WORLD> Middle East
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WORLD> Middle East
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Iran put nuclear site near base in case of attack
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-09-30 01:47 President Barack Obama's administration is planning to push for new sanctions against Iran, targeting its energy, financial and telecommunications sectors if it does not comply with international demands to come clean about its nuclear program, according to US officials. Iran's decision to disclose details about its hidden nuclear site and allow the IAEA to inspect it could be an attempt to defuse international anger that the US could harness in pushing through stronger sanctions.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the matter. Israel has trumpeted the disclosure of the hidden facility as proof of its long-held assertion that Iran seeks to build nuclear weapons. Israel considers Iran's nuclear program a strategic threat and has not ruled out a pre-emptive military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. But some Israeli analysts believe the disclosure of the new nuclear facility could actually put off an Israeli strike because it increases the chances that the international community will impose harsher sanctions. "If there ever was a thought of going with a military option, it's been put off," said Ephraim Kam, the deputy director of Tel Aviv University's Institute of National Security Studies. "Iran was caught lying again, it's clearly moving toward becoming a nuclear power. "Now the Americans are better able to try to persuade the Europeans, and even the Russians, to go for tougher sanctions," he said. Israeli officials have been instructed not to comment on the newly revealed nuclear site or Iran's missile tests on Sunday and Monday. Hard-line 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, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency. Iranian officials have dismissed such calls in the past, saying the country will remain committed to its obligations. Salehi said the Qom facility was a "contingency" facility to make sure that Iran's nuclear activities won't stop even for a moment. "This is a contingency plant. It is one of pre-emptive measures aimed at protecting our nuclear technology and human work force. It is a small version of Natanz," he said. "This is to show that the Islamic Republic of Iran won't allow its nuclear activities stop under any circumstances even for a moment." Natanz is an industrial-scale enrichment plant in central Iran while the Qom facility, according to Salehi, is a semi-industrial facility." He gave the location of the site as about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of capital Tehran on the road leading to Qom. That is about 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of Qom. He dismissed a statement by Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday that the facility was near the village of Fordo, which is about 30 miles south of Qom. A satellite image provided by DigitalGlobe and GeoEye shows a well-fortified facility built into a mountain about 20 miles northeast of Qom, with ventilation shafts and a nearby surface-to-air missile site, according to defense consultancy IHS Jane's, which did the analysis of the imagery. The image was taken in September. GlobalSecurity.org analyzed images from 2005 and January 2009 when the site was in an earlier phase of construction and believes the facility is not underground but was instead cut into a mountain. It is constructed of heavily reinforced concrete and is about the size of a football field — large enough to house 3,000 centrifuges used to refine uranium. Salehi said the site was selected after a careful study by the authorities. He said it was a formerly an ammunition depot before his agency took control of it a year ago and started construction that will eventually house a uranium enrichment plant. He said the only connection between the Qom nuclear facility and the Guard is the Guard would protect it against possible attacks. Salehi said Iran will officially inform the IAEA of details about the site at a later date.
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