Report: Barak says Iran nuke program more advanced than thought

Ha'aretz, Israel

Iran is farther along in its quest to develop nuclear weapons than is thought in the West, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told The Washington Post in an interview published in Saturday's editions.

"We think that they are quite advanced, much beyond the level of the Manhattan Project," Barak told the paper. "We suspect they are probably already working on warheads for ground-to-ground missiles ... [and] that probably they have another clandestine enrichment operation beyond the one in Natanz."

Barak said the recent findings of the National Intelligence Estimate could be attributed to Iran's toning down of its weapons development program following the U.S. invasion of neighboring Iraq in 2003.
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"It's probably true that ... they may have slowed down the weapons group in 2003, because it was the height of American militarism," Barak told the Post.

Barak would not comment when asked by the Post whether Israel could mount a unilateral military offensive against Iran.

"The dots that we see ... cannot be easily connected in a way that does not lead to a nuclear program," Barak told the Post. "The leading intelligence communities should concentrate on finding whether there is ... a clandestine enrichment operation and a weapons group working on the weapons technology."

Fresh set of sanctions against Iran
Key excerpts from a third round of sanctions to be imposed on Iran were circulated to the United Nations Security Council on Friday, while in Tehran announced its intention to test an innovative kind of nuclear centrifuge despite the UN ban on such testing.

Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Russia and China agreed to the proposed new sanctions which the Security Council is expected to approve in the next few weeks. The same states also stipulate in the proposal that they are willing to negotiate with Iran on nuclear issues through diplomatic channels.

The circulated excerpts outlined voluntary and mandatory travel restrictions and assets freezes. They also name two Iranian banks - Melli and Saderat - warning states to exercise vigilance when dealing with them.

Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line were singled out for cargo inspections in cases of "reasonable grounds to believe that the aircraft/vessel is transporting goods prohibited under this resolution or (earlier) resolutions," according to the proposal excerpts.

The document notes Iran's refusal to fully suspend enrichment, reprocessing and heavy water-related projects and to cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency. It requests the IAEA file a report on whether Iran has suspended these activities within 90 days.

Diplomats viewed Iran's decision to inform the IAEA of its intention to test the new centrifuges as "significant" in light of accusations the country has previously concealed such information.

"There may be real commitment to be more open," one diplomat said in Vienna on Friday, but cautioned that the real test of Iran's transparency would come when IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei submits his report next month.

Tehran intends to test the centrifuges soon, possibly at its chief nuclear facility at Natanz, where 3,000 older centrifuges currently operate. The new centrifuges are more than twice as efficient and could heighten Iran's potential to produce material for nuclear weapons more quickly than previously believed.

However, sources said the new centrifuges may not be reliable as international sanctions have limited Iran's ability to obtain the latest technology.

ElBaradei was informed of the planned tests when he visited Iran two weeks ago after Tehran agreed to resolve any outstanding questions about the extent of its nuclear work.

Iran maintains its program is solely for civilian energy, and has vowed not to give in to international pressure to halt uranium enrichment.

A US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) concluded in December that Iran had stopped its weapons program in 2003 due to international pressure, but remained in a position to resume its nuclear work and did not rule out the possibility that Iran could have enough fissile material to build a bomb in about 10 years.

Iranian FM: Stop meddling in our nuclear affairs
Iran's foreign minister urged the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to correct their past mistakes and draw up a resolution ending council involvement in his country's nuclear affairs.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki also said Friday that while it makes sense to talk with Washington over common interests such as Iraq, he could not imagine substantially improved ties with the United States even after a change in U.S. administrations.

Mottaki spoke to The Associated Press on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, the Davos gathering of world political and economic leaders, whose focus on areas of international concern include the Mideast.

Earlier in the week, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni urged Davos attendees to take a personal stand against Iran's leadership by ending business ties with the country.

Iran receives 7th nuclear fuel shipment from Russia
Iran received the 7th shipment of nuclear fuel from Russia on Saturday for a power plant being constructed in the southern port of Bushehr, the official IRNA news agency reported.

The 11-ton consignment of enriched uranium arrived at the light-water Bushehr nuclear power plant on Saturday morning, with the final shipment of the fuel expected at a "determined time," the agency reported.

"Of 82 tons of initial fuel needed for the Bushehr nuclear power plant, 77 tons have been shipped to Iran so far," it added.

Iran received the first shipment of nuclear fuel from Russia on Dec. 17 after months of dispute between the two countries, allegedly over delayed construction payments for the reactor.

Iran has said Bushehr, the country's first nuclear reactor, will begin operating in the summer of 2008, producing half its 1,000-megawatt capacity of electricity.

Tehran heralded the first shipment as a victory, saying it proved its nuclear program was peaceful and not a cover for weapons development as claimed by the U.S. and some of its allies.

The U.S. initially opposed Russian participation in building the Bushehr reactor and supplying it with fuel, but reversed its position about a year ago to obtain Moscow's support for the first set of UN sanctions against Iran.

Washington was also influenced by Iran's agreement to return spent nuclear fuel from the reactor to Russia to ensure it doesn't extract plutonium from it to make atomic bombs.

Russia's decision to ship nuclear fuel to Iran follows a U.S. intelligence report released last month that concluded Tehran had stopped its nuclear weapons program in late 2003 and had not resumed it since. Iran says it never had a weapons program.

It also came after the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Iran had been truthful about its past uranium enrichment activities.

The United States and Russia have said the supply of nuclear fuel means Iran has no need to continue its own uranium enrichment program - a process that can provide fuel for a reactor or fissile material for a bomb.

Iran has insisted it would continue enriching uranium because it needed to provide fuel to a 300-megawatt light-water reactor it was building in the southwestern town of Darkhovin.

Iranian officials have said they plan to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity through nuclear energy in the next two decades.