On Monday, Iran announced a dramatic expansion of its uranium enrichment plants. It claimed that it has begun operating 3,000 centrifuges nearly 10 times the previously known number in defiance of UN demands that it halt the program or face increased sanctions.
Ahmadinejad, in a speech to a ceremony at Natanz marking the one-year anniversary of the first successful enrichment of uranium said
I declare that as of today our dear country has joined the nuclear club of nations and can produce nuclear fuel on an industrial scale
While the alleged claims remain sketchy, the announcement has nonetheless put the U.S. and Britain in a tough spot, especially when 3,000 centrifuges is what you need to produce a nuclear weapon. On the one hand the U.S. threaten that this enhancement would mean stricter sanctions against Tehran, on the other hand, it is also mentioning a bid to negotiate this crisis out.
Condemnation
The United States and Europe criticized the announcement. Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for President George W. Bush’s National Security Council said
Iran continues to defy the international community and further isolate itself by expanding its nuclear program, rather than suspending uranium enrichment
Iran already has in place two sets of UN sanctions for refusing to suspend its reprocessing work.
Does Iran really have 3,000 running centrifuges?
3,000 centrifuges are said to be enough to produce a nuclear weapon. However, analysts are in doubt that Iran really has so many of them up and running, a difficult technical feat especially since Iran did such a shabby job with keeping its earlier fewer ones running. In the past, Iran is known to have had 328 centrifuges operating at its Natanz enrichment facility in central Iran.
The real motive
So what could Iran, the diplomacy king be aiming for through this announcement.....well, Michael Levi, a non-proliferation expert at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations offers that
Monday’s announcement may have been aimed at increasing domestic support amid growing criticism of hardliner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Also the statement might have been looking to boost Iran’s hand with the West by presenting its program as established
The analyst reiterated that Iran should not be taken literally before proper investigation is carried out. Levi said,
From a political perspective, it’s more important to have (3,000 centrifuges) in place than to have them run properly We have an unfortunate habit to take Iran at its word when they make scary announcements
Bottom Line
Well first I wanna say I told you so, but the outcome still remains to be seen, so I will wait a while. This seems to be the perfect follow up to the marine hostage crisis and the kindness extended by Tehran towards its western brothers last week. I had earlier offered the thought that Ahmadinejad’s act came from the long term goal of setting diplomacy as the benchmark for solving any crisis between Iran and the west.
By freeing the British marines, the Iranian leader had demonstrated how diplomacy was a perfectly workable solution for even a blown up crisis. Now that Iran has set a high benchmark, the U.S. and its European allies are finding it difficult to live up to the same standards. The U.S. is not confident that a diplomatic solution is applicable here, but with Iraq and Afghanistan already on the agenda it can only do so much. The plot is getting thicker my friends!
Via: TOI
