Official says Iran to limit cooperation with IAEA

[December 04, 2009]  TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- A nuclear official said Friday Iran will not answer to the U.N. nuclear watchdog about its plans to build 10 new uranium enrichment sites beyond the barest minimum required under the international nonproliferation treaty.

The comments by Abolfazl Zohrehvand, an adviser to the country's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, came days after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran was considering whether to scale back cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency after it approved a resolution censuring Iran over its nuclear program.

If Iran follows through on the threat, it would be another slap to Western efforts to curtail Iran's nuclear program for fear it is aimed at building weapons.

Tehran on Sunday announced it intends to build the 10 new sites -- a statement that followed a strong rebuke from the Vienna-based IAEA and heightened Western concerns over Iran's real nuclear intentions.

Zohrehvand said Iran will only inform the IAEA after it installs equipment at the new sites and no less than six months prior to injecting uranium gas into centrifuges during the enrichment process. Uranium enriched to low levels is used to produce nuclear fuel but further enrichment could produce material for a nuclear weapon.

"We, like other member states, will inform the agency only after installing the equipment and only 180 days before injecting gas," Zohrehvand said, according to the official IRNA news agency.

The IAEA says Iran must provide all information about the new sites as soon as they make the decision to build them.

The U.N. watchdog demanded Iran immediately cease all enrichment and halt further construction on a recently revealed uranium enriching facility in a mountainous area near the holy city of Qom.

Iran's reaction to the rebuke was to pledge to build the 10 new plants -- a move some analysts say is bluster. The grandiose scheme is largely impossible as long as sanctions stand in the way and force Iran to turn to black markets and smuggling for nuclear equipment.

Iran claims it has fully cooperated with the IAEA under the Nonproliferation Treaty, especially in disclosing the secret site at Qom this fall.

IAEA rules said a country is required to inform the agency about the existence of any enrichment facility six months before it becomes operational. The agency later expanded those rules to demand countries notify it of intentions to build new sites.

Iran says it withdrew in 2007 from that part of the deal and is now only subject to the six-month notification requirement. But the IAEA says Tehran cannot unilaterally withdraw and still should announce plans about new facilities.

Iran argues its nuclear program is peaceful and insists it has a right to enrich uranium to produce fuel for nuclear reactors to generate electricity. The United Nations has demanded Iran freeze enrichment.

[Associated Press; By ALI AKBAR DAREINI]

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