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Expert: Several days were not enough for Iran to enrich uranium

Politics Materials 11 February 2010 20:22 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, February 11 / Trend , E.Ostapenko/

Iranian president's statement on nuclear program is pure politics and had nothing to do with a nuclear program on a technical level. This also deals with the statements on completion of 20-percent enrichment of the first consignment of the uranium, said a European expert on Iranian politics Rouzbeh Parsi.

"Regarding the nuclear technology, there is very seldom you can do that can be started on one day and ended within the couple of days, Parsi told Trend in a telephone conversation. It is a very neat kind of technology. It requires time to get it right."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that Tehran has already produced the first consignment of 20-percent enriched uranium. He said this in his speech during meeting dedicated to the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

According to presidential decree, the enrichment of uranium from the current five percent to 20 percent at Natanz plant was to begin Feb. 9.

It is pure politics and had nothing to do with a nuclear program on a technical level, said Parsi,analyst of the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS).

For the moment, the biggest problem for Ahmadinejad is the demonstrations. For the last couple of days, he has come out with a number of statements on nuclear issue, of course, because he knows that this will bring him the biggest repercussion outside the country, said Parsi.

Iran has repeatedly changed its decision in the negotiations with the West over its nuclear program. In late October last year, the IAEA suggested Iran to export 1.2 tons (some 70 percent of accumulated in Iran) of low-enriched uranium to Russia for pre-enrichment and the onward production of fuel in France for the Tehran research reactor. However, Tehran offers its own plan according to which the exchange should take place in phases (consignments of 300-400 kg) and simultaneously (that is, Iran should receive 20-percent enriched uranium immediately, rather than waiting for the pre-enrichment of 3.5 percent Iranian uranium abroad).

In addition, a long time, Iranian officials have insisted that the exchange was conducted on the territory of Iran, in particular it proposed the Kish Island in the Persian Gulf. However, in the beginning of last week, Ahmadinejad said that he sees no "significant difficulties" of whether the exchange is made in Iran or outside, "in the case of signing the contract."

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