Iran Threatens to up Uranium Enrichment to 60%

by Yoni Hirsch, News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff

Threat comes day after U.S. senators propose law to toughen sanctions if diplomacy fails • Law states that Israeli attack against Iranian nuclear facilities would be "legitimate self-defense" • Obama: Some senators want to "look tough" on Iran.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader | Photo credit: AFP

One day after 26 U.S. senators from both parties proposed a law to intensify sanctions against Iran if the diplomatic channel hits a dead end, Iranian lawmakers on Friday threatened that the Senate bill would be met with the appropriate response.

Mehdi Moussavinejad, a senior member of the Iranian parliament’s energy committee, said lawmakers were considering a measure that would increase Iran's uranium enrichment from the current 20 percent to more than 60%, substantially closer to the 90% needed for nuclear weapons fuel.

"Given the method that the other negotiating side -- the U.S. in particular -- has adopted during the nuclear negotiations, the legislators are working on a bill that will require the government to increase the level of uranium to over 60%," Moussavinejad told the official Iranian Republic News Agency. He said the high-grade material was needed "to supply fuel for our ships."

Beyond the economic measures, the Senate bill includes potentially contentious language requiring strong American action if Israel decides to launch a preemptive strike against Iran's nuclear program. 

"If the government of Israel is compelled to take military action in legitimate self-defense against Iran's nuclear weapon program, the United States government should stand with Israel," the bill states. It calls for "diplomatic, military and economic support" to Israel in such an eventuality.

It is still unclear whether a head-on collision between Iran and the U.S. is inevitable, especially after the White House said it would consider vetoing the sanctions bill.

U.S. President Barack Obama urged Congress to resist adding new sanctions against Iran because current agreements have a good chance to rein in its nuclear ambitions.

Obama told reporters Friday that Iran has agreed to actions that will let other nations determine whether it is trying to weaponize nuclear materials, and said he would support tougher sanctions later if Iran violates the agreement. Obama, who has warned that new sanctions could scuttle the negotiations, said that "if we are serious" about seeking a final nuclear agreement the United States has to act in ways that do not increase Iranian suspicions.

The administration's opposition to the legislation, however, seems to have left little impression among the bill's supporters on Capitol Hill. 

Senior Republican Senator Lindsay Graham told Fox News over the weekend that he was trying to gather enough senators -- at least the required majority of 67 -- to circumvent a presidential veto, adding that Obama was making a terrible mistake by not maintaining pressure on Iran.

A congressional source told Fox that as of Friday there were already nearly 50 senators -- half the Senate -- who are prepared to sign off on the law. The proposal will not be brought to a vote before January, after holiday season in the U.S., but Democratic sources in the Senate revealed that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has begun a process to expedite legislation by bypassing subcommittee approval.

Obama said he realized some senators want to "look tough" on Iran, insisting that there was no need for their move to add new sanctions and that all options were still on the table.

Meanwhile, Iran's air force held a large military drill over the strategic Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, the waterway for 20% of the world's oil tanker traffic, which included multi-staged war games and the testing of Iranian-made weapons systems.

The acting chief of Iran's air force Gen. Ali Reza Barkhor said the maneuvers were part of annual exercises meant to demonstrate Iran's air defense capabilities and military readiness.

According to reports, Iranian pilots successfully test fired the Iranian-made Kader cruise missile, which has a range of up to 200 kilometers (124 miles).

On Thursday, Barkhor told state TV that the exercise would also extend into Persian Gulf waters. In past years, Iran had threatened to block the waterway in retaliation for international sanctions over its nuclear program, but Tehran no longer issues such warnings.

Iran's air force has U.S. and Russian-made fighter planes as well as their home-made replicas.

Yoni Hirsch, News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=14189

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