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By Matt Spetalnick and Mark Heinrich
Reuters
Friday, September 25, 2009 11:14 AM PITTSBURGH/VIENNA (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and other
Western leaders accused Iran on Friday of building a secret nuclear fuel
plant and demanded Tehran immediately halt what he called a "direct
challenge" to the international community.
Obama went public with the charge in an appearance with British Prime
Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy at a Group of
20 summit in Pittsburgh, sharpening a standoff with Iran over its
disputed nuclear program. "It is time for Iran to act immediately to restore the confidence of the
international community by fulfilling its international obligations,"
Obama said, adding that Tehran had been building the plant in secret for
years. The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said
earlier on Friday that Iran had just told it of a second uranium
enrichment plant under construction. The belated disclosure is sure to heighten Western fears of an Iranian
bid for nuclear weapons. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for
peaceful purposes to generate electricity. A senior U.S. official, briefing reporters while Obama attended the G20
summit, said it appeared the Iranian facility was at least a few months
from having all centrifuges installed and able to operate. The nascent
plant was believed to be designed for about 3,000 centrifuges for
enriching uranium. At the United Nations, a senior Iranian official said accusations that
the plant was clandestine were "not true." "If it was a covert plant, we would not have informed the (International
Atomic Energy) Agency," the official said. The IAEA said Iran had disclosed the existence of the plant to IAEA
Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei on Monday. The watchdog has asked Iran to provide access to and information about
the plant, built inside a mountain around 160 km (100 miles) southwest
of Tehran, as soon as possible. IAEA spokesman Marc Vidricaire said Iran had stated it intended to
enrich uranium at the new plant, like its Natanz complex that was hidden
from the IAEA until 2002, only to the 5 percent level suitable for power
plant fuel. "The agency also understands from Iran that no nuclear material has been
introduced into the facility," he said. Mark Fitzpatrick, chief nonproliferation analyst at the International
Institute for Strategic Studies, said it had long been suspected Iran
was doing enrichment work at another site. "I think Iran disclosed it because they knew it would soon be made
public by the United States," he told Reuters. "If Iran had not disclosed it I think it would have put much more
pressure on them to be put under sanctions, Russia already having
indicated that (more) sanctions were inevitable. This adds to the
pressure on Iran." SHARING INTELLIGENCE The disclosure, extending a history of Tehran withholding nuclear plans
from U.N. nonproliferation inspectors, gave grist to Western calls to
consider tougher U.N. sanctions against Iran ahead of October 1 talks in
Geneva with six world powers. These talks will be a "serious test" of Tehran's willingness to address
concerns about the new plant, the U.S. official said. Obama shared intelligence on the Iranian plant with Russian President
Dimitry Medvedev at talks in New York earlier this week, the U.S.
official said. China was only just informed about it. The U.S. official said to "stay
tuned" for the Chinese position in coming days. China had said on Thursday that more pressure would not persuade Tehran
to stop the atomic weapons program it denies having. The Russians have
also been reluctant to join in toughening sanctions against Tehran. Obama accused Iran of "breaking rules that all nations must follow" and
called for international inspectors "to immediately investigate this
disturbing information." Sarkozy said Iran was taking the international community down a
"dangerous" path and threatened new sanctions if Iranian leaders did not
change course by December. Brown said Iran's defiance should harden the resolve of the
international community, which must now "draw a line in the sand"
against Tehran. While lodging a serious accusation against Tehran, Obama said: "We
remain committed to serious, meaningful engagement with Iran to address
the nuclear issue through the P5+1 negotiations." Since taking office in January, Obama has sought to engage Iran
diplomatically but has been met mostly with defiance. Iran is under U.N. sanctions for refusing to suspend enrichment and
denying access the IAEA needs to clarify Western intelligence
indications that Iran has geared nuclear research to developing nuclear
bombs, not generating electricity. Iran's previously known enrichment plant at Natanz has been stockpiled
with low-enriched uranium, potentially enough for bomb material, in a
rapidly expanding operation with almost 9,000 centrifuges installed. The Natanz plant, designed to ultimately hold 55,000 centrifuges, is
under daily surveillance by IAEA inspectors.
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