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Iran Said to Be Smuggling Nuclear Matter |
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Thursday, 23 June 2005 |
Dissident, Diplomat Say Iran Appears to Be Smuggling Graphite for Nuclear Purposes
By GEORGE JAHN
May. 20, 2005 (The Associated Press)- Iran is circumventing
international export bans on sensitive dual-use materials by smuggling
graphite and a graphite compound that can be used to make conventional
and nuclear weapons, an Iranian dissident and a senior diplomat said
Friday.
Graphite has many peaceful uses, including steel manufacture, but also
can be used as a casing for molten weapons-grade uranium to fit it to
nuclear warheads or to shield the cones of conventional missiles from
heat.
With most countries adhering to international agreements banning the
sale of such "dual-use" materials to Tehran, Iran has been forced to
buy it on the black market, Iranian exile Alireza Jafarzadeh told The
Associated Press allegations confirmed by a senior diplomat familiar
with Iran's covert nuclear activities.
Phone calls to Iranian diplomats seeking comment were not answered.
While with the National Coalition of Resistance of Iran, Jafarzadeh
disclosed information about two hidden nuclear sites in Iran in 2002
that helped uncover nearly two decades of covert Iranian atomic
activity and sparked present fears Tehran wants to build the bomb.
Much of the equipment including centrifuges for uranium enrichment and
other technology with possible weapons applications was acquired on the
nuclear black market.
Those implicated include Dutch businessman Henk Slebos, who is awaiting
trial in the Netherlands on charges of importing banned material
including 100 pieces of graphite as part of disgraced Pakistani nuclear
scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan's clandestine smuggling network.
Jafarzadeh, whose organization was banned in the United States for
alleged terrorist activity and who now runs the Washington-based
Strategic Policy Consulting think tank, said Iran was additionally
smuggling and trying to manufacture a graphite-based substance called
ceramic matrix composite. The highly heat resistance compound is also
used in missile technology.
He said he learned this from sources of information within Iran.
The diplomat, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of his
position, said Iran also may be interested in acquiring specially
heat-resistant "nuclear-grade graphite" that can be used as moderators
to slow down the fission process in reactors generating energy.
While Iran does not now have reactors using such moderators, it insists
it has the future right to all aspects of peaceful nuclear technology.
Neither Jafarzadeh nor the diplomat could say how much graphite Iran had imported and over what period of time.
But the diplomat said a graphite-moderated nuclear plant would require
a "huge amount" of graphite as many as 1,000 tons for a 250-megawatt
reactor.
Crucibles to hold molten uranium metal would need much less graphite no
more than about 2.2 pounds per nuclear weapon, the diplomat said. He
said investigations by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy
Agency revealed laboratory experiments by Iran aimed at making
nuclear-grade graphite, which later were abandoned.
Domestically manufactured Iranian conventional missiles would require dozens of pounds of graphite per missile cone, he said.
Jafarzadeh also said a plant now being built near the central town of
Ardekan for what Iranian officials say is steel manufacturing will
actually be a cover for mastering graphite technology.
The revelations came as Iran's top nuclear negotiators prepared to meet
early next week with the foreign ministers of France, Britain and
Germany, acting on behalf of the 25-nation European Union, for what
could be a last-ditch attempt to convince Tehran to agree to a
long-term freeze of uranium enrichment activities.
French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said Friday the talks were "very
fragile." He said the talks range over issues including economic,
technical and commercial cooperation, Iran's wish to join the World
Trade Organization, and political dialogue.
The United States wants U.N. Security Council action against Iran for
what it says are nuclear weapons ambitions, and the Europeans have
threatened to support such U.S. calls if it resumes enrichment
programs. Iran says those programs are needed to generate power, but
Washington labels them as part of plans to make weapons-grade material.
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