At a Senate Banking committee hearing Thursday, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman explained steps involved in the p-five-plus-one joint agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear program.
Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.
To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.
FILE – In this April 8, 2008, file photo released by the Iranian President’s Office, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, listens to a technician during his visit of the Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility some 200 miles (322 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran. Seven-nation talks on a deal meant to start a rollback of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief were delayed Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013, as senior envoys from both sides wrestled with a draft they hoped would be acceptable to both Tehran and its six world powers negotiating with it. (AP Photo/Iranian Presidents office, File)
FILE – In this April 8, 2008, file photo released by the Iranian President’s Office, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, listens to a technician during his visit of the Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility some 200 miles (322 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran. Seven-nation talks on a deal meant to start a rollback of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief were delayed Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013, as senior envoys from both sides wrestled with a draft they hoped would be acceptable to both Tehran and its six world powers negotiating with it. (AP Photo/Iranian Presidents office, File)
| Buy AP Photo Reprints | ||
|
For more than a decade — through standoffs and outreach — the cornerstone of Iran’s nuclear disputes with the West has been uranium enrichment, which is the central process in turning concentrated uranium into nuclear fuel. Negotiators in Geneva must balance opposing interests: Demands by the U.S. and allies for limits and controls over how far Iran can take its program and Tehran’s insistence to maintain its self-sufficiency over every step of the nuclear process from uranium mines to reactor cores. Enrichment also is at the forefront of criticism by Israel and its backers in the West who fear leaving Iran even with the basic technology to make reactor fuel, which is the pathway for possible weapons-grade material.
___
Q: WHAT IS URANIUM ENRICHMENT?
A: It is the process of turning uranium gas feedstock into nuclear fuel. It’s done with centrifuges that separate and concentrate the uranium. About 3.5 percent enrichment is needed for an energy-producing reactor such as Iran’s Russian-build plant at Bushehr on the Persian Gulf coast. Higher levels of enrichment, about 20 percent, are needed for research reactors that produce isotopes for cancer treatment and other applications, such as agricultural to enhance fertilizers. Iran has one main research reactor.
___
Q: SO WHY THE WORRY ABOUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS?
A: Because uranium enriched to 20 percent is only several steps away from being boosted to weapons-grade levels at more than 90 percent. Iran says it has no intention of building a bomb. But the West and others worry that Iran could one day start a fast-track weapons program with its stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium or stop just short of making weapons and become a de facto nuclear armed state.
___
Q: WHY WON’T IRAN GIVE UP ENRICHMENT?
A: This is what Iran has frequently called its “red line” in the nuclear talks. Iran’s leaders say they will never relinquish control over the entire nuclear cycle as a matter of national pride. Iran portrays itself as an emerging technological giant of the Islamic world. The nuclear energy program is a pillar of Iran’s self-image as center of scientific advances independent of the West. Iran has made some other important strides, including claims of sophisticated drone development, a homegrown auto industry and an aerospace program that officials say has sent rockets to the edge of space with animals aboard.
___
Q: WHERE IS THEIR ROOM FOR COMPROMISE?
A: Iran says it could discuss capping the level of enrichment at 5 percent or lower. Such a promise would also require additional monitoring by the U.N.’s nuclear watchdogs, the International Atomic Energy Agency, which already visits many Iranian nuclear sites. Keeping the enrichment labs at lower capacities would add more time to watch for any breakout attempts at higher levels. It also would freeze the stockpile of 20 percent, currently about 200 kilograms (440 pounds). Iran also could agree to accelerate the transformation of the 20 percent enriched uranium into reactor-ready state, which effectively takes it out of the loop for further enrichment.
___
Q: IS IT POSSIBLE TO MAKE A BOMB WITH ENRICHMENT AT 5 PERCENT OR LOWER?
A: No. But Israel and others worry that giving Iran the capacity to enrich could open the door to a secret program for higher levels someday. Iran denies this.
___
Q: IS IRAN CORRECT IN CALLING ENRICHMENT A “RIGHT?”
A: Iran is a signer of the U.N.’s Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which governs the spread of atomic technology. But the document does not specifically spell out any “rights” for enrichment. Iran, however, sees its support of the treaty as granting it the “right” of enrichment. The U.S. and allies have balked at Iran’s previous demands to acknowledge the “right” of the enrichment. Instead, the West appears to support the position that Iran can continue some level of enrichment, but only under strict U.N. monitoring.
___
Q: WHEN DID IRAN START ENRICHMENT?
A: It was announced in 2006, but enrichment was part of the nuclear disputes between Iran and the West for more than a decade. In late 2003, Iran agreed to suspend its work on installing centrifuges and related facilities as part of nuclear talks with European envoys. The negotiations faltered and Iran moved ahead with its enrichment plans.
___
Q: WHERE ARE IRAN’S ENRICHMENT SITES?
A: Iran has two main uranium enrichment facilities. The oldest and largest — in Natanz, about 260 kilometers (160 miles) southeast of Tehran — is largely built underground and is surrounded by anti-aircraft batteries. Uranium enrichment began in 2006. Another site is known as Fordo, which is built into a mountainside south of Tehran. Its construction was kept secret by Iran until it was disclosed in September 2009 in a pre-emptive move before its existence was revealed by Western intelligence agencies. The area is heavily protected by the Revolutionary Guard. U.N. nuclear inspectors have visited both sides and have installed round-the-clock monitoring systems.
___
Q: HOW MANY OTHER COUNTRIES ENRICH URANIUM?
A: More than a dozen countries have enrichment programs, but several of those do not have nuclear weapons.
After three long days, negotiations over Iran’s controversial nuclear program have wrapped up with no deal — though the key players remain hopeful.
Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.
To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.
After three long days, negotiations over Iran’s controversial nuclear program have wrapped up with no deal — though the key players remain hopeful.
Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.
To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.
It’s becoming obvious that there is going to be precious little to talk about with Iran by the time negotiations start over its nuclear program.
That’s because they’ve ruled out even discussing the halt of uranium enrichment – a condition Israel demands be met – and now they see no need to ship out their processed nuclear material prior to talks, despite this being a long standing US condition.
Gee – it’s like they want to fool us into thinking they’re reasonable, or something.
Iran on Sunday rejected the West’s demand to send sensitive nuclear material out of the country but signaled flexibility on other aspects of its atomic activities that worry world powers, ahead of renewed negotiations this week.
Talks about Iran’s nuclear programme, due to start in Geneva on Tuesday, will be the first since the election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who has tried to improve relations with the West to pave a way for lifting economic sanctions.
Rouhani’s election in June to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has raised hopes of a negotiated solution to a decade-old dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme that could otherwise trigger a new war in the volatile Middle East.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi’s comments on Sunday may disappoint Western officials, who want Iran to ship out uranium enriched to a fissile concentration of 20 percent, a short technical step away from weapons-grade material.
However, Araqchi, who will join the talks in Switzerland, was less hardline about other areas of uranium enrichment, which Tehran says is for peaceful nuclear fuel purposes but the West fears may be aimed at developing nuclear weapons capability.
“Of course we will negotiate regarding the form, amount, and various levels of (uranium) enrichment, but the shipping of materials out of the country is our red line,” he was quoted as saying on state television’s website.
In negotiations since early 2012, world powers have demanded that Iran suspend 20-percent enrichment, send some of its existing uranium stockpiles abroad and shutter the Fordow underground site, where most higher-grade enrichment is done.
In return, they offered to lift sanctions on trade in gold, precious metals and petrochemicals but Iran, which wants oil and banking restrictions to be removed, has dismissed that offer. It says it needs 20-percent uranium for a medical research reactor.
However, Araqchi’s statement may be “the usual pre-negotiation posturing”, said Middle East specialist Shashank Joshi at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London.
“It is easy to imagine a compromise whereby Iran would ship out only some of its uranium, allowing the negotiating team to claim a victory. There are many potential compromises that will be explored,” Joshi told Reuters.
“Compromises?” That’s pretty delusional. Iran is not going to give anything up that would prevent it from building a bomb out of pre-existing parts that could be assembled in a matter of weeks. That includes enriched uranium.
We’ll see what other delusions the administration is suffering from relating to Iran when the talks get underway.
Hours after an Israeli newspaper quoted a government security source saying that Iran already has at least one nuclear bomb, Israel’s leading Arab affairs analyst offered only a slightly less dramatic assessment, saying the regime in Tehran was no more than “one to two months away” from having sufficient 92% enriched uranium to build its first bomb.
Ehud Yaari, the veteran analyst of Israel’s top-rated Channel 2 TV News, added that Iran also had more sophisticated centrifuges becoming available soon that could cut that time down to just “two or three weeks.”
On the same program, military analyst Roni Daniel derided the possibility of the “weak” US President Barack Obama holding firm in the face of the charm offensive mounted by new Iranian President Hasan Rouhani during his first foray onto the global stage at the UN General Assembly this week. Israel retained the capability to thwart Iran’s attainment of nuclear weapons, Daniel said.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, speaking from the UN, said the world should not “melt” in the face of Rouhani’s new moderate rhetoric, and that it was vital that the international community not “forget” the imperative to stop Iran getting the bomb.
Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who held unprecedented talks Thursday with his US counterpart John Kerry, posted a Facebook message saying Israel was “isolated” in its hard line on Iran. Under orders from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who himself will speak at the General Assembly on Tuesday, the Israeli delegation boycotted Rouhani’s General Assembly speech last Tuesday — the only delegation to do so. Netanyahu has warned the world not to be “fooled” by Iran’s moderate rhetoric.
Rouhani has made plain this week that Iran seeks to have economic sanctions lifted. Yaari said Friday that Rouhani wants to freeze the nuclear program at a level that would enable it to break out to the bomb within weeks if it so chose.
Earlier Friday, the Maariv daily quoted government analysts saying that the Islamic Republic already possesses at least one bomb.
The paper’s Shalom Yerushalmi wrote that “government security sources up to date on development in Iran,” told him recently that Tehran has crossed all points of no return and already has its first nuclear weapon, and maybe more.
That report marked the first time a government official had been quoted saying Iran already has a nuclear weapon. No sources in the piece were named.
The information, if true, would mark a major shift in international relations and would be a game changer in terms of a regional power balance.
“It’s too late for Israel [to prevent an Iranian bomb]. Iran has crossed all the borders and all the constraints, and it has a first nuclear bomb in its possession, and maybe more than that,” Yerushalmi wrote, basing himself on what he says is the assessment he heard this week from state security sources. ”We are facing a historic change in the strategic balance of forces in the region.”
He then quoted a source who he says is deeply familiar with what he calls the relentless war against the Iranians. “This is no longer about how to prevent a bomb,” the source was quoted saying, “but about how to prevent its being launched, and what to do if and when.”
Yerushalmi, still basing himself on the anonymous security sources’ assessment, went on to compare the current behavior of Iran’s Supreme leader Ali Khamenei, and Rouhani, in their interactions with the West, to a soccer coach at the end of a hard-fought match which he knows he has now won. The Iranian leadership is behaving with the air of “those who have achieved their target, and therefore can today afford to be more generous and to offer new (self-serving) messages.” The Iranian leadership can afford to be friendlier, he wrote, “because victory has been secured.”
Maariv led its Friday paper with a photograph of a smiling Rouhani, alongside the headline, “What’s hiding behind the smile,” and a sub-headline quoting the security sources saying Iran now has “at least one bomb.” It then added that most in the security establishment, however, still believes that this “nightmare scenario has not yet been realized.”
While most Western countries believe Iran’s nuclear program is intended for military purposes, officials in Israel, the US and elsewhere say Tehran has yet to “break out” toward a bomb, a process that could take over a year.
Iran, which on Thursday agreed to renewed talks with world powers on curbing its nuclear program, says its program is for peaceful purposes.
Iranian and UN officials held what they said was a “constructive” meeting on Friday in New York, and agreed to meet again on October 28.
Hours after an Israeli newspaper quoted a government security source saying that Iran already has at least one nuclear bomb, Israel’s leading Arab affairs analyst offered only a slightly less dramatic assessment, saying the regime in Tehran was no more than “one to two months away” from having sufficient 92% enriched uranium to build its first bomb.
Ehud Yaari, the veteran analyst of Israel’s top-rated Channel 2 TV News, added that Iran also had more sophisticated centrifuges becoming available soon that could cut that time down to just “two or three weeks.”
On the same program, military analyst Roni Daniel derided the possibility of the “weak” US President Barack Obama holding firm in the face of the charm offensive mounted by new Iranian President Hasan Rouhani during his first foray onto the global stage at the UN General Assembly this week. Israel retained the capability to thwart Iran’s attainment of nuclear weapons, Daniel said.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, speaking from the UN, said the world should not “melt” in the face of Rouhani’s new moderate rhetoric, and that it was vital that the international community not “forget” the imperative to stop Iran getting the bomb.
Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who held unprecedented talks Thursday with his US counterpart John Kerry, posted a Facebook message saying Israel was “isolated” in its hard line on Iran. Under orders from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who himself will speak at the General Assembly on Tuesday, the Israeli delegation boycotted Rouhani’s General Assembly speech last Tuesday — the only delegation to do so. Netanyahu has warned the world not to be “fooled” by Iran’s moderate rhetoric.
Rouhani has made plain this week that Iran seeks to have economic sanctions lifted. Yaari said Friday that Rouhani wants to freeze the nuclear program at a level that would enable it to break out to the bomb within weeks if it so chose.
Earlier Friday, the Maariv daily quoted government analysts saying that the Islamic Republic already possesses at least one bomb.
The paper’s Shalom Yerushalmi wrote that “government security sources up to date on development in Iran,” told him recently that Tehran has crossed all points of no return and already has its first nuclear weapon, and maybe more.
That report marked the first time a government official had been quoted saying Iran already has a nuclear weapon. No sources in the piece were named.
The information, if true, would mark a major shift in international relations and would be a game changer in terms of a regional power balance.
“It’s too late for Israel [to prevent an Iranian bomb]. Iran has crossed all the borders and all the constraints, and it has a first nuclear bomb in its possession, and maybe more than that,” Yerushalmi wrote, basing himself on what he says is the assessment he heard this week from state security sources. ”We are facing a historic change in the strategic balance of forces in the region.”
He then quoted a source who he says is deeply familiar with what he calls the relentless war against the Iranians. “This is no longer about how to prevent a bomb,” the source was quoted saying, “but about how to prevent its being launched, and what to do if and when.”
Yerushalmi, still basing himself on the anonymous security sources’ assessment, went on to compare the current behavior of Iran’s Supreme leader Ali Khamenei, and Rouhani, in their interactions with the West, to a soccer coach at the end of a hard-fought match which he knows he has now won. The Iranian leadership is behaving with the air of “those who have achieved their target, and therefore can today afford to be more generous and to offer new (self-serving) messages.” The Iranian leadership can afford to be friendlier, he wrote, “because victory has been secured.”
Maariv led its Friday paper with a photograph of a smiling Rouhani, alongside the headline, “What’s hiding behind the smile,” and a sub-headline quoting the security sources saying Iran now has “at least one bomb.” It then added that most in the security establishment, however, still believes that this “nightmare scenario has not yet been realized.”
While most Western countries believe Iran’s nuclear program is intended for military purposes, officials in Israel, the US and elsewhere say Tehran has yet to “break out” toward a bomb, a process that could take over a year.
Iran, which on Thursday agreed to renewed talks with world powers on curbing its nuclear program, says its program is for peaceful purposes.
Iranian and UN officials held what they said was a “constructive” meeting on Friday in New York, and agreed to meet again on October 28.
Hours after an Israeli newspaper quoted a government security source saying that Iran already has at least one nuclear bomb, Israel’s leading Arab affairs analyst offered only a slightly less dramatic assessment, saying the regime in Tehran was no more than “one to two months away” from having sufficient 92% enriched uranium to build its first bomb.
Ehud Yaari, the veteran analyst of Israel’s top-rated Channel 2 TV News, added that Iran also had more sophisticated centrifuges becoming available soon that could cut that time down to just “two or three weeks.”
On the same program, military analyst Roni Daniel derided the possibility of the “weak” US President Barack Obama holding firm in the face of the charm offensive mounted by new Iranian President Hasan Rouhani during his first foray onto the global stage at the UN General Assembly this week. Israel retained the capability to thwart Iran’s attainment of nuclear weapons, Daniel said.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, speaking from the UN, said the world should not “melt” in the face of Rouhani’s new moderate rhetoric, and that it was vital that the international community not “forget” the imperative to stop Iran getting the bomb.
Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who held unprecedented talks Thursday with his US counterpart John Kerry, posted a Facebook message saying Israel was “isolated” in its hard line on Iran. Under orders from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who himself will speak at the General Assembly on Tuesday, the Israeli delegation boycotted Rouhani’s General Assembly speech last Tuesday — the only delegation to do so. Netanyahu has warned the world not to be “fooled” by Iran’s moderate rhetoric.
Rouhani has made plain this week that Iran seeks to have economic sanctions lifted. Yaari said Friday that Rouhani wants to freeze the nuclear program at a level that would enable it to break out to the bomb within weeks if it so chose.
Earlier Friday, the Maariv daily quoted government analysts saying that the Islamic Republic already possesses at least one bomb.
The paper’s Shalom Yerushalmi wrote that “government security sources up to date on development in Iran,” told him recently that Tehran has crossed all points of no return and already has its first nuclear weapon, and maybe more.
That report marked the first time a government official had been quoted saying Iran already has a nuclear weapon. No sources in the piece were named.
The information, if true, would mark a major shift in international relations and would be a game changer in terms of a regional power balance.
“It’s too late for Israel [to prevent an Iranian bomb]. Iran has crossed all the borders and all the constraints, and it has a first nuclear bomb in its possession, and maybe more than that,” Yerushalmi wrote, basing himself on what he says is the assessment he heard this week from state security sources. ”We are facing a historic change in the strategic balance of forces in the region.”
He then quoted a source who he says is deeply familiar with what he calls the relentless war against the Iranians. “This is no longer about how to prevent a bomb,” the source was quoted saying, “but about how to prevent its being launched, and what to do if and when.”
Yerushalmi, still basing himself on the anonymous security sources’ assessment, went on to compare the current behavior of Iran’s Supreme leader Ali Khamenei, and Rouhani, in their interactions with the West, to a soccer coach at the end of a hard-fought match which he knows he has now won. The Iranian leadership is behaving with the air of “those who have achieved their target, and therefore can today afford to be more generous and to offer new (self-serving) messages.” The Iranian leadership can afford to be friendlier, he wrote, “because victory has been secured.”
Maariv led its Friday paper with a photograph of a smiling Rouhani, alongside the headline, “What’s hiding behind the smile,” and a sub-headline quoting the security sources saying Iran now has “at least one bomb.” It then added that most in the security establishment, however, still believes that this “nightmare scenario has not yet been realized.”
While most Western countries believe Iran’s nuclear program is intended for military purposes, officials in Israel, the US and elsewhere say Tehran has yet to “break out” toward a bomb, a process that could take over a year.
Iran, which on Thursday agreed to renewed talks with world powers on curbing its nuclear program, says its program is for peaceful purposes.
Iranian and UN officials held what they said was a “constructive” meeting on Friday in New York, and agreed to meet again on October 28.
HONG KONG — One day after a rare public protest, Chinese authorities said Saturday that they were abandoning plans to construct a uranium processing plant in southeastern China, where residents raised concerns about its safety and potential environmental impact.
The decision not to proceed with the plant in Guangdong Province, less than 60 miles from Hong Kong, came after hundreds of people turned out on Friday and “took a walk” through the city of Jiangmen carrying banners showing their opposition to the proposed plant, which would have been capable of processing half the fuel needed for China’s nuclear power needs. Unsanctioned gatherings are banned in China, but participants said the police did not intervene to stop the protest.
The Jiangmen City government Web site said Saturday the project had been “canceled,” and Southern Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party in Guangdong, said the decision was made “out of respect for public opinion.”
The protest in Jiangmen was the latest display of growing public disquiet about environmental hazards, which could frustrate China’s ambitious plans for nuclear power and technology. The catastrophic failures at nuclear power plants in Fukushima, Japan, in 2011, also kindled anxiety in China about its expansion of nuclear power.
That expansion is a major part of China’s plans to decrease reliance on coal, and the government has indicated that by 2020 it wants nuclear reactors to provide about 5 percent or more of the country’s power, up from about 2 percent now.
The government has also faced widespread public outcry over the air pollution enshrouding Beijing and many other major Chinese cities, forcing officials to begin instituting a series of measures to try to control emissions.
Word of the planned protest against the proposed Guangdong plant had spread rapidly in recent days on Chinese social media despite government attempts to censor the discussion on Sina Weibo, China’s version of Twitter. Opponents were also planning another protest for Sunday.
Some opponents were outraged the public was given only 10 days to comment on the plans, while others said they were upset that the public had no apparent role in deciding where the plant would be located.
