Pat Dollard | Young Americans

WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (AFP) Dec 17, 2007

The White House said Monday that Russian nuclear fuel deliveries to Iran showed that Tehran had no legitimate need to pursue uranium enrichment, which can be a key step towards atomic weapons.

“This fuel delivery provides Iran with one more reason to suspend their nuclear program. If the Russians are providing the Iranians fuel, the Iranians have no reason to enrich uranium themselves,” said spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

US officials said that a forewarned Washington had not objected to the shipment, and noted Russian pledges to keep the process under the supervision of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Chief White House spokeswoman Dana Perino called such oversight “a good step” but warned that “our concern about Iran continues to be very high, as it does with our allies.”

Pointing to international negotiations aimed at ending Iran’s uranium enrichment efforts, Perino said: “Russia providing fuel to (the nuclear power station at) Bushehr has been a part of the discussions from day one, so we wouldn’t object to it.”

Her comments came after Moscow announced the start of nuclear fuel deliveries for Iran’s first atomic power station, brushing aside US and Israeli claims that Tehran harbors secret bomb-building plans.

Enriched uranium is needed for nuclear power stations, but can, with further enrichment, be turned into weapons-making material. Iran has defied two rounds of UN sanctions aimed at forcing it to halt such sensitive work.

Perino pointed to Iran’s ballistic missile programs and to a recent US intelligence finding that Tehran halted a secret nuclear weapons program in 2003 and warned against easing international pressure on the Islamic republic.

“They continue to enrich uranium, they are testing ballistic weapons, and they haven’t come clean with the international community as to what exactly they were doing with a covert nuclear weapons program, and whether or not they’ve started it up again, whether or not they have the capability to do so. So now is not the time to let up on the pressure,” she said.

Russia’s state-run Atomstroiexport announced in a statement that it began delivery of fuel “for the initial installation at the future Bushehr power station” on December 16.

The delivery process will take up to two months to complete, Atomstroiexport said, with the Russian-built station starting to generate electricity in approximately six months time.

The still-unfinished Bushehr is the jewel in the crown of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s nuclear power ambitions.

Iran confirmed the Russian shipment and, in a fresh show of defiance toward the West, repeated that it would refuse UN demands to give up work on enriching uranium.

Johndroe said the shipments were not a sign of fissuring international support for UN sanctions aimed at forcing Iran to freeze uranium enrichment.

“The international community remains united in its desire to see the Iranian regime comply with its United Nations Security Council resolutions,” the spokesman said.

“We have been in contact recently with the Russians with regards to their plans and we also note the IAEA involvement,” said Johndroe.

Israel and Western governments, led by the United States, have long argued that Iran’s civilian program is being used as cover for a nuclear weapons quest.

Russia rejects this and Moscow’s position was bolstered earlier this month when the US intelligence community contradicted the White House by reporting that Iran had stopped a drive for nuclear weapons in 2003.