THE LEADERS of the US, Britain and France yesterday revealed that Iran is building a second, secret uranium enrichment facility near Qom, and warned the Islamic Republic it will face more severe sanctions if it fails to co-operate in negotiations next week.
President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President Nicolas Sarkozy broke off from the G20 economic summit to make the announcement. Mr Obama said Iran has been building a “covert facility” near the holy city of Qom for several years. “The existence of this facility underscores Iran’s continuing unwillingness to meet its obligations under UN Security Council resolutions and IAEA requirements,” Mr Obama said.
Officials from the three countries briefed the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna on the new facility on Thursday, and Mr Obama asked them to investigate quickly.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday the US, Britain and France would “regret” accusing Iran of hiding a nuclear fuel facility, saying it was not a secret site. Speaking at a news conference in New York Mr Ahmadinejad said Iran had informed the IAEA early about the facility. “It’s not a secret site. If it was, why would we have informed the IAEA about it a year ahead of time,” Mr Ahmadinejad said. “They [the US, Britain and France] will regret this announcement.”
Senior administration officials said the intelligence agencies of the three countries worked closely together, waiting until now because they wanted to build the strongest possible case.
The administration believes Iran sent the agency a letter on Monday reporting the construction because Tehran realised its secrecy had been breached.
“Iran’s decision to build yet another nuclear facility without notifying the IAEA represents a direct challenge to the basic compact at the centre of the non-proliferation regime,” Mr Obama said.
“This is not the first time that Iran has concealed information about its nuclear programme,” Mr Obama noted. He said “the size and configuration of this facility” are “inconsistent with a peaceful programme” and accused Iran of “threatening the stability and security of the region and the world”.
Representatives of the five security council members, Germany and Iran will meet in Geneva on October 1st. “We are committed to demonstrating that international law is not an empty promise; that obligations must be kept; and that treaties will be enforced,” Mr Obama said.
Mr Brown used the strongest language, speaking of “serial deception” by Iran and saying “the level of deception by the Iranian government, and the scale of what we believe is the breach of international commitments, will shock and anger the whole international community, and it will harden our resolve”.
If Iran does not “join the international community as a partner. . . it will be further isolated,” Mr Brown said. Mr Sarkozy spoke of sanctions, “if by December there is not an in-depth change by the Iranian leaders.”
Senior administration officials said there has never been such strong international consensus on stopping the Iranian programme, but they did not say why further sanctions would succeed when the range of sanctions already in place have so far been ineffective.
Nor is it certain that the consensus is as strong as US officials portray it to be. China and Russia have until now blocked security council action against Iran.
The US administration interpreted a remark by the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev earlier this week as strong support. “Sanctions rarely lead to productive results, but in some cases sanctions are inevitable,” Mr Medvedev said.
Mr Obama briefed Mr Medvedev and Chinese president Hu Jintao about the Qom facility before yesterday’s announcement. China is still believed to be reluctant to take action against Iran.
– (additional reporting Reuters)