However, according to Salehi’s own admission, these new centrifuges haven’t yet been tested with uranium hexafluoride (UF6), the gas that is spun in the centrifuges for the production of enriched Uranium. According to nuclear experts David Albright and Jacqueline Shire, such testing is ‘a fundamental step in establishing the viability and enrichment performance of the machine.’ As testing is a thorough process that usually requires new changes in design and manufacturing stages, it could take months, if not a full year, before this stage is completed. It’s therefore far too early for the Iranian government to declare major strides in the application of these new centrifuges, when they haven’t even been road tested yet.
Once that’s over, the problem of mass production still remains. Such centrifuges are of little use if produced in small batches. As Iranian nuclear expert Dr. Reza Taghizadeh stated in a recent interview with BBC Persian TV: ‘Iran has also produced a new generation of fighter aircraft. However, they were all experimental models, produced in single units. Iran was unable to produce them on a mass scale due to sanctions. The same is also likely to apply to these new centrifuges, which are more sophisticated design and require quite a number of parts which need to be imported.’
In addition to UN sanctions, Western intelligence agencies have played a vital role in preventing Iran from acquiring key technical parts as knowhow for Iran’s nuclear programme. And it will continue to do so, when it comes to Iran’s capabilities in acquiring the required parts and expertise to turn enriched uranium into a bomb.
In fact, some Iranians wonder whether foreign intelligence agencies might even have infiltrated the ranks of Iran’s leadership.
Judging by some of the recent domestic decisions made, one has to seriously wonder whether some Iranian leaders are paid by foreign agents to cause maximum damage to the Islamic Republic. This is most in evidence by the recent decision taken by the Iranian government to reduce at least $20 billion worth of public subsidies.
Once implemented, this new programme will cause steep price rises for everyday essentials such as food and energy for the Iranian consumer. These measures will create more misery for the Iranian consumer and cause more damage to the Iranian economy than UN sanctions could in the short to medium future. And the advantage of these measures for the West is that the Iranian public will blame their leadership for the damage, and not them.
Furthermore, the subsidy reduction programme that Ahmadinejad is pushing through is likely to create further infighting within the regime, as the change is likely to reduce demand for products that IRGC companies have been supplying. When it comes to their business interests, many such companies are very protective of them.
The combination of problems facing the Iranian nuclear programme and the worsening economic situation in the country are weakening Iran’s hands in its dealings with the West. A nuclear Iran is by no means a foregone conclusion.
Meir Javedanfar is an Iranian-Israeli Middle East analyst and the co-author of ‘The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and The State of Iran.’ He runs The Middle East Economic and Political Analysis Company (www.meepas.com).
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Rebel vatakara
It is all wink wink and nod nod….!!!
kuldeep
Why Iran should not have nuclear technology for electricity generation? it has never attacked any country in the past itself being victim of aggression from iraq. It’s a democracy then why are sanctions imposed on iran by US and acolytes? it’s not a arab country. historically iran along with india has been a centre of learning and culture.