Nuclear plant was no secret, Iran says
.Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has denied that a second nuclear enrichment plant that his country disclosed only yesterday was a secret.
Iran revealed the existence of the plant to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) just hours before it was made public by US President Barack Obama.
The plant is not yet operational as it is still under construction. .
Mr Obama said the facility is close to the city of Qom and that building it started several years ago.
He said the existence of the second enrichment plant deepens a growing concern that Iran is refusing to live up to its international responsibilities.
US officials say Mr Obama went public with the explosive new allegation after the Iranians discovered Western intelligence had breached their security.
He said the plant must now be opened to inspectors.
Mr Brown said it was more evidence of Iran’s “serial deception of many years”.
“We expect the IAEA to immediately investigate this disturbing information and to report to the IAEA board of governors,” Mr Obama said, calling the new plant a “direct challenge” to international non-proliferation rules.
Mr Sarkozy said the Iranians had until December to come clean or face much tougher sanctions.
“The international community has no choice today but to draw a line in the sand,” he said.
“Everything must be put on the table now.
“We cannot let Iranian leaders gain time while the motors are running,” he said.”
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the revelations that Iran has been secretly building a nuclear power enrichment plan are highly disturbing.”
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the revelations that Iran has been secretly building a nuclear power enrichment plan are highly disturbing.
“It’s troubling that Iran continues to be unwilling to meet its obligations under the IAEA requirements and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
“This, in our view, represents a challenge to the core of the nuclear non-proliferation regime.
He denied it was a secret, saying the plant was constructed within the framework of the IAEA.”
Mr Ahmadinejad confirmed the plant existed but claims it will not be functional for 18 months.
“We have no secrecy, and we work within the framework of the IAEA, and based on specific regulations and pre-determined time frames, we disclose information about our operations and facilities to the IAEA – not that anyone forces us to,” he said.
In an interview with Time magazine, he said Iran is not obliged to inform Mr Obama of every facility it has.
“They wanted to set up a sort of media game, take the stage to sort of set up the upper hand,” he said.
He accused the Western countries of trying to stack the table against Iran before an October 1 meeting between Iranian and Western negotiators on the nuclear issue..
“This is not nice . this kind of behaviour goes back to what was done in the past. this kind of behaviour goes back to what was done in the past.”
– ABC/BBC/AFP/