Translated material
Iran caught with plutonium
The IAEA report makes serious claims against Iran. In September, international inspectors took samples for examination at one of the Iranian nuclear storage facilities in the city of Karaj, 50 kilometers northwest of Tehran. The samples contained traces of highly enriched uranium and weapons-grade plutonium.
The Iranians say these claims are not new, and that the ill-fated traces are to blame for the spent nuclear fuel transported to Karaj from a research center in Tehran, which is under the control of the IAEA. An anonymous IAEA official said the amount of plutonium found was minimal and could theoretically be a secondary product obtained from civilian research activities.
A similar situation occurred between the IAEA and Tehran in 2003. Then the Iranians managed to convince the inspectors that the centrifuges with suspicious traces at the Natanz facility were purchased in Pakistan and were not related to the military program allegedly implemented by Tehran.
IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming, in an interview with Vremya Novostey, yesterday confirmed receipt of the Iranian response, but noted that it “came too late to be considered in the process of preparing the current report.”
A report by IAEA Director General Muhammad ElBaradei criticizing Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment and fully cooperate with the international community to clarify the nature of its nuclear program will be discussed at a meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors on November 23. Anticipating the discussions, yesterday Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at a rally of thousands that “the Iranian people will resist to the end, defending their rights in the nuclear field.”
Officially, Iran is already capable of enriching uranium to the five percent level. This is enough to obtain nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants. However, more highly enriched uranium is needed to produce nuclear weapons. If it can be proven that the suspicious samples are not of civilian, but of military origin, Iran's critics will have a new powerful argument.