Topic: Focus on Iran’s nuclear issue
Iran’s nuclear program, a hot issue in the international community, has increased the heat. Recently, Iranian hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad once again publicly announced that 3,000 centrifuges are "fully operating" in Iraq, and the government will not change the current nuclear program. In this regard, the United States indicated that it would continue to solve this problem through diplomatic means, which also hinted that Israel might take unilateral action to air strike Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Ahmadinejad made another tough speech.
According to British media reports on November 7, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a live TV program that the Iranian government’s nuclear program is "irreversible". He also stressed that Iran has installed 3,000 centrifuges in the Nataz underground nuclear plant.
Centrifuge is a machine for uranium enrichment, which can produce both low-purity enriched uranium for nuclear fuel and high-purity enriched uranium for nuclear weapons. Scientists have pointed out that 3000 centrifuges can produce enriched uranium for making a nuclear bomb within one year.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (profile picture)
Ahmadinejad said: "Now Iran’s uranium enrichment capacity has reached industrial level, and we will install new equipment to further improve the level of nuclear technology."
The United States and its allies accuse Iran of actively seeking nuclear weapons and call on the international community to impose more severe sanctions on it. However, Tehran denies the accusation of the United States, insisting that its uranium enrichment activities are entirely for civilian purposes and are intended to meet the growing domestic energy demand.
Ahmadinejad said: "They decided to impose sanctions on Iran according to the wrong information, but we will never back down, let alone give up our rights." He also said that Iran is willing to negotiate with the West, but it will not bargain with anyone on the issues of national independence and nuclear rights.
In April and September this year, Ahmadinejad twice announced that Iran had 3,000 centrifuges, but the report issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency said that the number of Iranian centrifuges was far below 3,000, and its uranium enrichment capacity was not high.
The U.S. government will wait and see.
The State Council spokesman sean mccormack said that he is not sure whether Iran really has 3,000 centrifuges, and the Bush administration is still waiting for the latest assessment report of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Pictured: On November 7, US President Bush and visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy held talks and held a joint press conference in Mount Vernon, Virginia. Bush expressed the hope to solve the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic means. Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Yan photo
McCormack said: "It doesn’t matter whether there are 2,000, 2,500, 3,000 or 1,000 centrifuges in Iran. What matters is the Iranian government’s position on this issue. Instead of negotiating and cooperating, they continue to confront the international community."
Diplomats and analysts believe that the figure of 3,000 sets may be true, and these devices may be roughly divided into 18 groups with 164 sets in each group. But there is no evidence that all these machines are running at the same time, and it is impossible to determine whether all the machines are injected with uranium gas.
Disarmament experts David Albright and Jacqueline Char said: "Iran seems to have mastered the technology of operating some centrifuges, but it is not yet capable of operating all the machines at the same time. It may take them several months to reach this technical level."
The five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany will hold a meeting on 19th of this month to evaluate the reports submitted by the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency ElBaradei and the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Javier Solana, and decide whether to impose the third round of sanctions on Iran.
The United States imposed unilateral economic sanctions on Iran in October. President Bush said that he would continue to solve the Iranian nuclear crisis through diplomatic means, but if Tehran refuses to stop its uranium enrichment activities, the United States will not rule out the possibility of using force.
Israel may act alone.
The British "Times" reported on November 8 that an official from the Washington military said that the Pentagon did not want to take military action against Iran, but Israel was "different". He hinted that Israel might carry out air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Earlier, a US Department of Defense official told the newspaper: "If Iran installs 3,000 centrifuges, Israel will take corresponding actions, while the Pentagon will wait and see."
Israel is a loyal ally of the United States in the Middle East. The Israeli government has repeatedly stated that it will not tolerate an Iran with nuclear weapons. Israeli Defense Minister Barak once pointed out: "Dialogue will never stop the attack of weapons."
In 1981, Israel dispatched warplanes to destroy the nuclear reactors in Iraq during Saddam Hussein’s time; At the beginning of September this year, Israel carried out air strikes on suspected nuclear facilities in Syria. Some people think that this move by Israel is intended to warn Iran.
Yin Ba, a scholar from Tel Aviv Strategic Research Center, believes that Iran is likely to have the ability to produce nuclear warheads now, and Israel must respond. He said: "If the international community does not stop us, we will take certain measures. I think the Israeli government is preparing for this." (Ren Na)
Editor: Li Xingchi