Iran sets nuclear endgame

• 14 years ago (2010-01-05)
• David Flin

Middle East 328 North America 1027 Nuclear 665

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’s Foreign Minister, said that if the and the West didn’t agree to the counter-proposal, the country would otherwise start producing more highly enriched uranium to fuel a medical research reactor. insisted that the original deal was sufficient.

Accused of appeasing a repressive regime, Barack Obama, the US President, has been under strong domestic pressure to push for “crippling” sanctions if his policy of diplomatic outreach to Iran failed to deliver tangible results.

Iran, while a major producer of crude oil, has limited refining capacity, and imports nearly 40 per cent of its petrol. Iranian dissidents oppose a petrol embargo, arguing that it would hurt ordinary people while strengthening the regime.

The New York Times reported that Obama’s administration believes that Iran’s post-election domestic unrest and signs of unexpected setbacks in its nuclear programme make its leaders vulnerable to strong and immediate fresh sanctions.

International nuclear inspectors estimate that the number of centrifuges spinning uranium at Iran’s plant at Natanz has dropped by 20 per cent since the summer, a decline apparently due to technical problems.

The three-month-old UN nuclear accord requires Iran to send about 75 per cent of its stockpile of low-enriched uranium abroad in one batch for further enrichment and conversion into fuel rods for its internationally monitored medical reactor.