Iran May Curb Nuke Work

Iran has agreed in principle to temporarily stop some suspect activities that its critics allege are meant to make nuclear weapons, as it seeks to blunt censure at an upcoming U.N. meeting, diplomats said Tuesday.

The diplomats, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said the Islamic Republic tentatively agreed to re-impose a freeze on making, testing and assembling centrifuges used to enrich uranium.

Uranium, enriched to high levels, can be used to make nuclear warheads. At lower levels, it can generate power, which Iran asserts is the only activity it is interested in.

Iran last year agreed to freeze enrichment activities but has since resumed testing, assembling and making centrifuges.

One of the diplomats said the Iranian offer was made by Hassan Rowhani, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, to Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

"Rowhani called ElBaradei to tell him that Iran is ready for a (new) freeze," said the diplomat.

Rowhani has been lobbying European nations in recent days ahead of the start Monday of an IAEA board of governors meeting that will focus on Iran's nuclear program.

U.S. officials are spearheading an effort at the IAEA board meeting to have Iran declared in violation of its treaty obligations, a move that could force the U.N. Security Council to take action against Iran.

Another western diplomat told the AP no dates or other specifics had been set by the Iranians and ElBaradei and talks continued on how to verify any renewed suspension.

Iran last week confirmed a report by the IAEA that it planned to convert more than 40 tons of raw uranium into uranium hexafluoride, the feed stock for enrichment.

Both diplomats said Iran's renewed suspension pledge did not extend to the production of uranium hexafluoride as far as they knew.

Experts estimate that the 40 tons of uranium hexafluoride could yield more than 200 pounds of weapons-grade highly enriched uranium — hypothetically enough to make five crude nuclear weapons.

The issue of enrichment is extremely sensitive as the international community tries to determine whether Iran is using its nuclear program for peaceful purposes or trying to make weapons.

There are different kinds — or isotopes — of uranium molecules, which have different weights. Only one kind is useful for nuclear fission.

Enrichment involves separating this isotope from the others so as to increase its concentration in a given bit of nuclear fuel. This can be done by spinning rapidly a gaseous form of uranium to isolate the different types of molecules by weight.

While enrichment is necessary to create uranium both for nuclear power plants and weapons, the level of purity needed for weapons far exceeds that of civilian nuclear fuel.

Iran agreed to suspend its enrichment program last year to try to build international trust. But that commitment eroded over the subsequent months, and Iran confirmed in July that it had resumed building nuclear centrifuges.

A third diplomat familiar with the IAEA said he was expecting a deal to be reached before Monday, when the board meeting opens.

As talks over its nuclear ambitions continue, Iran is ready to repeat a test of a new version of its Shahab-3 ballistic missile, a weapon Iran maintains it produced in response to Israeli efforts to improve its own missile power and test-fired successfully last month.

Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani said his employees were ready to test the missile "in the presence of observers," the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. He did not elaborate.

In August, the Defense Ministry announced the new version of the Shahab-3 — which already was capable of reaching Israel and U.S. forces in the Middle East — had been successfully test-fired.

Israeli reports have said the new version of the missile has a longer range than Shahab-3, but Defense Ministry officials have refused to give details about the range.

The Shahab-3, successfully tested before in 2002 ahead of equipping the elite Revolutionary Guards with it in July 2003, is the Persian state's longest-range ballistic missile, with a range of about 810 miles.

Shamkhani on Tuesday was confident the second test also would be successful, IRNA reported. The minister, however, said the tests were no act of muscle-flexing.

"Being powerful does not necessarily mean warmongering," Shamkhani was quoted as saying.

U.S. intelligence officials have said previously that Iran can probably fire several Shahab-3's in an emergency, but that it has not yet developed a completely reliable missile.

Israel has jointly developed with the United States the Arrow anti-ballistic missile system in response to Shahab-3's threat. The Arrow, one of the few systems capable of intercepting and destroying missiles at high altitudes, was developed after the 1991 Gulf War, when Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles at Israel.

Israel's attempts to closely monitor Iran's military activities were dealt a blow this week when a sophisticated Israeli spy satellite plummeted into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after launch Monday.

In spite of the crash of the Ofek-6 satellite into the sea near the port city of Ashdod, other spy satellites are still in orbit. Iranian officials have not publicly commented on the satellite crash.

Tuesday's editions of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz note that the loss of the satellite could increase military tensions between Israel and Iran, since Israel will be blind to Iran's activities once the older satellites stop working.

In 1981, Israeli warplanes bombed an Iraqi nuclear reactor as it approached completion. Iran has warned that an Israeli strike against its nuclear facilities would trigger harsh punishment.