[Washington Post] Robin Wright - After boasting of rapid progress for months, Iran has slowed expansion of a controversial uranium enrichment program that can be used both for peaceful nuclear energy and to develop weapons. Mohamed ElBaradei, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Monday that UN inspectors detected the change during a visit to Iran's underground enrichment facility at Natanz last week. A senior European official said Iran's slowdown is most likely due to technical problems. "Iran may be trying to learn how to operate centrifuges better, so they produce more enriched uranium instead of trying to add more centrifuges," said David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security. Others suggest, however, that Tehran may be responding to mounting international pressure.
2007-07-10 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive