With calls of "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" the
locks placed at the atomic site in Isfahan were broken and
the production of liquid gas from natural uranium intended
for the production of enriched uranium was renewed, launching
an international crisis. Europe and the US did not rush to
respond to the provocation and are showing restraint.
Earlier the same calls were heard at the official
inauguration ceremony for Mohammed Ahmadinjad, the fanatic
former students and Revolutionary Guards figure who became
president of Iran. The macabre slogans in the presidential
palace, and not just in the street, set the tone for the new
presidency.
Following last week's inauguration the Islamic regime
reported the renewal of nuclear activity at the plant in
Isfahan, located in the middle of the desert. A group of
foreign reporters invited to the event reported that the
plant is surrounded by a battery of antiaircraft missile
launchers and Revolutionary Guard patrol units around the
barbed-wire fence protecting the site. According to the
reporters, work at the labs was renewed in an atmosphere of
intoxication following the election victory. The Iranians
broadcast films of people breaking the locks placed years ago
by international inspectors, who set up cameras to track
events taking place at the plant.
The Iranian announcement unleashed an atmosphere of
international crisis, said the French Foreign Minister. "This
is an act against the atmosphere of the talks being conducted
for two years," he said, referring to negotiations with the
mullahs. The Iranians disregarded them and the Americans. The
announcement explicitly states the production of liquid gas
is intended for the production of enriched uranium and is
within Iran's rights.
The British Foreign Ministry said it would raise the issue at
the gathering of the Executive Council of the UN Atomic
Energy Agency in Vienna on Tuesday. "The Iranian decision
violates the agreement with Europe and the Agency," said the
spokesman. The Agency will ask Iran not to take action and
will threaten to bring the matter to the UN Security Council,
a threat which did not seem to worry the Iranians
inordinately.
A few days later, the Iranians ceremoniously opened a plant
that had hundreds of centrifuges, used in purifying
uranium.
