political panel "Inside Washington" on WJLA TV in Washington DC. The program was broadcast Sunday. He was asked if Israeli aircraft would have to fly through Iraqi air space in the event of an air attack inside Iranian territory. Krauthammer claimed that when Israeli fighter-bomber jets attacked and destroyed a suspected nuclear installation in Syria on Sept. 6 last year, they used Turkish air space on the way. "When Israel attacked the reactor in Syria, it went up the Mediterranean and through Turkish air space," he said.

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