Translated material
When the nuclear power plant on the mountain whistles
Iran is left without allies
The issue of the Iranian nuclear program became the central topic of the 51st session of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which opened yesterday in Vienna. The event takes place against the backdrop of a sharp escalation of contradictions between Tehran and Western powers. The United States and its allies do not trust the Iranians and accuse the IAEA of being too accommodating. In response, Iranian leaders repeat that they will not suspend their nuclear program and report on the commissioning of more and more centrifuges for uranium enrichment.Yesterday, the Egyptian Director General of the IAEA, Muhammad ElBaradei, experienced in nuclear diplomacy, tried his best to maintain a balance of interests. On the one hand, agency experts still do not confirm the Iranians are developing nuclear weapons. On the other hand, the camp of Iran's opponents has been replenished by France, which is influential in world affairs. On the eve of the opening of the IAEA session, the head of the French Foreign Ministry, Bernard Kouchner, called on the world community to prepare for war with Iran. He called Tehran's acquisition of nuclear weapons "a real threat to the whole world." "We have to prepare for the worst, and the worst is war," Mr. Kushner said. The Iranian official news agency IRNA stated in response that “the inhabitants of the Elysee Palace have turned into executors of the will of the White House” (topic continued on page 5) .
Russia is not going to fight with Iran , however, against the backdrop of an extremely unfavorable international situation around the Iranian nuclear program, Moscow is once again pushing back the deadline for commissioning the nuclear power plant in Bushehr , explaining this by non-payments by the Iranian side. According to last year's Russian-Iranian agreements, the Bushehr nuclear power plant was supposed to be put into operation this September. However, since the beginning of this year , a “crisis of non-payments” has emerged in Russian-Iranian relations . As Vremya Novostey was told by the press service of the general contractor for the construction of the nuclear power plant in Bushehr, the Russian JSC Atomstroyexport, “the volume of financing for work on the Bushehr NPP project remains insufficient and does not ensure the effective construction of the power plant.” In the current situation, Atomstroyexport refuses to give even approximate dates for commissioning the facility. According to unofficial data, this should be expected no earlier than the end of 2008 . Yesterday, the head of Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, and the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, talked for more than an hour in Vienna in a one-on-one format.
An indicator of the readiness of the Bushehr nuclear power plant should be the supply of nuclear fuel from Russia. The technological cycle requires that they begin no earlier than six months before the physical start-up of the nuclear power plant. Yesterday, these deliveries were once again postponed. Tehran claims that payments under the contract are being made regularly and explains the delays for political reasons. “For Iranians, the theme of Bushehr has already become folklore. The phrase “when the Russians get the Bushehr nuclear power plant” means the same as for the Russians “when the cancer whistles on the mountain,” an Iranian diplomatic source shared with Vremya Novostei.
In his report yesterday, Muhammad ElBaradei tried to de-politicize the Iranian nuclear issue. He listed the facts he knew about Tehran's atomic developments, but taken together, these data still give rise to mutually exclusive conclusions. The IAEA Director General confirmed that agency experts who worked in Iran over the summer were convinced that there was no evidence of the use of declared nuclear material for military purposes. In addition, “Iran provides access to nuclear facilities and the necessary information so that the agency can monitor the situation.” According to ElBaradei, the Iranian side provided the IAEA with additional information to resolve the accumulated questions, in particular regarding experiments with plutonium. At yesterday's press conference, Muhammad ElBaradei said that the Iranian nuclear program does not pose an immediate threat and spoke out categorically against the use of force against Tehran.
However, the matter was not limited to praise for Iran. The IAEA is disappointed that, despite the sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council, the Iranians have not suspended uranium enrichment and are continuing the construction of a heavy water reactor in Arak. In addition, as Muhammad ElBaradei emphasized, the agency was never able to fully verify “a number of important aspects related to the nature and scale of Iran’s nuclear program.”
Iran explains the ambiguity of the IAEA's conclusions with the machinations of the Americans. “The United States is putting increasing pressure on Muhammad ElBaradei,” an Iranian diplomatic source said in a conversation with a Vremya Novostei correspondent. “Mr. ElBaradei understands that there is no and cannot be evidence that Iran has a military nuclear program. However, he is forced to take into account the position of the United States and its closest allies. That’s why all the IAEA reports on Iran are half-hearted, although in general they still suit Tehran more than Washington,” noted our Iranian interlocutor.
Gholamreza Aghazadeh, speaking yesterday in Vienna, recalled that “some Western countries always tend to choose the path of confrontation instead of a cordial and kind attitude towards the great Iranian nation.” He emphasized that “a position of threats is a weak position.” According to him, Iran is open “to cooperation and negotiations.”
Discussion of the conclusions of ElBaradei's report is still ahead - the IAEA General Conference session will last until September 21. The CEO's initiative on a kind of “zero option” is still on the discussion table. At a meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors earlier this month, ElBaradei proposed that the Iranian side abandon further uranium enrichment work and that the UN Security Council freeze anti-Iranian sanctions. In his opinion, this would make it possible to resume full-scale negotiations between the world community and Tehran.
The statements of the IAEA Director General look “quite reasonable and timely,” says Nina Mamedova, head of the Iranian sector at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. “The sanctions already imposed against Iran are having an impact on this country, despite the fact that its leaders do not admit this. First of all, this concerns the strengthening of the negative investment climate. Because of the sanctions, all foreign investments have actually left the country,” she noted in an interview with Vremya Novostey. On the other hand, the “zero option” would allow the international community to save face. “The IAEA’s proposals allow us to hope that the world also wants to continue the dialogue with Iran,” Ms. Mamedova believes.
The initiative of Muhammad ElBaradei objectively meets the interests of Iran. Moreover, even the most interested Western partners are turning away from the country. Bernard Kouchner has explicitly called on major French firms "not to respond to calls to invest in the Iranian market" due to the crisis over Iran's nuclear program. Tehran responded by threatening to reconsider a multibillion-dollar project with the French oil company Total to produce liquefied natural gas in Iran.