TEHRAN: Iran’s nuclear chief said Tuesday his country built its newly revealed uranium enrichment facility inside a mountain next to a military site to ensure continuity of its nuclear activities in case of an attack — an unusually detailed disclosure that may be intended to defuse international pressure.
But Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, who also heads the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, took a hard line over the country’s nuclear rights two days before the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany meet with Iran in Geneva.
He said Iran is willing to have a general discussion about nuclear technology in Geneva but will not give up its right to uranium enrichment and conversion. “We will never bargain over our sovereign right,” said Salehi. Salehi reiterated that Iran is in talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency to set a timetable “soon” for an inspection of the site near Qom. But he said the country did not feel bound by a US demand to allow the inspection within a month.
He said the nuclear facility is next to a military compound of the Revolutionary Guards equipped with an air defense system. “This site is at the base of a mountain and was selected on purpose in a place that would be protected against aerial attack. That’s why the site was chosen adjacent to a military site,” Salehi told a news conference. “It was intended to safeguard our nuclear facilities and reduce the cost of active defense system. If we had chosen another site, we would have had to set up another aerial defense system.”
Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Karami Rad threatened Tuesday that if the US and its allies pressure Iran during the Geneva talks, Tehran may pull out of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iranian officials have dismissed such calls in the past, saying the country will remain committed to its obligations.
