IRAN: Iran is pushing ahead with plans to enrich uranium in defiance of international pressure to give up sensitive nuclear technology to allay fears that it is seeking a nuclear bomb, diplomats and intelligence sources said.
Such plans could jeopardise a Russian attempt to head off a confrontation over Iran, through a compromise proposal under which Tehran would maintain a civilian nuclear programme but transfer enrichment to Russia under a joint venture.
Enrichment is the most sensitive stage of the nuclear fuel cycle. It can be used to make fuel for bombs or power plants.
"I think they want to do it soon," a European diplomat said. "The million-dollar question is when." Diplomats and intelligence officials, speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency this week, said Iran was preparing to start enrichment at its underground plant in Natanz.
The US and other western countries say Natanz anchors a covert nuclear weapons project.
A confidential intelligence report given to Reuters cited a "senior Iranian foreign ministry source" as saying that on October 24th, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, called an emergency meeting of current and former members of Iran's nuclear negotiating team.
"One of the cardinal issues raised at the meeting was the timing for activating the centrifuge site at Natanz," the report said. - (Reuters)