Iran yesterday brushed aside western expressions of alarm over its decision to start uranium enrichment work at a virtually impregnable underground mountain bunker as "exaggerated and politically motivated".
Tehran had long broadcast its intention to activate the Fordo plant near the holy city of Qom. But the start of operations there comes at a time of heightened tensions.
The United States and the European Union are moving towards far tougher sanctions over Iran's suspect nuclear ambitions and Tehran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil transport waterway, in retaliation.
The West's concerns were greeted by schoolboy humour yesterday when Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, visited his like-minded, anti-American counterpart in Venezuela during a tour of leftist Latin American countries.
Pointing to a grassy mound in front of his presidential palace, Hugo Chavez delighted his guest by joking: "That hill will open up and a big atomic bomb will come out".
For some experts, Fordo's start-up indicated Iran has no intention of negotiating with world powers over its nuclear programme. But others said Iran could be planning to use the issue as a 'fact on the ground' to bolster its bargaining power in any new talks with the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.
Either way, analysts doubt new negotiations will be more successful than the last round of negotiations that ended in stalemate in Turkey 13 months ago.
"There's a slightly increased chance that Iran will be receptive to new proposals," said Sir Richard Dalton, a British former ambassador to Iran and senior fellow at Chatham House, a leading British think tank. But, he added in an interview: "There's a low chance they will receive any new proposals."
The UN's atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), confirmed late on Monday that Iran had begun enriching uranium to 20 per cent purity at Fordo, 145 kilometres south-west of Tehran.
Gill Tudor, a spokeswoman for the IAEA, added that "all nuclear material in the facility remains under the agency's containment and surveillance" - a point echoed by Tehran yesterday.
Fordo's existence only came to light after it was identified by western intelligence agencies in September 2009. Unlike Iran's main enrichment site at Natanz, Fordo is buried under a mountain, which Tehran says is necessary to protect it from aerial bombardment. Its operation greatly reduces the option for the US and Israel of destroying a key component of Iran's nuclear programme through superior military firepower.
"Israel, which has already warned Iran that it could take military action against installations, is very, very worried by this facility," said Mark Hibbs of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "We are moving into dangerous territory."
Yesterday, the Russian foreign ministry expressed "regret and worry" at the new enrichment plant, in a statement by the Itar-Tass news agency. Western leaders believe Iran has not yet taken the strategic decision to weaponise its nuclear programme. Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary, said at the weekend Iran was laying the groundwork for making nuclear weapons someday, but was not building a bomb.
Citing an Israeli security report, the Times of London reported yesterday that Israel is now "thinking the unthinkable" by preparing to deal with a nuclear-armed Iran within a year. The daily said the move was "tacit recognition" that Israel is backing away from its long-held position that it would do everything, including mounting a military strike, to stop Iran acquiring nuclear-weapons capabilities.
Iran, which insists its nuclear programme is solely peaceful, says the 20 per cent enriched uranium at Fordo is needed to provide fuel for its Tehran Research Reactor to produce medical isotopes for the treatment of cancer.
Some analysts say Iran has enough enriched uranium for this purpose already. And it is a quick technological leap to purify 20 per cent enriched uranium to the 90 per cent concentration needed for weapons grade material.
Iran's main nuclear facility at Natanz is enriching uranium to 3.5 per cent, the level required to fuel nuclear reactors. Several thousand centrifuges there are said to have produced enough material for four nuclear warheads if the uranium is enriched to much higher levels.
The US denounced the activity at Fordo as "a further escalation of their ongoing violations with regard to their nuclear obligations". Britain called it "provocative" while France went furthest by declaring international sanctions should now be enforced to "an intensity and severity without precedent".
Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, responded: "These reactions are exaggerated and politically motivated and have been made over previous years."
mtheodoulou@thenational.ae
The Bio
Favourite place in UAE: Al Rams pearling village
What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft
Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans
Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
Guns N’ Roses’s last gig before Abu Dhabi was in Hong Kong on November 21. We were there – and here’s what they played, and in what order. You were warned.
- It’s So Easy
- Mr Brownstone
- Chinese Democracy
- Welcome to the Jungle
- Double Talkin’ Jive
- Better
- Estranged
- Live and Let Die (Wings cover)
- Slither (Velvet Revolver cover)
- Rocket Queen
- You Could Be Mine
- Shadow of Your Love
- Attitude (Misfits cover)
- Civil War
- Coma
- Love Theme from The Godfather (movie cover)
- Sweet Child O’ Mine
- Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb cover)
- Wish You Were Here (instrumental Pink Floyd cover)
- November Rain
- Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden cover)
- Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)
- Nightrain
Encore:
- Patience
- Don’t Cry
- The Seeker (The Who cover)
- Paradise City
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RESULTS - ELITE MEN
1. Henri Schoeman (RSA) 57:03
2. Mario Mola (ESP) 57:09
3. Vincent Luis (FRA) 57:25
4. Leo Bergere (FRA)57:34
5. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS) 57:40
6. Joao Silva (POR) 57:45
7. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 57:56
8. Adrien Briffod (SUI) 57:57
9. Gustav Iden (NOR) 57:58
10. Richard Murray (RSA) 57:59
Bundesliga fixtures
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
Results:
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m | Winner: Eghel De Pine, Pat Cosgrave (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m | Winner: AF Sheaar, Szczepan Mazur, Saeed Al Shamsi
6pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (PA) Group 3 Dh500,000 1,600m | Winner: RB Torch, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
6.30pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (TB) Listed Dh380,000 1,600m | Winner: Forjatt, Chris Hayes, Nicholas Bachalard
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup for Private Owners Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 1,400m | Winner: Hawafez, Connor Beasley, Ridha ben Attia
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 80,000 1,600m | Winner: Qader, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roaulle
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)