Great interview with Iran's FM Mottaki. He makes clear that controlling the nuclear fuel cycle is a strategic concern for Iran
Q: Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, reportedly said today that Iran would consider suspending its uranium enrichment program if the international community assured it a supply of nuclear fuel. Does that mark a shift in Iran's policy?
A: Most probably this was a misinterpretation or misunderstanding. The reason we are engaged in producing fuel has everything to do with our need for fuel.
For 51 years, we have experimented with different contracts [to bring in foreign energy assistance] —contracts signed with different foreign parties. Our 51-year experience tells us you cannot trust foreign parties when it comes to this issue. [Fifty one years ago] we signed our first nuclear contract with the U.S. The U.S. party obliged itself to help with the production of 23,000 mega watts of power through nuclear plants. Later, 30 some years ago, we signed another contract with the German company Siemens for the establishment of nuclear power plants in Iran. And [with] a number of other countries we used to have contracts for nuclear cooperation. None of them honored their contract. With this in mind, we arrived at the fact that self-sufficiency when it comes to nuclear fuel is a fundamental need.
This is also interesting:
Q: Can you respond to the recent reports from IAEA members that concluded Iran has done work on the Shabab 3 missile to make it capable of carrying a nuclear payload? This is something that U.S. and critics of Iran can point to as further evidence that Iran's motives are not pure and that you're looking to build a nuclear weapon.
A: This is not in the agency's report.
Q: So are you saying it's not true?
A: This is not a claim being made by the agency. Rather, American officials are making such a claim. When it comes to our peaceful nuclear program, the U.S. has said many untruthful claims, including this one.
He's quite right on this point. The media were attributing these claims about missles to the IAEA -- but in fact the IAEA was simply repeating the allegations provided by the US. The IAEA wasn't making the allegations itself, but the media reports were quite deliberately confusing. There is a habit of putting words in the IAEA's mouth, and falsely attributing views and conclusions to the IAEA.
This is how it works: the US gives some documents to the IAEA. The IAEA presents the documents at a meeting. The media then claims that the IAEA has presented evidence condemnign Iran. The US representative to the meeting then says "tsk tsk how awful of the Iranians".
In short, they're just laundering bullshit to make it sound more credible.
Mottaki is very correct. Never trust the West, including Russians. They will never genuinely support Iran's peaceful nuclear program and will never agree to uninterrupted supply of nuclear energy fuel. Then Iran has to beg, cry and scream to get her fuel. You think these SOBs will honestly supply Iran with nuclear fuel? See what they have done to us for the past 30 years. They have never helped us with the technology to refine gasoline for domestic use. Now they are even talking of gasoline embargo. What would happen if the embargo includes supply of nuclear fuel? Repercussions would be breathtaking. Conclusion: Never trust others and learn how to enrich so that the West and Zionists could not paralyze our lives and economy.
Posted by: mb | October 13, 2008 at 08:28 PM