BELGIUM/IRAN: BRUSSELS PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF RESISTANCE OF IRAN CLAIMING IRAN SEEKS NUCLEAR BOMB BOOSTER FROM SOUTH KOREA.

Record ID: 316985

  • Title: BELGIUM/IRAN: BRUSSELS PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF RESISTANCE OF IRAN CLAIMING IRAN SEEKS NUCLEAR BOMB BOOSTER FROM SOUTH KOREA.
  • Date: 25th August 2005
  • Summary: (BN11) BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (AUGUST 25, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. LAS: HOTEL WHERE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF RESISTANCE OF IRAN (NCRI) IS HOLDING NEWS CONFERENCE. 0.03 2. WS: NCRI SPOKESMAN, DR ALI SAFAVI, POINTING AT AN AERIAL MAP OF IRAN. 0.08 3. MV: PEOPLE SITTING DOWN DURING NEWS CONFERENCE. 0.10 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NATIONAL COUNCIL OF RES
  • Embargoed: 9th September 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
  • City:
  • Country: Belgium Iran
  • Reuters ID: LVA4QDG7FH2R6DD5KOYRBOITBKMT
  • Story Text: Exiled group claims Iran seeks nuclear bomb booster
    from South Korea.



    Iran will complete work on a plant producing plutonium for nuclear
    weapons much earlier than acknowledged by the government, according to an
    exiled Iranian group, which said the government had lied about the completion
    date.

    The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) also said during a
    news conference in Brussels on Thursday (August 25, 2005) that Iranian agents have
    sought to obtain from South Korea and elsewhere a substance that can boost
    nuclear explosions in atomic weapons. The substance is a hydrogen isotope
    known as tritium.

    The NCRI has in the past provided accurate information on hidden
    Iranian nuclear activities.

    Spokesman Dr Ali Safavi showed aerial pictures of Arak's heavy water
    facility and said Iran had lied about the timescale for completion.

    The group revealed Arak's existence in 2002, which Tehran later
    declared to the IAEA.

    "This notion that this site will be completed by the year 2014 is
    a sheer lie and the regime actually is thinking of finishing this site by the
    year 2007, (PICTURE OF SAFAVI) and so with Arak heavy water reactor scheduled
    for completion by the year 2007 you can imagine that they are not very far
    from a nuclear bomb and hence the need for a more diligent and vigourous
    response by the international community," Safavi said.

    Citing unnamed sources in the Iranian leadership, Safavi also said Iran
    had tried to smuggle tritium, a substance that can be used to boost nuclear
    explosions in atomic weapons, from South Korea.

    He said Iran had been carrying out research in tritium and deuterium
    which he said together increase the explosive power of a bomb
    "tenfold" and was essential for producing smaller sized nuclear
    bombs at a military research centre in Labizan, north of the capital
    Tehran.

    "In addition, as I said, to carrying out military research on the
    production of titrium under the cover of scientific research the Iranian
    regime has also tried to smuggle material from abroad into Iran for this
    purpose and specifically they have tried to do that from South Korea. That's
    one of the countries where Iranian front companies have been very active in
    order to be able to acquire this material," Safavi said.

    Safavi said he understood that Iran's attempts to acquire the substance
    had been successful, but gave no further details.

    The new allegations come days after Britain, France and Germany
    cancelled talks with Tehran aimed at encouraging it to halt atomic work
    following Tehran's resumption of some activities.

    Safavi also repeated allegations by the NCRI last year that Iran had
    already managed to purchase deuterium from abroad. It is not illegal for Iran
    to purchase deuterium but it should be reported to the U.N.'s nuclear
    watchdog, the IAEA.

    South Korea produces about 40 percent of its electric power at its 20
    nuclear plants, ranking sixth in output in the world.

    Safavi said he believed Iran had 95 percent of what it needed to build
    a nuclear bomb but didn't clarify how long it would or could take Iran to do
    so.

    "Based upon all the information that the resistance has obtained
    the regime is 90 to 95 percent there already, that is toward completion of the
    nuclear fuel cycle and once it succeeds in completing the fuel cycle then its
    only a matter of time before they could produce a nuclear bomb," he said.

    The West suspects Iran may be taking steps towards atomic arms. Tehran
    denies this and says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.



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