Iranian students protest 27 December outside the United Nations offices in Tehran against UN sanctions imposed on their country. Israel will test, for the UN, an underground installation in the Negev desert designed to monitor any attempt by arch-foe Iran to test nuclear devices, the daily Yediot Aharonot reported.
AFP: Iran to launch production of industrial nuclear fuel
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed Iran will step up its atomic programme despite UN sanctions, predicting Tehran would soon “push the button” to produce nuclear fuel for industrial uses.
“Iran has the fuel cycle and very soon we will push the button on nuclear fuel production for industrial uses,” said Ahmadinejad in a speech in Ghotvand, in western Khuzestan province, according to the IRNA news agency on Wednesday.
“The Iranian people have taken their decision and will in no way pay attention to empty cries of the materialists and the bullying of the decadent powers.”
Iran has already announced it has enriched uranium to levels of around five percent. Producing nuclear fuel that could theoretically be used in a power station would be another important step in mastering the nuclear fuel cycle.
Ahmadinejad’s latest comments come in defiance of a UN Security Council resolution at the end of last year which imposed sanctions against Tehran for its failure to suspend uranium enrichment.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1737 specifically precludes any uranium enrichment and sanctions Iran for doing so. The text of UNSC resolution 1737 is here.
Determined to give effect to its unmet 31 July demand that Iran suspend all uranium enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, the Security Council today imposed sanctions on that country, blocking the import or export of sensitive nuclear materiel and equipment and freezing the financial assets of persons or entities supporting its proliferation sensitive nuclear activities or the development of nuclear-weapon delivery systems.
Unanimously adopting resolution 1737 (2006) under Article 41 of the Charter’s Chapter VII, the Council decided that Iran should, without further delay, suspend the following proliferation sensitive nuclear activities: all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development; and work on all heavy-water related projects, including the construction of a research reactor moderated by heavy water. The halt to those activities would be verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Specifically, the Council decided that all States should prevent the supply, sale or transfer, for the use by or benefit of Iran, of related equipment and technology, if the State determined that such items would contribute to enrichment-related, reprocessing or heavy-water related activities, or to the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems. The Council decided it would terminate the measures if Iran fully complied with its obligations, or adopt additional ones and possible further decisions if the country did not.
The Council requested a report within 60 days from the Director General of IAEA on whether Iran had established full and sustained suspension of all activities mentioned in the resolution, as well as on the process of Iranian compliance with all steps required by the IAEA Board, to the Board of Governors and the Council for its consideration. The Council affirmed that it would review Iran’s actions in light of that report and suspend implementation of measures, if and for so long as Iran suspended all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities.
The Council also established a new committee, comprised of all Council members, to monitor implementation of the present text and designate further individuals or entities to which the sanctions should apply. The committee would be tasked with taking appropriate action on alleged violations of the sanctions, consider requests for exemptions, designate possible additional individuals and entities subjected to the measures, and report at least every 90 days to the Council on the implementation of the resolution. All States were to report to the Committee within 60 days on the steps they had taken with a view to implementing the relevant provisions of the resolution.
An anti-aircraft gun is seen in front of the reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran in February 2006. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has kept up his defiance over Iran’s nuclear programme, saying Tehran would deal an “historic slap” to Western nations if they launched military action.
And the Middle East Media Research Institute has ‘The Straw Powers Must Accept the Undeniable Reality: In Today’s World There Is a Rising Power Challenging Their Baseless Ideologies’ – Iranian Reactions to U.N. Sanctions Resolution 1737.
President Ahmadinejad: “Iran Will Be a Nuclear State, Whether They Like It or Not”; “The Iranian Nation Will Give Its Enemies an Historic Slap [in the Face]”
Ali Larijani: “Our Immediate Response to These Sanctions is that Tomorrow Morning, 3,000 Centrifuges Will Begin to Operate in Natanz”
Foreign Relations Steering Council Member: “The Sanctions Will Have No Impact on Iran’s Nuclear Progress”
Revolutionary Guards Political Bureau Head: “Iran is Entering the Nuclear Club”
Isn’t it readily apparent that Iran has NO intentions to abide by UNSC Res. 1737?
You betcha
And President Bush tomorrow will announce a SURGE of 20-30,000 troops into the Middle East theater to supposedly pacify Baghdad.
The nuclear “POINT OF NO RETURN” clock continues to count down.
Tick Tock Tick Tock
Technicians walk towards the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran, February 2006. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed Iran will step up its atomic programme despite UN sanctions, predicting Tehran would soon “push the button” to produce nuclear fuel for industrial uses.
Stay tuned……
Cross-Posted from the FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog
Previous:
Michael Ramirez on Iran United Nations Sanctions
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Vows to Continue Uranium Enrichment
Iran Nuclear Watch: United Nations Security Council Approves Iran Sanctions
Iran Nuclear Watch: United Nations Poised to Pass Sanctions Despite Iran Threat
Iran Nuclear Watch: Ahmadinejad MOCKS the United States and EU
Iran Nuclear Watch: Ahmadinejad - “Britain, Israel and United States Will Vanish Like the Pharaohs”
Iran Nuclear Watch: British Prime Minister Tony Blair Issues Iran Warning
Iran Nuclear Watch: United States Considering Show Of Force Against Iran
Iran Nuclear Watch: A Military Option Redux
John Hinderaker: Mr. President, If I May Be So Bold…
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Expands Uranium Enrichment - AGAIN
The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.
Technorati Tags: Iran, Ahmadinejad
No comments:
Post a Comment