On Sunday, Iran, in refusing to comply with U.N. demands to halt work on a once-secret enrichment plant, responded by announcing plans to build ten more enrichment facilities. The defiant announcement would place Iran in violation of a series of U.N. Security Council resolutions if carried out. Initial response to the plans have been mixed. The White House stated that this is another move by Iran to further isolate itself. European diplomats labeled the move as one of unreasonable “national aspiration,” as opposed to “imminent threat,” noting that the United States only has one uranium enrichment plant.
Additionally, International Atomic Energy Agency, a watch-dog arm of the U.N., stated that the plans would make it easier for the agency to suggest sanctions. Western nuclear experts, however, have noted that Iran does not have the infrastructure to carry out these plans. Iran’s main enrichment facility is only operating at one tenth of its potential, and any plans to build and maintain up to ten additional facilities could take decades.
Regardless of its solvency, the announcement is sure to provide a source of strain on Iran’s existing deals with Russia and China dealing with nuclear development. Furthermore, any move towards additional military-uranium enrichment will definitely spark the attention of Israel. Iran’s announcement came the same weekend it gave policing control of the Persian Gulf to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy. Read more at The New York Times.
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