Internationalising Iran's Enrichment Program

By Cernig

Following on from my earlier post about a Bush administration deal to give US nuclear know-how to Saudi Arabia - one has to wonder why the same administration baulked at a deal somewhat along the same lines for Iran, unless it was simply because they felt hyping the threat for "votes through fear" purposes was more worthwhile.

A previously rejected plan put forward by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to end the standoff over Iran's nuclear program is receiving attention from senior members of both parties in Congress and nonproliferation specialists.

The plan, which was rejected three years ago by the Bush administration, argues for a dramatic shift in U.S. policy: Rather than trying to halt Iran's efforts to enrich uranium, it says, the United States should help build an internationally run enrichment facility inside Iran to replace its current facilities.

Supporters argue that such a program would fulfill Iran's insistence on enriching uranium on its own soil, while preventing the dangerous material from being diverted to weapons.

Three years ago, when the proposal was first advanced, it was widely considered unthinkable. Administration officials argued that tougher sanctions and the threat of military strikes would force Iran to stop its enrichment program, a process that uses thousands of spinning centrifuges to create fuel out of rare uranium isotopes that can be used for nuclear power or weapons.

But now, with Iran apparently on the verge of mastering enrichment technology, the call to try to internationalize Iran's facilities is getting more attention in Congress and from nonproliferation specialists as a face-saving compromise.

Iranian officials proposed building an international enrichment plant inside Iran in a letter they submitted to the United Nations last month but declined to say whether such a plant would be in addition to their own facilities or a replacement for them.

In an interview last month, Iran's ambassador to the UN, Mohammad Khazaee, said the details should be negotiated.

...In early 2005, officials from the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency studied the idea of placing a facility inside Iran. Later that year, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran gave a speech at the UN inviting other countries to join in Iran's enrichment facility.

The McCain campaign has already said he would be against such a plan, saying an Iran-based plant would not be "subject to transparent and accountable international safeguards." And a Saudi nuclear progam would be? More likely, "Bomber" McCain sees the same value in fearmongering for votes as Bush did. Advisers to Obama did not rule the option out.