TruthNews - Israel Fumes As Iranian Nuclear Reactor Receives Russian Fuel

Israel Fumes As Iranian Nuclear Reactor Receives Russian Fuel

International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, August 23, 2010

Iran’s firebrand President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told Al-Jazeera on Sunday that rumors of a possible Israeli strike on his country’s renegade nuclear program were unlikely to prove true because Israel is "too weak to face up to Iran militarily (and) doesn't have the courage to do it," adding that "America is not interested in sparking a military confrontation with Iran" because it is exhausted from inconclusive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The comments came the day after Russian technicians injected nuclear fuel into the core of Iran’s long delayed nuclear reactor at Bushehr in southern Iran, prompting outrage from Israeli officials.

"It is totally unacceptable that a country that blatantly violates decisions of the United Nations Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and ignores its commitment to the Non-Proliferation Treaty charter, will enjoy the fruits of using nuclear energy," Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levy said. "The international community must increase pressure on Iran, so that it will obey international decisions, halt its activity in the field of enrichment and construction of heavy water reactors, and will fully reply to the accusations raised against it."

"Despite all pressure, sanctions and hardships imposed by Western nations, we are now witnessing the start up of the largest symbol of Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities," Iranian Vice president and Nuclear Agency chief Ali Akbar Salehi jubilantly told reporters inside the plant on Saturday. "Today is a historic day and will be remembered in history."

Bushehr is not technically capable of enriching uranium or producing material suitable for the production of nuclear weapons. But although the plant is under the direct supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Russians have written assurances that Iran will transfer all spent fuel to Russia in exchange for new fuel shipments, Israeli officials worry that Iranian nuclear scientists will learn skills by working at the plant which will be transferable to a weapons program, and Iran’s stature in the Middle East will receive a boost with the introduction of Atomic power from Bushehr.

Also, Salehi was quick to point out that the contract with Russia does not say that Tehran must only do business with Moscow, as the "memorandum of understanding says they will meet our demand if we request" it.

"The Bushehr plant has a lifespan of 60 years and we plan to use it for 40 years. Suppose we buy fuel for 10 years from Russia, what are we going to do for the next 30 to 50 years?" Salehi said.

If all goes according to plan it will still be over two months before electrical power generated at Bushehr will begin flowing to Iranian cities, providing badly needed relief for the country’s overextended power grid.

US officials used the occasion to downplay fears that Iran will be able to produce atomic weapons from its activity at Bushehr.

"Russia's support for Bushehr underscores that Iran does not need an indigenous enrichment capability if its intentions are purely peaceful," State Department spokesman Darby Holladay told Reuters, adding that IAEA oversight of the project "shouldn't be confused with the world's fundamental concerns with Iran's overall nuclear intentions, particularly its pursuit of uranium enrichment."

Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Friday that despite reports to the contrary, he still has not made a final decision about whether UN sanctions recently passed against transfer of weapons to the Islamic Republic will affect Russia’s delivery of advanced S-300 air defense systems to Iran.