Iran far from having atomic bomb

Iran could make an atomic bomb if it has the intention to do so but it is still far from that achieving that goal despite growing concern by Western powers, the former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says.

Hans Blix said pressure by the US and other Western powers on Iran to prevent it from pursuing its nuclear programme is part of a general policy to restrain export of nuclear enrichment technology anywhere in the world.

“The reasons are that if you can enrich, set up an industrial production of enrichment of, up to four percent to get your nuclear fuel, then you can also go on to 94 percent (weapons grade level),” he said in comments published by the Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research.

“This is what they fear that the Iranians could do—although the Iranians haven’t gone up anymore than just below 20 percent.”

Blix, who heads the international panel of advisers on the UAE's nuclear energy programme, said the Iranians have often made clear that they need the enrichment for their research reactor.

“But they could at any moment, and that means that if the intentions were there, they could get close to a nuclear weapon and tensions could increase. This is what has happened here with the Iranian enrichment programme,” he said.

“They (the Iranians) say themselves that they will not go for nuclear weapons, but many people are not assured. Maybe they won’t but they are getting closer toward the option and even that—getting closer toward the option—is increasing tensions considerably in the region.”

Blix, who had led a UN team monitoring Iraq’s weapons before the war, said he believes it would be desirable if the Middle East region could agree, both not to have any weapons but also not to have any enrichment because there is ample enrichment capacity in the world.

“It is cheaper to buy it….there is no economic reason to go for it. South Korea has 20 nuclear power reactors, they don’t enrich but they buy it in the international market. My own country, Sweden, has 10 nuclear reactors, we do not enrich but we buy it in the market,” he said.

“So anyone comes around now and says we would like to enrich our own raw uranium, well I will be a little suspicious—as it can’t be for economic reasons but for some other reasons….maybe in the future the whole Middle East may rally around developing one joint capacity, and there may be transparency, and then perhaps it may be fine; but not now and I don’t think it is directed specifically at the Middle East, it is a general concern.”

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