Defiant Iran threatens nuclear free-for-all

A defiant and threatening Iran said it would hide its nuclear program if the West took “harsh measures” after this week’s UN Security Council deadline for Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment.

Beyond that, Iran yesterday openly offered to transfer nuclear technology to other countries, including chaos-ridden Sudan.

Ali Larijani, the top Iranian nuclear negotiator, also renewed the country’s vow to end cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and said increasing pressure on Iran would only stiffen its resolve.

“If you take harsh measures, we will hide this program. If you use the language of force, you should not expect us to act transparently,” Larijani said, adding that western countries on the IAEA board “have to understand they cannot resolve this issue through force.”

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was visiting Greece and Turkey, fired back almost immediately.

“Iranians can threaten, but they are deepening their own isolation,” she said.

Top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued the offer to transfer nuclear technology as he met with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

“Iran’s nuclear capability is one example of various scientific capabilities in the country. … The Islamic Republic of Iran is prepared to transfer the experience, knowledge and technology of its scientists,” Khamenei told al-Bashir.

Al-Bashir said last month that his impoverished, violence-ridden country was considering a nuclear program to generate electrical power.

Such a technology transfer would be legal as long as it is between signatory-states to the non-proliferation treaty, and the IAEA was informed.

Word of the transfer offer became public by the time Rice reached Ankara, Turkey, prompting her to respond yet again.

We “have to be concerned when there are statements from Iran that Iran would not only have this technology, but would share it, share technology and expertise,” Rice told a news conference.

The former Iranian Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi, meanwhile, said US and Israeli spies, in a bid to entrap Tehran, had tried to sell it enriched uranium but the offers were rejected. He did not say when the alleged attempts were made.

“The US and Israeli intelligence agencies repeatedly tried discredit Iran but failed to succeed. They repeatedly sent spies with the intention with selling enriched uranium to Iran and then to start a campaign against us.

“They got no reply thanks to the vigilance of our intelligence community,” he said yesterday.

With the approaching Friday UN deadline, Iran has become more defiant almost daily.

“If UN Security Council sanctions are to be imposed on Iran, we will definitely suspend our cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” Larijani said, echoing the words of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad only a day earlier.

Iran’s defiant stance appeared to stem in part from opposition to sanctions by Russia and China, both permanent, veto-holding members of the Security Council.

“We see no alternative to the negotiations process,” Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency while in Beijing for a regional anti-terrorism meeting.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang urged all parties “to show flexibility,” saying the international community should not abandon efforts for a peaceful settlement.

The US has not openly threatened military action and says it wants a diplomatic solution as well, but US President George Bush has said all options, including military force, remain on the table.

Britain, meanwhile, also warned Iran against miscalculating its moves.

“The Iranians, in my judgment, would miscalculate if they believed that Russia or China would block appropriate and effective sanctions, which targeted the regime, not the ordinary population,” Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said.

The US and European allies are expected to press for binding measures against Iran when the Security Council begins the next round of rview of the Iranian case as soon as next week.