In Other News: Iran Increases Centrifuges to 4,000
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Dave Schuler | Friday, August 29, 2008 |
As odd as it may seem there are other things happening in the world outside of the American presidential election. One of these is that it has been reported that Iran has increased the number of centrifuges it has deployed for enriching uranium to 4,000:
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has increased the number of operating centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant to 4,000, a top official said Friday, pushing ahead with the nuclear program despite threats of new U.N. sanctions.
The number was up from the 3,000 centrifuges that Iran announced in November that it was operating at its plant in the central city of Natanz. Still, it is well below the 6,000 it said last year it would operate by summer 2008, suggesting the program may be behind schedule.
Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Reza Sheikh Attar, who visited Natanz last week, said Friday that Iran was preparing to install even more centrifuges, though he did not offer a timeframe.
“Right now, nearly 4,000 centrifuges are operating at Natanz,” Attar told the state news agency IRNA. “Currently, 3,000 other centrifuges are being installed.”
If Iran is ever to start producing weapons-grade HEU it is likely to be at Natanz. This news is unlikely to make capitals in Western Europe feel any more comfortable with the situation in Iran. Nor in Washington, for that matter.
With its increasing international isolation over its activities in the Caucasus Russia is unlikely to feel in a cooperative mood about imposing increased sanctions on its client, Iran.
About the Author: Over the years Dave Schuler has worked as a martial arts instructor, a handyman, a musician, a cook, and a translator. He's owned his own company for the last thirty years and has a post-graduate degree in his field. He comes from a family of politicians, teachers, and vaudeville entertainers. All-in-all a pretty good preparation for blogging.
He has contributed to OTB since November 2006 but mostly writes at his own blog, The Glittering Eye.
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Let them, a Uranium based weapons program is a money sink, with an upper limit on the yield of the weapons. If we can keep them working on this instead of a Plutonium program, we'd all be much better off. With some good propaganda, we can even get the population blaming their economic problems on the government's insistence on wasting money on it, resulting in both a change of government and a dismantling of the program.
Now that the Iranians have SARAH PALIN to fear, of course they're redoubling their efforts.
--Oh, right, "other things happening in the world outside of the American presidential election." Sorry.
Ummmm.. it was 6000 of them at the end of July.
No fault to you, Dave, but I suspect given the constantly shifting numbers we can stop taking these sand rats seriously.
Oops. Forgot the link. Just for good measure, here's a second
And a third
"With its increasing international isolation over its activities in the Caucasus Russia is unlikely to feel in a cooperative mood about imposing increased sanctions on its client, Iran."
I do believe Russia has been thumbing its nose at the West for a long time. We have just been gullible in believing what they say for Western consumption (Do we have a better name than the West now?). They will do what they want regardless of any agreement with the West.
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