Iran's Nuclear Agenda

Claude Salhani, UPI:

As Iran's newly elected president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in New York to attend the U.N. general assembly he was met by a flurry of protests and warnings that the Islamic republic is being seen as a growing threat to the United States. READ MORE

Iran, reveals a "white paper" released by the Iran Policy Committee, a group lobbying Washington to take action on Iran, is far more threatening towards the United States today following the election of Ahmadinejad. The Committee, as well as groups of Iranians opposed to the theocratic regime in Tehran, see Ahmadinejad's victory as consolidating the power of the mullahs under the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The IPC reminded during a press conference Tuesday that "Iran has unilaterally violated its prior commitments and has resumed enrichment-related activities at the Isfahan Uranium Conversion Facility, posing a serious challenge to the international community."

The White Paper focuses on revelations, not known before, of the "Iranian regime's efforts to destabilize Iraq and sabotage American attempts to spread democracy in the Middle East." The Paper also reflects the outcome of an IPC Task Force that investigated Iranian opposition groups' capabilities and allegations, and made new policy recommendations.

Meanwhile, Ali Safavi, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, gave a press conference in Brussels, where he pointed out that Tehran intends to pursue its nuclear ambitions.

The Iranian opposition group claims to have come across information that in order to obtain weapons grade uranium, "the Iranian regime has been concentrating on building 5,000 centrifuge machines as the first phase toward the ultimate goal of building 50,000 such machines, subsequent to previous revelations by the NCRI concerning the directive by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to continue the manufacture of centrifuge machines in blatant breach of the Paris Agreement."

The Iranian opposition group claims that the Supreme National Security Council's nuclear committee discussed this matter. "In order to expedite the advancement of nuclear projects and the procurement of enriched uranium, those in charge focus on starting up a limited number of centrifuges to obtain enriched uranium as quickly as possible. As such, the regime would be able to obtain enriched uranium for several nuclear bombs in a shorter time frame."

Safavi recalled that "Natanz was designed to house 50,000 centrifuge machines, but their manufacture is taking place in several stages. The first phase involves the manufacture of 5,000 machines."

Safavi claims "the regime has completed testing on nearly two-thirds of these centrifuges and is working rapidly to prepare other requirements to install them at Natanz." It named engineer Mohammadi, a Defense Ministry centrifuge expert, who regularly visits Natanz, to ensure the preparatory work is carried out according to plans.

Tehran, said the Iranian dissident, "smuggled the engines for the centrifuges from China through Dubai in the past two years." He went on to say that "orders for the production of one of the most sensitive part of a centrifuge machine, Copper-Beryllium Cup of Bottom Bearing, has been placed at one of Defense Ministry's cover companies."

A secret company in the Defense Ministry's Defense Industries group, called "Precision machines and equipment" is also involved in building parts and assembling centrifuges.

In addition to companies affiliated with the Defense Ministry, several cover companies that are involved in the manufacture and testing of centrifuges are located in a seven-story building in Tehran that is owned by Atomic Energy Organization of Iran; he gives the address as Seyyed Jamal ad-Din Assad-Abadi Street, 15th Street, number 33, Tehran.

While the regime's experts believe that only 1,000 centrifuges are needed to produce highly enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb, building 5,000 provides the necessary cover to pursue military aims.

Safavi reminded that "if the international community, in particular the IAEA, does not move to refer Iran's nuclear file to the U.N. Security Council, the world would be in a perilous situation."

There is even more urgency today given the 22-month negotiations with the EU-3 -- Britain, France and Germany -- provided ample opportunity and precious time to Tehran "to continue and complete many of its nuclear programs."

The representative of the Iranian Resistance group stressed there was "no longer any justification to delay the referral of Iran's nuclear dossier to the Security Council. We welcome the fact that the EU-3 has finally, after wasting 22 months, came to the conclusion that the negotiations were fruitless and that Iran must be referred to the Security Council."

"Time is of the essence," said Safavi. "The Tehran regime must not be allowed to use its oil revenues to fund its secret and dangerous nuclear projects."