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01-16-2006, 03:52 PM
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Saudis warn Iran on nuke 'disaster'
Correspondents in London and Washington
17jan06
SAUDI Arabia broke its silence yesterday in the growing row between the West and Iran by warning Tehran that its nuclear ambitions could bring disaster to the region.
Prince Saud al-Faisal, the veteran Saudi Foreign Minister, criticised President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration, urging him to forgo atomic energy, to moderate his foreign policy and resist the temptation of interfering in Iraq.
The comments came as Britain's Daily Telegraph reported that Iranian scientists were expected to start work this week on the highly technical task of enriching tonnes of uranium to a level where it could be used in the production of atomic weapons.
Reports received by Western intelligence agencies show the work is to be undertaken at the top-secret Natanz uranium enrichment facility 140km northeast of Tehran.
Intelligence sources told the paper Iran would begin feeding converted uranium into 164 centrifuges at Natanz this week. That could enable it to create enriched uranium of sufficient quality for nuclear weapons production within three years.
Previous estimates of the minimum time required had ranged from five to 10 years.
In Washington, US senator John McCain called the standoff with Tehran the biggest international crisis in more than a decade and said the US must be prepared to take military action.
"This is the most grave situation that we have faced since the end of the Cold War, absent the whole war on terror," Senator McCain said.
The US presidential aspirant said the military commitments in Iraq should not allow the US to rule out responding with force against Iran.
"We must go to the UN now for sanctions," he said. "If the Russians and the Chinese, for reasons that would be abominable, do not join us, then we would have to go with the willing."
Senator McCain said Iran posed a greater threat to US security than Iraq.
"The difference between Iraq and Iran is that Saddam Hussein had us all fooled, including his own generals, about having weapons of mass destruction. I think it's pretty clear in the mind of any expert that Iranians are about to acquire them," he said.
Senior officials from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany were to hold closed-door talks overnight regarding Iran's resumption of controversial nuclear activities.
Representatives of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the US were expected to set a date for an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board of governors, which could refer Iran to the UN Security Council.
Britain, France and Germany, which led drawn-out negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, said last week the talks were dead and called for UN referral after Tehran broke IAEA seals at three nuclear plants to resume uranium enrichment research.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said he was unable to confirm whether Iran's controversial nuclear program was peaceful.
"For the last three years we have been doing intensive verification in Iran, and even after three years I am not yet in a position to make a judgment on the peaceful nature of the (nuclear) program," he told Newsweek.
"If they have the nuclear material and they have a parallel weaponisation program along the way, they are really not very far -- a few months -- from a weapon," he warned.
Prince Saud spoke for many in the Arab world when he cautioned of the dangers of a regional arms race. "We are urging Iran to accept the position that we have taken to make the Gulf, as part of the Middle East, nuclear free and free of weapons of mass destruction," he said.
The problem stemmed from Israel being allowed to build nuclear warheads, prompting others to follow suit, he said.
In spite of suggestions that Saudi Arabia might seek to build its own nuclear deterrent if Iran acquired an atomic bomb, Prince Saud insisted that Riyadh was determined not to.
While the international community is largely in favour of allowing Iran to develop a civilian nuclear power industry, Prince Saud said that even this was potentially dangerous, a clear reference to the nuclear reactor being built at Bushehr in Iran.
"(The Iranian reactor) is on the Gulf and being built with Russian technology. Just think if a Chernobyl accident happened here." Prince Saud described Mr Ahmadinejad's statements as extreme and urged him to continue the policies of his moderate predecessor, Muhammad Khatami.
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No Confidence in Russian Technology!!!!
Saudis warn Iran on nuke 'disaster'
Correspondents in London and Washington
17jan06
SAUDI Arabia broke its silence yesterday in the growing row between the West and Iran by warning Tehran that its nuclear ambitions could bring disaster to the region.
Prince Saud al-Faisal, the veteran Saudi Foreign Minister, criticised President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration, urging him to forgo atomic energy, to moderate his foreign policy and resist the temptation of interfering in Iraq.
The comments came as Britain's Daily Telegraph reported that Iranian scientists were expected to start work this week on the highly technical task of enriching tonnes of uranium to a level where it could be used in the production of atomic weapons.
Reports received by Western intelligence agencies show the work is to be undertaken at the top-secret Natanz uranium enrichment facility 140km northeast of Tehran.
Intelligence sources told the paper Iran would begin feeding converted uranium into 164 centrifuges at Natanz this week. That could enable it to create enriched uranium of sufficient quality for nuclear weapons production within three years.
Previous estimates of the minimum time required had ranged from five to 10 years.
In Washington, US senator John McCain called the standoff with Tehran the biggest international crisis in more than a decade and said the US must be prepared to take military action.
"This is the most grave situation that we have faced since the end of the Cold War, absent the whole war on terror," Senator McCain said.
The US presidential aspirant said the military commitments in Iraq should not allow the US to rule out responding with force against Iran.
"We must go to the UN now for sanctions," he said. "If the Russians and the Chinese, for reasons that would be abominable, do not join us, then we would have to go with the willing."
Senator McCain said Iran posed a greater threat to US security than Iraq.
"The difference between Iraq and Iran is that Saddam Hussein had us all fooled, including his own generals, about having weapons of mass destruction. I think it's pretty clear in the mind of any expert that Iranians are about to acquire them," he said.
Senior officials from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany were to hold closed-door talks overnight regarding Iran's resumption of controversial nuclear activities.
Representatives of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the US were expected to set a date for an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board of governors, which could refer Iran to the UN Security Council.
Britain, France and Germany, which led drawn-out negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, said last week the talks were dead and called for UN referral after Tehran broke IAEA seals at three nuclear plants to resume uranium enrichment research.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said he was unable to confirm whether Iran's controversial nuclear program was peaceful.
"For the last three years we have been doing intensive verification in Iran, and even after three years I am not yet in a position to make a judgment on the peaceful nature of the (nuclear) program," he told Newsweek.
"If they have the nuclear material and they have a parallel weaponisation program along the way, they are really not very far -- a few months -- from a weapon," he warned.
Prince Saud spoke for many in the Arab world when he cautioned of the dangers of a regional arms race. "We are urging Iran to accept the position that we have taken to make the Gulf, as part of the Middle East, nuclear free and free of weapons of mass destruction," he said.
The problem stemmed from Israel being allowed to build nuclear warheads, prompting others to follow suit, he said.
In spite of suggestions that Saudi Arabia might seek to build its own nuclear deterrent if Iran acquired an atomic bomb, Prince Saud insisted that Riyadh was determined not to.
While the international community is largely in favour of allowing Iran to develop a civilian nuclear power industry, Prince Saud said that even this was potentially dangerous, a clear reference to the nuclear reactor being built at Bushehr in Iran.
"(The Iranian reactor) is on the Gulf and being built with Russian technology. Just think if a Chernobyl accident happened here." Prince Saud described Mr Ahmadinejad's statements as extreme and urged him to continue the policies of his moderate predecessor, Muhammad Khatami.
privacy (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0)) terms (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0)) © The Australian
No Confidence in Russian Technology!!!!