February 17, 2003	Monday	Zul Hijjah 15, 1423

TEHRAN: Iran thrust itself back into the “axis of evil” spotlight this week with a series of announcements detailing an ambitious nuclear energy programme, including the construction of a facility to enrich uranium.

While officials in Washington seized on the statements as evidence that Iran was determined to develop nuclear arms, many diplomats and analysts felt they were a welcome, if overdue, sign of greater transparency.

Furthermore, Iran’s nuclear programme is at a relatively embryonic stage and does not pose any immediate threat to world security, they said.

“The key thing is they are being more open. They seem to have taken on board the message that, in the current international climate, you cannot go around hiding these things,” said one Tehran-based European diplomat.

That message was conveyed to Iranian officials in no uncertain terms during the visits of Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi to London and European Union Commissioner Chris Patten to Tehran earlier this month, diplomats said.

IAEA VISIT: “ElBaradei’s visit is the key to the timing of this announcement. The Iranians seem to be well aware that they must cooperate with the IAEA or risk coming under the spotlight,” an Asian diplomat said.

“As long as they keep cooperating, the chances that they could turn this to sinister purposes remain relatively remote,” the European diplomat said.

Iran, which is a signatory of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), insists its nuclear plans are entirely peaceful.

President Mohammad Khatami, in a forthright speech on Sunday, said Iran had begun mining uranium and was constructing facilities that would enable it to manage the entire fuel cycle, including managing spent fuel, within the country.

The IAEA took the announcement in its stride, suggesting it was aware of Iran’s plans. ElBaradei is due to visit Iran later this month to verify Tehran’s claims. US officials argue that Iran, with abundant oil and gas reserves, has no need to develop a costly atomic power industry.

They also say it does not need such a range of nuclear facilities, given an existing agreement between Tehran and Moscow for Russia to provide the uranium and manage spent fuel from Iran’s first nuclear reactor in the southwestern port of Bushehr.

But Iranian officials say the 1,000 MW Bushehr plant, due to come on stream by early 2004, is insufficient to meet booming electricity demand from the country’s 65 million people.

They say they need to be generating 6,000 MW from nuclear power in 20 years time and to do that means ensuring an independent uranium fuel supply.—Reuters