IAEA: 'Reduced' confidence in Iran account

TEHRAN, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- A senior official said Iran would rather buy than produce enriched uranium, as international inspectors raised questions Monday about Iran's nuclear program.

IAEA inspectors issued a report saying an underground nuclear enrichment facility near Qum -- a project Iran only disclosed publicly this fall -- was "in an advanced state" but had not had centrifuges installed. However, the inspectors confirmed the plant was designed to accommodate 3,000 centrifuges, sufficient to produce material for one or two nuclear weapons a year, but not to fuel civilian nuclear power, The New York Times reported.

The IAEA report said Iran's reluctance to disclose the facility "reduces the level of confidence in the absence of other nuclear facilities under construction, and gives rise to questions about whether there were any other nuclear facilities in Iran which had not been declared to the agency."

Iran denied it is hiding any other facilities from the IAEA and said in a letter to the agency the underground facility is a response to "threats of military attacks against Iran."

"Purchase of uranium enriched to the level of 20 percent is the best option to supply the fuel needed for the Tehran reactor," Kazem Jalali, spokesman for the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told Mehr News Agency. "Production of 20 percent enriched uranium inside Iran is another option on the table."

Western nations proposed Iran ship 70 percent of its low-enriched uranium elsewhere to be processed and returned for use in its medical research reactor. Iran counter-proposed a two-step exchange with the International Atomic Energy Agency, safeguarding about one-third of Iran's uranium stockpile while Tehran finds an outside supplier, Iran's Press TV reported Monday.

Selling enriched uranium fuel would test the West's willingness to supply the fuel Iran needs for its medical reactor, Jalali said. Another option, he said would be for Iran to do the enriching under international monitoring.

Russian President Dimitry Medvedev said Iran could face new sanctions if it doesn't move quickly to resolve the situation. U.S. President Barack Obama also said time is short and that Tehran should respond positively to the IAEA proposal.

Meanwhile, RIA Novosti reported Iran's first nuclear power plant will not be fired up this year as planned.

"We expect major results by the end of the year, but the launch will not take place," Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said Monday.

Russia, Iran's partner in the project, repeatedly delayed the start-up, citing financial or technical difficulties but remains committed to its obligations to Iran, Shmatko said.