December 17, 2007
Iran Watch: You've Got Fuel
So, Russia has just delivered the first shipment of 80 tons of uranium fuel rods to Iran's disputed Bushehr nuclear reactor. Now what?
Wait-and-see time, apparently. It is not clear how close the Bushehr facility is to full production capacity. A spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Agency said that Bushehr was 95-percent finished, according to the Los Angeles Times, but Iran has walked a tricky line between simultaneously exaggerating and denying its nuclear capacity for years.
Taking a question on Iran during a speech on the economy this morning, President Bush seemed to welcome news of the arrangement, but with a caveat.
"Interestingly enough, today Russia sent some enriched, or is in the process of sending enriched uranium to Iran to help on their civilian nuclear reactor. If that's the case, if the Russians are willing to do that -- which I support -- then the Iranians do not need to learn how to enrich," Bush said. "If the Iranians accept that uranium for a civilian nuclear power plant, then there's no need for them to learn how to enrich," he repeated.
Since the release of a new NIE report concluding Iran most likely stopped attempting to weaponize its nuclear material in 2003, there have been questions about what leverage the Bush administration has left in its bid to shutter Iran's nuclear program completely. Since the report, White House officials have seemed more flexible on Iran having a civilian nuclear energy program than ever before, but always on the condition that Iran disclose every detail of its covert nuclear activities -- something Tehran says is unnecessary given the NIE report.
Russia and China have nuclear energy deals with Tehran, and they are the most reluctant U.N. Security Council P-5 members to pull the sanctions trigger. In a statement, Moscow expressed confidence that Iran would use the fuel rods for peaceful purposes only. "All fuel that will be delivered will be under control and guarantees of the International Atomic Energy Agency for the whole time it stays on Iranian territory. The Iranian side gave additional written guarantees that the fuel will be used for the Bushehr nuclear power plant only," Russia's Foreign Ministry said.
The fuel will be processed at Bushehr, and then returned to Russia for further processing and storage, Moscow said.
Tehran has seized on the NIE report as a major vindication, but many in the intelligence community still believe that joining the nuclear club is that country's ultimate goal. Conservative hawks including former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton have harshly lambasted the Bush administration for allegedly being cowed by its enemies and the international community. Washington struck a deal with North Korea earlier this fall to revive oil aid after Pyongyang agreed to eventually disable its nukes -- a promise it has made and broken before.
"His foreign policy is in free fall. The president is acting against his own judgment and instincts [and is] under the influence of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice," Bolton said in a magazine interview published Sunday. Bush "does not supervise her enough. That is a mistake," Bolton continued.
Rice has been credited with setting a more internationalist tone in White House foreign policy, which is most strongly evident in its renewed attempts to broker a two-state Mideast plan. Today, Rice helped secure $7.4 billion in pledged donations to go toward helping build an independent Palestinian state.
Posted at 5:20 PM
Posted to:
Asia, Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, Iran, Israel, Middle East, North Korea, Palestinians, President Bush, Russia
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