Russians Ship Nuclear Fuel To Iran

Iranians Claim Power Plant Is For Civilian Purposes; Critics Fear Development Of Weapons

(AP)  Iran received the first shipment of nuclear fuel from Russia on Monday for its Bushehr reactor, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported.

Russia has been assisting the Iranians in the construction of the nuclear power plant and announced earlier Monday that the first shipment of nuclear fuel was on its way to Iran.

"The first nuclear fuel shipment for the Bushehr atomic power plant arrived in Iran Monday," IRNA quoted Iranian Vice President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh as saying.

Iran contends the reactor operation in the southern Iranian town of Bushehr is strictly for civilian purposes, but some critics suspect Tehran intends to use the plant as part of an alleged effort to develop nuclear weapons.

Construction at Bushehr had been frequently delayed. Officials said the delays were due to payment disputes, but many observers suggested Russia was also unhappy with Iran's obstinate resistance to international pressure to make its nuclear program more open and to assure the international community that it was not developing nuclear arms.

Russia announced last week that its construction disputes with Iran had been resolved and said fuel deliveries would begin about a half year before Bushehr was expected to go into service.

"The transfer of nuclear fuel will continue and all the (required) fuel will be shipped to Iran in accordance with the timetable," IRNA quoted Aghazadeh, who is also head of Iran's nuclear program, as saying.

In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry insisted that all the fuel will be under the safeguards of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency.

"All fuel that will be delivered will be under the control and guarantees of the International Atomic Energy Agency for the whole time it stays on Iranian territory," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday. "Moreover, the Iranian side gave additional written guarantees that the fuel will be used only for the Bushehr nuclear power plant."

Aghazadeh said the Bushehr plant was 95 percent complete and would begin operations "next year." He indicated the reactor needed 80 tons of nuclear fuel during the initial phase of operation, but did not provide further details.

In a rare criticism of Russia in March, Iran complained that the inauguration of Bushehr was eight years behind schedule. According to Iranian officials, the plant had been expected to come on stream in July 1999.

Although Russia has resisted the U.S.-led drive to impose harsher sanctions on Iran, it has also repeatedly urged Tehran to cooperate with the Vienna, Austria-based IAEA to resolve concerns over the nuclear program.

The U.S. has been pushing the U.N. Security Council to pass a third round of sanctions against Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for a nuclear reactor or fissile material for a bomb.

The American effort became more difficult recently with the release of a new U.S. intelligence report that concluded Iran had halted its nuclear weapons development program in 2003 and had not resumed it.

[toolmangler-2009]

Posted by samsel3 at 08:05 AM : Dec 18, 2007



Very good post.

[samsel3]

Nothing has changed on Iran. The administrations interest in Iran & nukes is a smoke screen for their real agenda. Their true interests are Cheney''s energy policy.Condi Rice is a former board member of Chevron Oil and mouthpiece for the administrations energy policy. Part of that policy is the The Caspian Sea pipeline which will go through Turkmenistan, Afghanistan,Pakistan, to the gulf of Oman or on to India & Nepal.It will be cheaper to construct if they can go through Iran, but regime change is necessary first. The Caspian sea area holds one third of the world''s oil and south asian oil markets are their target market. This pipeline was also the reason for the Afghanistan invasion. Cheney''s energy policy is the root of all these middle east wars, a federal court judge sealed all documents associated with it for the administration, and the national media are not allowed to discuss or comment on it. More troops are needed in Afghanistan to protect the contractors building the pipeline. Iran stands in the way of total control of global oil now with sales of oil to China''s Sinopec Oil,deal signed Dec.10,2007. Months ago China said there would be dire consequences if the US interfered with there direct oil contracts with Iran. Both parties in the Congress should be very concerned with China''s growing war machine and need for oil. They are the real threat & the administration doesn''''t care they are in control!!! All that matters to them is BIG OIL and their corporate stock portfolios

[underdogus]

They are now the superpowers, and we''''re on the outside looking in.
Posted by hungry1968
I agree.....IRAN is a credible threat, has a credible means to deliver a nuclear payload, and is buying air defence weapons systems from RUSSIA at an alarming rate. All to defend their nuclear program....

[tbweb]

I see the four horsemen saddling-up.

Posted by mcv57 at 11:14 PM : Dec 17, 2007,,,

Its very possible, the alignment of the Stars support it! The end-game for humans, it will be interesting to see how it plays out. This move by the Russians is an error in judgment, a miscalculation, an underestimation of how Israel may view this as a serious threat to its security. There will be no winners! The Russians just got money and luxury toys to plays with, the U.S. has already played with its luxury toys, it looks like the Russians may not have enough time to enjoy theirs, the U.S. had more fun getting here.

[mcv57]

I see the four horsemen saddling-up. Please, Lord, I want the first one on the White House.

[cdfoxtrot]

Do you see a pattern here? It''''s obvious that Russia is not our friend and never will be. Of course Putin seems to be trying to make himself a permanent fixture the Russian top government. Maybe he''''s going to the pm position but I wonder is he still going to running the country.

Posted by animalwoman

Russia has been remarkably restrained. They were duped into allowing the Eastern Bloc nations to go free, only to find the lot of them joining NATO, and several now looking to host missile systems that could threaten Russia. The West, and particularly the US, has demonstrated horrible judgment in interacting with Russia and you have to wonder if it''s the industrial military complex in the US influencing policy in order to drum up business for a new Cold War.

[cdfoxtrot]

Russia Fuels World War III

Posted by Ayatoldyaso

Er, no. That would be the moron-in-chief down in Washington.

[tngreen]

Before more vital information goes down the Memory Hole, please read the following article, "The Iran Agenda: The Historical Truth of Our Relations with Iran" for a brief primer on Iran''s nuclear energy program.

http://www.alternet.org/story/69701/

Also remember that GWB has provoked the new global arms race by voiding our international treaties in which we agreed never to use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear state. These treaties have previously provided incentives for non-nuclear nations to remain thus. By refusing to renew the treaties, Bush has signaled that he leaves himself the option not only to nuke but also to nuke preemptively a nation that does not have the nuclear capability to strike back. In that situation, what would you do? You''d develop nukes post haste, as at least some measure of deterrence against U.S. aggression, if you had any sense at all.

It''s so easy to manipulate people when they don''t understand what is really going on.

[mcv57]

The Bushwacker and his croony DickEye is to blame for this outcome. That drunken, idiot thought he could scam the world.

[fornicario]

So what? Are the neocons going to invade Russia now? Maybe another example of ''unilateral action''? After all, we decide what is right for the world, never mind the shape our own country is in. You are good at quoting Founders and Presidents for your own means, why not read all of their writings, especially the ones where they talk about tyranny and secrecy? Maybe the Russians are nefarious, but in the old USA (1776-2001) we required proof before action.