Centrifuge Parts Plant Outside IAEA Jurisdiction: Iran
Iran on Tuesday said the International Atomic Energy Agency is not entitled to audit the nation's Taba plant, which it has acknowledged was producing components for uranium enrichment centrifuges, the Fars News Agency reported (see GSN, April 12).The United States and other countries suspect Iran's uranium enrichment program is geared toward producing nuclear-weapon material, but Tehran has insisted its atomic ambitions are strictly peaceful.
"Inspection of parts manufacturing factories is not included in the undertakings enshrined in the [Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty] comprehensive safeguard agreements," said Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Tehran's envoy to the U.N. nuclear watchdog. "The NPT merely requires inspection of centrifuge machines" (Fars News Agency, April 12).
Iranian Atomic Energy Organization head Fereidoun Abbasi said IAEA officials carry out "regular and even snap" audits of Iran's enrichment sites, the Xinhua News Agency reported (Xinhua News Agency I, April 13).
Soltanieh reaffirmed his country's contention that the U.N. Security Council violated international rules in imposing penalties on Tehran over its atomic activities.
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