Israeli Major General Amos Yadlin, the nation’s military intelligence chief, publicly denounced Iran today, insisting that there was “no possible civilian use” for its new Iran’s Qom enrichment facility.
Iran revealed the facility, still under construction, in September. Last week the IAEA inspected the facility, but hasn’t made public any of its findings yet. Western officials have condemned the site, which Iran insists will be used for civilian enrichment.
But Maj. Gen. Yadlin sees those claims as an insidious plot. He went on to accuse Iran of “intentionally” developing its nuclear program in such a way as to be of purely civilian use (and therefore legal) so as to avoid international moves against them. He also claimed the Qom facility was an effort to make it harder for their program to be sabotaged.
On that last count, he seems to agree with Iran, which has publicly said the reason for the Qom facility’s creation was repeatedly threats by the US and Israel to attack their existing enrichment facility. Iran has been enriching uranium to the level needed for a Russian-built nuclear power plant soon to be operational in Bushehr, and the IAEA has repeatedly certified that its uranium has not been diverted to any other purpose.
