Sunday, February 9, 2003
Iran discovers uranium reserves, insists on peaceful use of nuclear energy
Associated Press Tehran, February 9
Iran on Sunday said it has discovered uranium reserves and is setting up uranium components production facilities for the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
President Mohammad Khatami said Iran was "determined to make use of advanced nuclear technology for peaceful purposes" after announcing researchers discovered uranium reserves in central Iran near Yazd and established uranium components production facilities in nearby Isfahan and Kashan. Khatami's comments were carried by the official Islamic Republic News Agency, which provided no further details.
Iran has invited UN atomic inspectors to visit two Iranian nuclear plants in central Iran that Washington says are part of a secret weapons program. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammed ElBaradei, and his inspection team are scheduled to arrive in Iran on Feb. 25 to visit nuclear facilities at Natanz and Arak. "We assure the world that the Islamic Republic of Iran is making use of all domestic facilities to acquire peaceful nuclear technology and considers this its right to do so," Khatami said. America has long been suspicious of Iran's nuclear program, accusing it of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons and of sponsoring terrorism, charges which Iran rejects.
In December, US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said satellite imagery indicated structures at the Natanz plant were being covered with earth, indicating Tehran is building "a secret underground site where it could produce fissile material." The Natanz plant may also include a uranium-enrichment facility, U.S officials said. A heavy water plant at Arak would be part of a plutonium program. US officials say Iran's lack of fissile material _ either enriched uranium or plutonium _ remains a key stumbling block for its nuclear goals.
Much of the public attention given to Iran's nuclear effort focuses on a power reactor at Bushehr, a southern port city on the Gulf, which is being built with Russian assistance. The power station is supposed to go on line late 2003.
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