.Iran: Secret memo reveals Khamenei plan for nuclear arms, says report
Tehran, 15 Sept. (AKI) - Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reportedly has a secret plan to accelerate nuclear arms production by simulating a breakdown at the nuclear reactor of Bushehr.
That is according to a memorandum circulated among several western intelligence services cited in the Italian daily, La Stampa.
The Khamenei initiative dates back to the day after 6 September 2007 when Israeli warplanes struck an alleged nuclear reactor that was allegedly being developed in northern Syria.
The effectiveness of that attack frightened Khamenei who feared the same could happen to Iranian nuclear plants.
A few weeks later in Iranian capital Tehran, Khamenei gathered a group of senior officials responsible for national security and nuclear power, including Mohsen Fahrizadeh, entitled Project III - the programme suspected of planning the development of nuclear arms.
On that occasion, according to the memorandum, Khamenei spoke of the need to accelerate the military project in such a way that it did not run the risk of breaching the rules of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
During the meeting several proposals were discussed and at the end of the talks, "Khamenei called for a plan to be drawn up to exploit the nuclear material of the Bushehr plant to obtain plutonium".
According to sources cited in the document, there were moments of tension during the meeting because several of the officials there "warned Khamenei repeatedly" that if they took this course, Iran would "pay a serious political price".
But Khamenei reportedly decided nevertheless to approve details of the plan that had been presented to him.
Under the plan submitted, options included heating bars of material for 300 days, producing plutonium but of an inferior quality to military fuel to produce 600 kilogrammes to make 75 bombs of low quality.
Under a second option, the reactor would be activated to its maximum power for two months to produce 120 kilogrammes of material for 15 nuclear bombs.
All would have been done in secret to coincide with a fake accident at the reactor - an incident that would justify to the international community why its normal activities had stopped.
The memorandum is in marked contrast to the many official pronouncements by the Iranian government that it only intends to use nuclear material for peaceful purposes.
AKI
That is according to a memorandum circulated among several western intelligence services cited in the Italian daily, La Stampa.
The Khamenei initiative dates back to the day after 6 September 2007 when Israeli warplanes struck an alleged nuclear reactor that was allegedly being developed in northern Syria.
The effectiveness of that attack frightened Khamenei who feared the same could happen to Iranian nuclear plants.
A few weeks later in Iranian capital Tehran, Khamenei gathered a group of senior officials responsible for national security and nuclear power, including Mohsen Fahrizadeh, entitled Project III - the programme suspected of planning the development of nuclear arms.
On that occasion, according to the memorandum, Khamenei spoke of the need to accelerate the military project in such a way that it did not run the risk of breaching the rules of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
During the meeting several proposals were discussed and at the end of the talks, "Khamenei called for a plan to be drawn up to exploit the nuclear material of the Bushehr plant to obtain plutonium".
According to sources cited in the document, there were moments of tension during the meeting because several of the officials there "warned Khamenei repeatedly" that if they took this course, Iran would "pay a serious political price".
But Khamenei reportedly decided nevertheless to approve details of the plan that had been presented to him.
Under the plan submitted, options included heating bars of material for 300 days, producing plutonium but of an inferior quality to military fuel to produce 600 kilogrammes to make 75 bombs of low quality.
Under a second option, the reactor would be activated to its maximum power for two months to produce 120 kilogrammes of material for 15 nuclear bombs.
All would have been done in secret to coincide with a fake accident at the reactor - an incident that would justify to the international community why its normal activities had stopped.
The memorandum is in marked contrast to the many official pronouncements by the Iranian government that it only intends to use nuclear material for peaceful purposes.
AKI
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