(AP) IAEA: Iran May Have Halted Nuke Program

[Eugene]

Associated Press
IAEA: Iran May Have Halted Nuke Program
By GEORGE JAHN 03.05.07, 5:06 PM ET

Iran seems to have at least temporarily halted the uranium-enrichment program
at the heart of its standoff with the U.N. Security Council, the head of the
International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday.

The pause could represent an attempt to de-escalate Iran's conflict with the
Security Council, which is deliberating a new set of harsher sanctions on the
Islamic Republic.

-snip-

Hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been expected to announce last
month that Iran had started installing 3,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges at a
facility in the desert outside the central city of Natanz, where it has about
500 centrifuges above and below ground. But the announcement never
materialized, an apparent step back that IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei
appeared to confirm Monday.

-snip-

ElBaradei, whose agency has spent more than four years probing Tehran's
nuclear activities, warned that, despite the new bit of positive news, lack of
Iranian cooperation left the IAEA unable to establish that Tehran's nuclear
activities were purely peaceful.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/03/05/ap3486576.html

[DemKR]

1. I hope this is true

[oblivious]

2. As usual, AP leaves out key info that doesn't meet the current propaganda needs.

"We have not seen concrete proof of diversion of nuclear material, nor the industrial capacity to produce weapons-usable nuclear material, which is an important consideration in assessing the risk," said ElBaradei.

"But quite a few uncertainties remain about experiments, procurements and other activities," he added.

...He (Iranian envoy Ali Asghar Soltanieh) greeted ElBaradei's comments as proof that Iran had not diverted nuclear materials for "military purposes."

"This is the best documentation to prove our assertion that our activities are exclusively for peaceful purposes," Soltanieh told reporters.

"Iran will never give up its inalienable right for peaceful uses of nuclear energy ... but Iran is fully prepared to sit down at the negotiating table in order to remove any ambiguities about our nuclear activities," he said.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=80177

[kestrel91316]

3. Hmph. Like this is going to stop Bush from attacking....................

[maddezmom]

4. Iran denies halt to uranium enrichment

Iran denies halt to uranium enrichment By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer
10 minutes ago



TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's foreign minister denied Tuesday the remark of the U.N. nuclear chief that his country has temporarily slowed its nuclear program, insisting that Iran's enrichment of uranium was continuing unabated.

"Iran's legitimate activities with the aim of producing fuel ... is contining its natural trend," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told a press conference. "There has been no change in that course."

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said Monday that Iran appeared to have at least temporarily paused on the development of its uranium enrichment program. Enriched uranium is used to fuel nuclear power stations and, taken to a higher degree, can be used in the manufacture of nuclear bombs.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070306/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_nuclear;_ylt=Ak9I1zeMBl9f8Qg6G61Rh51vaA8F

[CJCRANE]

5. Maybe

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia put him in the picture when they had that little chat last week...