IRAN: Iran's president launches a new phase in the Arak heavy-water reactor project, saying Tehran would not give up its right to nuclear technology.

Iran's president launched a new phase in the Arak heavy-water reactor project on Saturday (August 26), saying Tehran would not give up its right to nuclear technology despite Western fears it is aimed at producing a bomb. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was speaking just days ahead of a United Nations deadline for Iran to halt uranium enrichment or face possible sanctions. " Accessing and using nuclear technology for peaceful means is a God given right for all nations, including Iran," Ahmadinejad said in his speech to inaugurate the heavy water project. The ceremony at the heavy water site at Khondab, near Arak, was attended by foreign and Iranian journalists. The complex was protected by dozens of anti-aircraft guns and surrounded by a four-metre high barbed wire fence. Photographers and TV journalists were asked not to take any images except in areas where they were specifically permitted. The U.N. Security Council has demanded Iran meet an Aug. 31 deadline to halt uranium enrichment, the part of Tehran's atomic programme which is the biggest worry to the West. Western nations accuse Iran of seeking to master technology to produce nuclear weapons. Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, insists it only wants to produce electricity. "Iran is not a threat to anybody, not even the Zionist regime, a definitive enemy of the nations of this region and all nations of the world," Ahmadinejad said, using Iran's term for its arch-enemy Israel, which the Islamic Republic does not recognise. Iran faces possible sanctions if it does not heed the U.N. deadline, but divisions among world powers over how to handle Iran could delay any action. The U.S. newspaper The Los Angeles Times said Washington had indicated it was ready to form an independent coalition to freeze Iranian assets and restrict trade if necessary. Iran is likely to raise further fears in Western capitals by pressing ahead with the heavy-water project near Arak, 120 miles (190 km) southwest of the capital Tehran. An Iranian official said the Arak project is not a proliferation risk because heavy water had no military use but a Western diplomat said it was not a constructive step. Manouchehr Madadi, who heads the heavy-water project, said the project had two units, each producing eight tonnes of heavy water a year. Another engineer, who asked not to be named, said the plant became operational on July Officials said the reactor was still under construction. The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, told the students' ISNA news agency that U.N. inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would visit Arak next week. Inspectors routinely visit Iranian facilities but diplomats say a group was recently denied access to an Iranian underground site. Iran denies hindering access. Six world powers offered Iran incentives to halt enrichment. But Iran has only hinted it might be ready to consider halting the work as a result of talks, not as a precondition. The reply seemed designed to divide opinion among the six powers. The United States has warned of swift action on sanctions. Britain, Germany and France have been less conclusive in public. But Russia and China, both trade partners of Iran, have been unwilling and could veto sanctions in the Security Council.

ITN Source | August 26, 2006