Friday, November 21, 2008

AJC Alarmed by Latest IAEA Report on Iran's Nuclear Program

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC is alarmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) latest report, which indicates that Iran has produced 630 kilograms of low-enriched uranium. According to nuclear physicists, this amount of low-enriched uranium is roughly sufficient to make one atomic bomb.

"The harsh reality is that Iran has defied repeated international demands and continued its enrichment program, widely believed to be for military purposes," said AJC Executive Director David A. Harris.

While additional steps are required to actually create the bomb, including further enrichment and design of the bomb itself, this development represents yet another ominous milestone in the Iranian effort to achieve nuclear weapons capability.

"This week's IAEA report on the Iranian nuclear program, coupled with earlier studies, should serve as a pressing wake-up call for the international community," said Harris. "It is high time for the UN Security Council, the European Union and key nations with ties to Iran to adopt further measures -- political, commercial and financial -- to ensure that Iran gets the clear message that 'it can't have its yellow cake and eat it, too.'"

Moreover, with nearly 4000 centrifuges at work to enrich uranium, and ambitions to increase that number rapidly, Iran is unquestionably seeking additional low-enriched uranium.

"The sanctions enacted to date, while laudable in their intent, have not yet had the desired impact," said Harris. "The international community must ratchet up the pressure, while leaving the door open to the diplomatic solution that Tehran has spurned for years. The stark alternative is a nuclear Iran, which would trigger a nuclear arms race among its neighbors and pose an unprecedented threat to regional and global security."

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

No comments: