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Iranian nuclear reactor (Archive photo: AP)
Photo: AP

Foreign Ministry: Iran continuing its deception over nuclear program

'Israel once again calls on members of the international community to step up their pressure on Iran,' Foreign Ministry says following release of fresh IAEA report on Islamic Republic's nuclear activity

"Iran is continuing with its deceptive and evasive tactics," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in reference to claims made by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) according to which the Islamic Republic may be withholding information needed to establish whether it tried to make nuclear arms.

 

"The report expresses Iran's continued breach of the UN Security Council's resolutions and stresses the military aspects of its nuclear activity," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

 

"Israel calls once again on members of the international community to step up their pressure on Iran so that it will abandon its threatening program to obtain nuclear arms."

 

According to the IAEA report, Iran is refusing to cooperate with nuclear inspectors, continues to deny claims that it seeks to develop a nuclear bomb and is ignoring the Security Council's demand that it halt its uranium enrichment activities.

 

The IAEA report noted Iran now had only 3,500 centrifuges and said the few advanced machines actually running were only in a testing phase. Still the senior U.N. official said Iran's goal of 6,000 machines running by the summer was "pretty much plausible."

 

Uranium can be used as nuclear reactor fuel or as the core for atomic warheads, depending on the degree of enrichment.

 

Running smoothly, 3,000 centrifuges could produce enough nuclear material for a bomb within 18 months. But Iran insists it is only working to produce fuel for reactors that will generate electricity and says it has a right to conduct enrichment for such purposes under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

 

AP contributed to the report

 


פרסום ראשון: 05.27.08, 21:11
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