Vol. 73/No. 48      December 14, 2009

The IAEA resolution will serve as a basis for Washington to push for more crippling sanctions against Iran in the UN Security Council, as well as justification for threats to bomb Iranian nuclear targets.

In response to the resolution, the Iranian government announced November 29 that it would construct 10 new uranium enrichment plants and could curtail its cooperation with the UN agency.

The UN Security Council has imposed three rounds of sanctions against Iran involving travel, financial restrictions, and blocking access to nuclear technology resources. A potential fourth round of sanctions being hashed out could hit hard, targeting Iran’s reliance on imported petroleum.

The Iranian government says the purpose of its nuclear program is to meet the country’s expanding energy needs, as well as for use in medical research. Washington and its imperialist allies claim that the program is geared toward developing nuclear weapons. The IAEA resolution states it has been “unable to verify that Iran’s programme is for exclusively peaceful purposes.”

The resolution also states that Tehran’s concealment of its new facility raises doubts about its whole nuclear program. Tehran says it began building the facility near Qom in response to Tel Aviv’s threats to bomb its one plant under construction in Bushehr.

Demands suspension of new plant
The resolution demands that Tehran immediately suspend construction of the Qom facility and provide the IAEA with greater access to information and inspection.

Tehran has been providing the IAEA with requested technical information on its program as well as allowing certain inspections and UN cameras to monitor activity at its nuclear sites. But this could change.

Following the IAEA resolution, 226 out of 290 members of Iran’s legislative body signed a declaration stating, “Because of the world powers’ hasty move, the government should submit its plan to curb Iran’s cooperation level with the agency.”

The IAEA resolution was sharply condemned by a wide spectrum of Iranian bourgeois politicians, both those supporting and opposing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi said that if Tehran gives in to the IAEA demands, “then the hard work of thousands of scientists would be ruined.” Mousavi’s supporters organized mass demonstrations against the Iranian government after he lost the presidential election in June.

Cuba opposes IAEA resolution
The IAEA resolution was approved 25-3 by the agency’s board of governors. Only the governments of Cuba, Venezuela, and Malaysia voted against. Six countries—Afghanistan, Brazil, Egypt, Pakistan, South Africa, and Turkey—abstained. The United States, France, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, India, China, and Russia were among those that voted in favor.

Beijing and Moscow have important economic ties with Tehran, and have been Washington’s chief obstacle in bringing the full weight of the UN Security Council to bear against Iran. Their vote to censure Iran represents a blow for the Iranian government.

Moscow has an agreement with Tehran to help build the nuclear plant at Bushehr. However, completion of the plant, originally scheduled for 1999, has been delayed again to next year. Moscow also has yet to make good on its contract to deliver S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Iran.

Leading up to the IAEA resolution, Tehran had rejected a proposal backed by Washington and other imperialist powers to ship about 70 percent of its low-enriched uranium to Russia and France for further enrichment and processing into fuel rods. Tehran had countered the proposal, aimed at controlling the amount of uranium it has on hand, with a proposal to carry out the swap of its uranium in smaller batches after receiving the processed material.

Tehran declared that within two months it would begin construction of five new enrichment facilities and would later build five others in locations to be determined. Iran’s cabinet also said it will consider enriching its own uranium from 5 percent—useful for power generation—to 20 percent for use in its medical research reactor. About 90 percent is necessary for a nuclear weapon.

Tehran’s ability to carry through with its declared ambition on its own is questionable. Less than half of Iran’s 8,745 centrifuges at Bushehr are operational, according to a November IAEA report. The plans for Bushehr include 54,000 centrifuges, in the range needed to supply a power plant. The low-capacity Qom facility has as yet no centrifuges.

Iran’s 20-Year Vision Plan for Economic, Social, and Cultural Development (2005-2025) projects 20 nuclear power plants with 500,000 centrifuges producing 20,000 megawatts. This would require producing roughly 200 times the nuclear fuel per year than Iran currently has.

Leading up to the IAEA vote, Tehran conducted large-scale military exercises for five days throughout the country aimed at preparing for attacks against its nuclear facilities.
 
 
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