Russia: Iran Not Ready to Enrich Uranium

The Jerusalem Post:

Iran does not have the immediate capacity to enrich uranium, despite warning it may do so in retaliation for a push to refer it to the UN Security Council, Russia's minister of atomic energy and Vienna-based diplomats said on Tuesday. READ MORE

They spoke amid renewed threats from Tehran to start enrichment, which can be used to produce either nuclear fuel or the fissile core of warheads, in retaliation for a decision by the International Atomic Energy Agency board to haul Iran before the UN's top decision-making body as early as November.

The board on Saturday adopted a resolution finding that Iran's past covert activities left it in noncompliance with provisions of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. But it deferred a decision on referral to give Tehran time to meet board demands, which included a call on Iran to end uranium conversion - a precursor of enrichment - and commit to freezing all enrichment plans.

On Tuesday, Iran threatened to resume uranium enrichment and block UN inspections of its nuclear facilities unless the IAEA board - and EU countries that drafted the resolution - stepped back from its resolution.