10 March 2003
Iran's Secret Nuclear Development Belies "Peaceful Purposes" Claim
(No economic justification for Iran's nuclear program, U.S. says) (920) Iran's secret development of a nuclear fuel processing facility "refutes the claim that it was all for peaceful purposes," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters at the department's noon briefing March 10. Boucher pointed out that there is no economic justification for such a program for a state, such as Iran, that is so rich in oil and gas. "Iran flares off more gas every year than they would ever get from these reactors that they're talking about building,." he said. Pointing to Iran's announcement that it would soon begin operating a uranium conversion facility to provide more material for the enrichment facility, Boucher said, "Iran and Russia agreed that Russia would provide all the fuel for the life of the reactor that's under construction at Bushehr, and that Russia would take back any spent fuel. So again, that's one more reason why they don't need these other parts of the fuel cycle." "States with peaceful nuclear energy programs have nothing to hide from the international community and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran has done its best to hide these other nuclear fuel cycle activities," Boucher said. Iran was the only state that did not accept the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) call in 1992 for states to declare new nuclear facilities before construction. If Iran has now agreed to do so, Boucher said, "that would only be because of intense pressure." Following is the transcript of State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher's remarks on Iran, on March 10:. (begin excerpt) QUESTION: Okay, up to you. On Iran and its nuclear program, Secretary of State Powell was quoted as saying they have more capabilities than the U.S. is aware of. And this is a two-point question, but they've gotten further along in the process than we're aware of. One, are we engaging Iran on that front? And two, are we engaging China to make sure that it is not aiding in terms of materials to Iran on that front? MR. BOUCHER: First of all, I think he said, "We suddenly discovered that Iran is much farther along, with a far more robust nuclear weapons development program than anyone said it had." I would point out, though, that the United States has been making the case, both publicly and in private to other governments, that we felt that Iran's peaceful development of nuclear power was not only a waste of money and energy, but was also being used as cover for a much broader nuclear program that was capable of producing nuclear weapons. And indeed, the information that's coming out now supports that conclusion, supports the conclusion the Iranians are now even saying that they were developing a nuclear fuel cycle, a whole cycle which produces material that could be used for nuclear weapons purposes, and, in fact, doing that in these circumstances refutes the claim that it was all for peaceful purposes. So we have long made clear our very serious concern about what Iran was up to in the nuclear area, and we've been making that very clear to other governments and are continuing to make it clear to other governments as this more recent information has come out. Iran has been trying in secret to construct a uranium enrichment plant and a heavy water plant. The first could be used to produce highly enriched uranium for weapons, the second could support a reactor for producing weapons-grade plutonium. Iran has admitted to these facilities, but only after it faced no choice because they've been made public by an Iranian opposition group. Last week, Iranian officials also said publicly that they will soon begin operating a uranium conversion facility to provide material for the enrichment facility. Once again, I would say there is no economic justification for a state that is so rich in oil and gas, like Iran, to build these hugely expensive nuclear fuel cycle facilities. Iran flares off more gas every year than they would ever get from these reactors that they're talking about building. Iran and Russia agreed that Russia would provide all the fuel for the life of the reactor that's under construction at Bushehr and that Russia would take back any spent fuel. So again, that's one more reason why they don't need these other parts of the fuel cycle. States with peaceful nuclear energy programs have nothing to hide, and nothing to hide from the international community and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran has done its best to hide these other nuclear fuel cycle activities. Iran has been the only state that did not accept the IAEA's call in 1992 for states to declare new nuclear facilities before construction. If it has now agreed to do so, that would only be because of intense pressure. Iran has also refused for several years to sign what's called the Additional Protocol with the IAEA, and this is a document that most countries in the world have signed that greatly increases the IAEA's insight into its nuclear activities. So there are a lot of things going on here, and a lot of things that were seen during the visit of the IAEA to Iran recently that we're sure will be reported and that we'll all look at once we've had the opportunity to -- we'll all discuss these in the International Atomic Energy Agency once we have the opportunity to look at all these reports. (end excerpt) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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