Wednesday, April 07, 2004 <b>Iran To Work On “Heavy Water” Nuclear Reactor</b> • Iran will start building a heavy water nuclear reactor in June that can produce weapons-grade plutonium, diplomats close to the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Wednesday in Vienna. Although Tehran insists that the heavy water facility is for research, the decision heightens concern about its nuclear ambitions, the AP reports. One diplomat said the planned 40-megawatt reactor could produce enough plutonium for one nuclear weapon per year. The announcement “sends a bad signal at a time all eyes are on Iran,” the AP&apos;s source said. • Iran agreed to a timetable for nuclear checks and to submit full details of its program and ambitions to the IAEA in mid-May, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said in Tehran in a joint press conference with head of Iran&apos;s nuclear energy organization Gholam-Reza Aghazadeh. • “We&apos;ve heard promises before and we&apos;ve also seen them broken before,” US State Department Spokesman Adam Ereli said on Tuesday. “I&apos;d point out to you that on October 21st Iran told the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the UK that it would ‘suspend all enrichment -- uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities as defined by the IAEA.&apos; Then they later went on and said that, ‘Okay, but that doesn&apos;t include domestic manufacture and assembly of centrifuges.&apos; Then again, on November 10th Iran sent a letter to the IAEA saying that it had decided to suspend ‘all enrichment-related reprocessing activities in Iran,&apos;” Ereli said, responding to a question about Iran&apos;s promise yesterday to increase cooperation with the IAEA. • The agency favors rapid action in this regard, but we cannot prejudge the speed of the progress, IAEA&apos;s spokesman <b>Mark Gwozdecki</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. Any country with a nuclear program should satisfy the international community&apos;s concerns about those programs, non-proliferation expert <b>Paul Beaver</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. The burden of proof is on Iran, he adds. (Alireza Taheri) • The heavy water reactor is a part of Iran&apos;s nuclear program that had fallen off the radar, with all the attention that is being focused on uranium enrichment. It appears that by bringing up this program at this time, the government wants to score a political point and appear to be standing firm in front of the international community&apos;s pressure, despite the announcement that it will fully cooperate with the IAEA, <b>Rose Gottemoeller</b>, for International Peace, tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. “I believe the heavy water reactor is a part of a military program to produce nuclear weapons,” she adds. The US should apply pressure to stop this program, Ms. Gottemoeller, Clinton administration&apos;s non-proliferation advisor, says. Other than heavy water reactor, which has military use, there are many technologies through which Iran can reach the same results for scientific and medical research, she say, adding that she sees no link between Iran&apos;s nuclear program and Iran&apos;s policy towards Iraq. (Amir Armin) <b>UN Blocks Return of Iraqi Refugees From Iran</b> • Due to recent security incidents and tensions in southern Iraq the UN has temporarily interrupted convoys carrying Iraqi refugees back to Iraq from Iran, the spokesman of the UN High Commissioner for the Refugees announced in Geneva on Tuesday. A convoy returning to Iraq on Tuesday with 208 refugees was stopped at Shalamcheh, a city just inside the Iranian border where it will wait until the situation has stabilized and transport beyond Basra is readily available, UNHCR spokesman Peter Kessler said. <b>Four Countries Account for 84 Percent of 2003 Executions</b> • In its report on capital punishment in the year 2003, the Amnesty International said Iran, China, the US and Vietnam accounted for 84 percent of the 1,143 leally sanctioned executions known to have been carried out in 28 countries in 2003. <b>The Islamic Republic&apos;s Conservatives Oppose Globalization and Liberalization</b> • Unlike Western conservatives, who embrace globalism and the liberalization of economic policies, the Islamic Republic&apos;s conservatives, who won the majority in last February&apos;s Majles elections, are against globalization and economic liberalization, and favor state-run economy. Economic theoreticians of the conservative Abadgaran coalition, including Ahmad Tavakoli, Elias Naderan, Mohammad Khosh-Chehr, and Davood Danesh-Jafari, said in a conference on economy that globalization was contrary to human dignity. The outcome of such a position would be opposition to foreign investment in Iran and expansion of foreign trade, <b>Radio Farda</b>&apos;s Paris-based economic commentator <b>Fereydoun Khavnad</b> says. In its opinions and policies, the Islamic conservative faction is closer to the anti-capitalist, anti-globalization leftists, whereas the so-called reformist faction favors a more extrovert, world-friendly economic policies, he adds. <b>Iran Blames the US for Unrest in Iraq</b> • “The responsibility for the continued lack of security in Iraq lies with the occupation forces,” foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said on Monday about clashes on Sunday in Iraq between armed followers of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr and the US-led coalition forces, during which 46 Iraqis and eight coalition soldiers were killed. Asefi called for “rapid departure of occupation forces and return of full power to Iraqis.” • In an interview with state-owned Mehr news agency, an unnamed “political” source denied London-based Arabic newspaper al-Hayat&apos;s report that Iran was aiding the radical Iraqi Shiite insurgency led by cleric Moqtada Sadr. • Iran and Syria are aiding Moqtada Sadr through the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Islamic radical Palestinian organization Hamas, Kuwaiti daily al-Siasat reported. A charge echoed by the Saudi-Lebanese London daily al-Hayat. • Four Iranian pilgrims died, as their bus drove into crossfire. <b>Caspian Littoral States Agree To Hold Summit in Tehran</b> • At the end of their one-day meeting in Moscow, the foreign ministers of Caspian Sea littoral states agreed to hold a summit in Tehran within six months to iron out their differences on the sea&apos;s legal regime. <b>Iran to Sign Free Trade Agreement With Singapore</b> • Iran has expressed interest in signing a free trade agreement with Singapore during a visit by Singaporean trade minister George Yeo to Tehran. Yeo discussed the prospect of an FTA with Iranian Industries and Mines Minister Ishaq Jahangiri, who said Singapore had the potential to help Iran modernize its industries, according to the <i>Straits Times</i>. <b>Obstacles Prevent Authorities to Act in National Interest</b> • Although the Islamic Republic authorities have come to understand Iran&apos;s national interests and needs, in practice certain structural and ideological obstacles prevent them from adopting policies and take actions in line with the country&apos;s national interest, Tehran University professor <b>Hamid Ahmadi</b>, who is in London to attend an Oxford University conference on Iran, tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. Often the national interests are confused with the regime&apos;s security, whereas national interests are about maximizing a nation&apos;s power and economic influence. In the past 25 years, we have been witnessing a steady decline in Iran&apos;s power and economic influence, he adds (Shahran Tabari, London). <b>Election Fallout: Guardians Council Delays Final Count</b> • Interior minister Abdolvahed Mousavi-Lari criticized the Guardians Council for withholding announcement of final election results in many electoral districts, but the Guardians Council spokesman said the final results have been sent to the interior ministry. Meanwhile, Majles speaker Mehdi Karrubi once again criticized the Guardians Council&apos;s election bans on 2,400 reformist candidates as well as the council&apos;s voiding election results in districts where conservative candidates did not win. (Keyvan Hosseini) <b>Amnesty International Calls for Urgent Action On Jailed Journalist Pourzand</b> • In a call for urgent action, the Amnesty International said jailed veteran journalist Siamak Pourzand, 74, “has been held in solitary confinement since his re-arrest in April 2003, in appalling conditions, and is being denied medical treatment for a condition that will leave him confined to a wheelchair if left untreated. Around 31 March 2004, he fell into a coma. He was not treated until another prisoner went to the prison medical facility and insisted that someone examine him. The doctors allegedly told him they had given up on Siamak Pourzand over six months earlier, and would not take responsibility for anything that happened to him. When he insisted, they treated Siamak Pourzand, and after 36 hours in a coma he regained consciousness. Siamak Pourzand is serving an 11-year sentence, handed down in 2002 after a closed trial that fell short of international standards.” . جمشيد زند (راديوفردا): جمهوري اسلامي ايران مصمم است که به اختلافات خود با آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي هر چه زودتر پايان دهد. کمال خرازي، وزير امور خارجه جمهوري اسلامي با تاکيد بر همين تصميم امروز اعلام کرد که حل اين اختلافات نه تنها به سود ايران، که به سود آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي و اتحاديه اروپا نيز خواهد بود. اما آنچنان که عليرضا طاهري از راديوفردا گزارش مي دهد، خبر احداث رآکتور آب سنگين در اراک، سايه هاي تازه اي از ترديد بر احتمال حل سريع اختلافات درباره برنامه هاي هسته اي جمهوري اسلامي انداخته است. عليرضا طاهري (راديوفردا): يک ديپلمات غربي مقيم وين، مقر آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي، روز چهارشنبه، امروز، به خبرگزاري هاي گفته است که جمهوري اسلامي تيرماه آينده کار احداث يک رآکتور آب سنگين را آغاز خواهد کرد. به گفته اين ديپلمات، که خبرگزاري ها نام او را فاش نکردند، رآکتور ياد شده در اراک، 200 کيلومتري جنوب غربي تهران احداث خواهد شد. جمهوري اسلامي اين رآکتور را صرفا رآکتوري علمي – پژوهشي دانسته است. اما منابع غربي مي گويند: از چنين رآکتور هي براي پلوتونيم مورد مصرف در بمب هاي اتمي مي توان بهره گرفت. تاريخ آغاز کار براي احداث رآکتور آب سنگين اراک، همزمان است با اجلاس آينده شوراي حکام آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي، براي بازبيني پرونده فعاليت هاي هسته اي جمهوري اسلامي. دکتر محمد البرادعي، مديرکل آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي، به دنبال ديداري که ديروز، روز سه شنبه، با بلندپايگان جمهوري اسلامي، از جمله با محمد خاتمي، رئيس جمهوري و باحجت الاسلام حسن روحاني، دبير شوراي عالي امنيت ملي آن کشور داشت، گفت: مسئولان ايراني تعهد کرده اند که از هيچگونه تلاشي براي تسريع روند حل اختلافات فروگذاري نکنند. آقاي البرادعي درباره چند و چون اين اختلافات توضيحي نداد، اما حسن روحاني که مرد اصلي جمهوري اسلامي در مسائل هسته اي به شمار مي رود، به ايسنا، خبرگزاري دانشجويان ايران گفته است: عمده ترين مسائل باقيمانده ميان جمهوري اسلامي و آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي، مساله آلودگي P2 و کم و کيف کارهاي تحقيقاتي مربوط به آن است. P2 نوعي پيشرفته از سانتريفيوژ يا دستگاه هاي گريز از مرکز است که براي غني سازي اورانيم به کار مي رود، و به ياري آن مي توان به اورانيم غني شده، در حد قابل مصرف در بمب هاي هسته اي نيز دست يافت. جمهوري اسلامي همزمان با ديدار ديروز دکتر البرادعي از تهران، بار ديگر متعهد شد که نهايت همکاري را با آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي داشته باشد. در واکنش به همين تعهد، آدام ارلي، سخنگوي وزارت امور خارجه آمريکا، شامگاه گذشته گفت: بايد يادآوري کنم که آمريکا چنين تعهداتي را بارها از زبان ايران شنيده و بارها شاهد شکستن همين عهدها نيز بوده است. آدام ارلي افزود: روز 21 اکتبر گذشته، جمهوري اسلامي به وزيران امور خارجه فرانسه، آلمان و بريتانيا اعلام کرد که «کليه فعاليت هاي خود را بر پايه تعاريف آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي در زمينه فرآوري و غني سازي اورانيم، به حالت تعليق در مي آورد». آقاي ارلي با اين نقل قول مستقيم از جمهوري اسلامي يادآوري مي کند: «بعدا ايران پيش رفت و گفت: بسيار خوب، اما اين تعهد ما ساختن يا مونتاژ دستگاه هاي گريز از مرکز در داخل خود ايران را در بر نمي گيرد». بنابراين، بنا به گفته آقاي ارلي، آمريکا تعهداتي شبيه به تعهدات ديروز جمهوري اسلامي را قبلا هم شنيده، و بعدا هم در بيانيه هاي ديگر جمهوري اسلامي، ديده است که تهران تصميم به ادامه کار غني سازي اورانيم دارد. خبر احداث رآكتور آب سنگين در اراک، سايه هاي تازه اي از ترديد بر احتمال حل سريع اختلافات جمهوري اسلامي و آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي درباره درباره برنامه هاي هسته اي تهران انداخته است. جمهوري اسلامي تيرماه آينده کار احداث يک رآکتور آب سنگين را آغاز خواهد کرد. تهران اين رآکتور را صرفا رآکتوري علمي – پژوهشي اعلام کرد، اما منابع غربي مي گويند که از چنين رآكتوري براي تهيه پلوتونيم مورد مصرف در بمب هاي اتمي مي توان بهره گرفت. تاريخ آغاز احداث رآكتور آب سنگين اراک، همزمان است با اجلاس آينده شوراي هيات مديره آژانس بين المللي انرژي اتمي براي بازبيني پرونده فعاليت هاي هسته اي جمهوري اسلامي.