The Iranian nuclear playbook in action: Alternately pay lip service to cooperation and stonewall outright, get a scolding in a U.N. resolution and some incrementally more restrictive sanctions, and keep working on the bomb the entire time.
Iran is relying on inertia at the U.N. to stop protests by the French or anyone else from gaining momentum, until essentially symbolic actions from the IAEA and Security Council have allowed enough time to pass for the Islamic Republic’s first nuclear test.
“Iran to ‘speed up’ uranium enrichment at nuclear plants,” from BBC News, July 19:
Iran says it is installing newer and faster centrifuges at its nuclear plants, with the goal of speeding up the uranium enrichment process.
The foreign ministry says the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, has “full supervision” of the operation.
The French government has condemned the move as a “new provocation”.
France and other Western powers fear that Iran’s nuclear programme is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its programme is for civilian use.
Enriched uranium can be used for civilian nuclear purposes, but also to build atomic bombs. Tehran insists that it is refining uranium for electricity generation and medical applications.
“By installing the new centrifuges progress is being made with more speed and better quality,” said Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast.
He said the move showed Iran’s success in pursuing its “peaceful nuclear activity”, but did not say where the new generation of centrifuges would be installed, or provide details on the speed or capability of the machines.
‘Suspicions confirmed’
France was quick to condemn the announcement.
“Iran is engaging in a new provocation by announcing the imminent installation of next-generation centrifuges,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement.
“[It] clearly confirms the suspicions of the IAEA and of the international community about the finality of a programme with no credible civilian application,” the statement said….
Oui.