• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Iran 'Poised To Expand Nuke Program'

February 19, 2012

A Vienna-based diplomat has told the BBC that Iran may be poised to expand its nuclear program at an underground site near the city of Qom.

The unnamed diplomat told the BBC that Iran "appears to be ready to install thousands of new-generation centrifuges at the fortified underground plant."

This, according to the BBC, could mean the quicker production of enriched uranium, which can be used for both the generation of power and in developing nuclear weapons.

The BBC did not give any more details about the unnamed diplomat's knowledge of the Iran nuclear issue. The headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency are in Vienna.

Iran announced on February 15 that it inserted its first domestically produced nuclear fuel rods into a reactor in Tehran. The Iranian authorities also announced that it activated a new generation of centrifuges at its Natanz nuclear facility.

Iran says its nuclear work is for purely peaceful purposes. The West says that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons capabilities.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/iran_poised_to_expand_nuclear_program_bbc/24488940.html

Copyright (c) 2012. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.