Iran Claims Production of Nuclear Fuel on Industrial Scale, While Analysts Doubt Claim

"Iran announced Monday that it has begun enriching uranium with 3,000 centrifuges, defiantly expanding a nuclear program that has drawn U.N. sanctions and condemnation from the West. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at a ceremony at the enrichment facility at Natanz that Iran was capable of enriching nuclear fuel 'on an industrial scale.'" (USA Today article) However, Ahmadinejad's claims have many cynics doubting the feasibility of the announcement, and others trying hard to determine exactly how far along Iran is in the process.

"Western diplomats and private-sector analysts strongly doubt Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim today that his country is producing nuclear fuel on an industrial scale, and believe his announcement saying as much was designed purely for domestic political reasons, sources tell FOX News. Ahmadinejad was joined in the claim in a separate announcement by the country's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, who said that Iran was feeding uranium gas into 3,000 centrifuges. U.S. experts say 3,000 centrifuges are in theory enough to produce a nuclear weapon, and possibly successfully within a year." (Fox News article) At the same time, it is becoming more difficult to determine the exact nature and depth of Iran's nuclear program.

"David Albright, a former U.N. arms inspector and president of the Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington think tank, told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee last month that Iran was having difficulty operating its centrifuges but was 'becoming more competent' over time. The IAEA reported that by the end of February, Iran had produced 175 tons of uranium hexafluoride, the gas that is injected into centrifuges and concentrated into fuel for power plants or bombs. According to Albright, that's enough uranium gas for 15-35 weapons. Matthew Bunn, a senior research associate with Harvard University's Managing the Atom Project, puts the range at 30-50 bombs, depending on the quality of the uranium gas and the bomb design. Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, a Washington think tank, which promotes non-proliferation, says Iran could well be exaggerating its nuclear progress but it is also increasingly difficult to gauge how far it has gone. Since February 2006, Iran has cut back cooperation with the IAEA and is resisting the agency's demands for more frequent inspections and better remote operation of cameras. 'The IAEA's ability to understand and monitor what is going on is gradually being reduced,' Kimball says. 'There needs to be a greater emphasis in the diplomacy to re-establish the IAEA's ability to see what is going on.'" (USA Today article)

Despite the doubt that some critics regarding the Iranian claim, the White House expressed concern regarding the Iranian announcement. "President Bush contends Iran is using its program to develop nuclear weapons. Leaders of European nations have expressed similar alarm. 'We are very concerned,' said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe. 'We call on the Iranian regime to comply with its obligations to the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and U.N. Security Council.'" (CNN News article)