VIDEO - Four days after sending back a rebellious but politely-couched answer to the West's 'stick and carrot' approach, and five days before the expiration of the UN's ultimatum to halt uranium enrichment, Tehran poured fuel on the fire regarding the issue of its nuclear development with the completion of a heavy water plant.
An official source announced the completion of the heavy water plant on Saturday. Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated the plant later the same day and issued a relevant statement.
Ahmadinejad said that Iran will not relinquish its right to a nuclear program and stated that the nation does not constitute a threat, not even to Israel. AFP reported that the president also declared that his country was willing to defend its right to nuclear development with force.
Iran insists that the heavy water plant, and its nuclear development program in general, is intended for energy, and not military purposes. However, Western countries fear the nation's nuclear development because it is possible to utilize the reactor's output, Plutonium, to build nuclear warheads.
Ahmadinejad inaugurates nuclear plant (Photo: AP)
Nuclear weapons can be produced using either Plutonium or highly enriched uranium as the explosive core. Either substance can be produced in the process of running a reactor. Reactors fueled by enriched Uranium use regular (or light) water as part of the energy producing chain reaction.
Heavy water, which contains a heavier Hydrogen particle, would allow Iran to use naturally mined Uranium, foregoing the enrichment process. The chief of the facility, Manouchehr Madadi, said that up to 16 tons of heavy water could be produced annually.
Earlier this week, a senior official involved in Iran's nuclear project stated that Iran was close to completion of the heavy water phase of nuclear development, but had not completed the reactor itself. The nuclear reactor has been under construction for years and it anticipated to be complete in 2009.
The source claimed that the project is intended for a number of industrial purposes and that the heavy water would not be used for military purposes. As such, he said, there was no reason for international monitors to supervise the project.
Western responses
A Western diplomat confirmed that the heavy water project is not being used for military purposes, but added that such an announcement, at a time when the crisis between Iran and the west regarding the nuclear issue is at its peak, is a catastrophic step.
Last Tuesday, Iran responded to the 'carrot and stick' offer of financial and diplomatic incentives, proposed by the five members of the UN Security Council and Germany, which was intended to goad Iran in halting its nuclear development without resorting to the use of sanctions.
Despite the fact that the proposal was extended in June, sources in Tehran refused to respond, causing the six nations to issue an ultimatum to Iran to stop enriching Uranium by August 31.
Iran's response to the proposal – a statement of over 20 pages, including questions and comments – arrived only in the past week and contained a "new formula" of dialogue between Iran and the west, which would assure the west of the peaceful motivations of Iran's nuclear project.
The response, which greatly disappointed the western recipients, is still being examined, although German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that the document "lacks even one decisive sentence" regarding a cessation of uranium enrichment. French Foreign Minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy concurred that Iran's response is insufficient.
AP and Reuters also contributed to this report
First published: 10:29, 08.26.6