Western intelligence reports say it is trying to buy advanced technologies
Facts prove that Iran is still seeking nuclear weapons
Iran has tried to develop its nuclear reactors by establishing relations with nuclear-developed countries with the aim of acquiring nuclear weapons.
AFP
Mahmoud Alawi said: The fatwa forbids the production of nuclear weapons, but if Iran is pushed to produce nuclear weapons, it is not its fault.
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Salehi boasted to state media about some of the ways his organization was able to deceive the international community.
Reuters
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At least three European intelligence agencies recently revealed that Iran was engaged in procurement activities last year that would accelerate its progress toward developing a nuclear weapon.
The reports of this information come at a sensitive time, as negotiations continue in Vienna over a possible return to the nuclear agreement that the United States withdrew from in 2018. These negotiations may be complicated by increased interest in long-standing questions regarding the Iranian government's nuclear ambitions.
German, Dutch and Swedish intelligence reports indicate that the Iranian regime has tried several times to establish commercial relations with nuclear-developed countries in order to obtain equipment and technical information that may be used in nuclear activities and the development of weapons of mass destruction.
All these reports indicate that these events took place in the year 2020.
Some defenders of Iran claim that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful because the Supreme Leader of the Iranian Revolution, Ali Khamenei, issued a "fatwa" stating that nuclear weapons contradict the Islamic religion.
However, the credibility of this fatwa has been questioned, as entities such as the National Council of Resistance in Iran believe that the goal of this fatwa is to secure a cover for the regime, with the aim of secretly pursuing enrichment activities, before reaching nuclear weapons capabilities.
Last February, Iranian Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi said, "The fatwa forbids the production of nuclear weapons, but if Iran is pushed to produce nuclear weapons, it is not its fault, but rather the fault of those who pushed it to do so."
In light of his position, there is no doubt that when Alavi was making his statement, he was aware of the type of activities identified by German, Dutch and Swedish intelligence regarding Iran's movements in 2020. The Swedish report noted that Iran was "carrying out industrial espionage work primarily targeting advanced Swedish industries Very good, Swedish products, which could be used in their nuclear weapons programmes.
Iran invests huge money in this field, and some of it is spent in Sweden.”
Peaceful purposes
Alavi applies the same discourse to specific acts of espionage and procurement as he did to the entire Iranian nuclear program in February.
Some of this equipment that has been attempted by several companies, representing a front for the government of Iran, can be used in both civilian and military activities applications as well, which justifies Mr. Ali and others to claim that Tehran intends to purchase this equipment in order to use it for peaceful purposes.
Such claims are irrelevant to any decisions in this area by Western powers or the signatories to the 2015 Comprehensive and Joint Action Agreement. Looking back on recent Iranian procurement activities in Europe, it must be understood that they amplify the threat of eventual penetration of Iran's nuclear capabilities. .
The Nuclear Joint Comprehensive Action Agreement was intended to extend the time frame for this breakthrough by more than a year, but the procurement activities have raised new questions about whether undeclared and undiscovered developments have put Iran in an unrecognized position toward obtaining a nuclear capability. Similar questions were circulating several months before these latest reports were released, given that Iran had virtually ceased to comply fully with the nuclear agreement, while violations were emerging long before it was announced. By January 2019, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, was bragging to state media about some of the ways his organization had managed to deceive the international community on vital issues related to the 2015 nuclear agreement.The Iranian government kept the door open to the option of building the plutonium route for nuclear weapons, while at the same time it continued to enrich uranium in accordance with the terms of the Joint and Comprehensive Action Agreement. Later in 2019, Salehi clarified that this enrichment activity was subject to Khamenei's instructions, and that the relevant authorities had put in place "countermeasures" to prevent Tehran from "falling into an enrichment impasse."
Effects of countermeasures
Subsequently, the international community began to see the effects of countermeasures in the form of rapid increases in both the degree and quantity of Iran's enrichment of uranium.
This trend continued last month while Tehran was operating more advanced centrifuges in order to raise the ceiling of its enrichment from the previous 20%, to reach 60%.
Indeed, the advocates of the JCPOA are well represented in Vienna, but their arguments have collapsed due to the growing body of evidence showing that Tehran has not adhered to the agreement in the first place, and that it is dishonest in everything it does.
Recent reports of illicit purchases are only recent examples of Iran's insincerity.
It should now be clear that the nuclear negotiations have not succeeded in persuading the leaders of Iran's government to change their plans or reduce their aggression against their foreign opponents.
It is not too late to learn the lesson of this failure that we received and go back to the beginning with a clear understanding of the pressures that must be exercised on Tehran in order to truly halt the progress of the Iranian government towards acquiring nuclear weapons capabilities.
• The Iranian government kept the door open to the option of building the plutonium route for nuclear weapons, and at the same time continued to enrich uranium in accordance with the terms of the Joint and Comprehensive Action Agreement.
• Defenders of the JCPOA are well represented in Vienna, but their arguments have collapsed due to the growing body of evidence showing that Tehran has not adhered to the agreement in the first place, and that it is dishonest in everything it does.
• Recent reports of illicit purchases are only recent examples of Iran's insincerity. It should now be clear that the nuclear negotiations have not succeeded in persuading the leaders of Iran's government to change their plans or reduce their aggression against their foreign opponents.
Tom Ridge - Governor of Pennsylvania
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