Iran will produce highly enriched uranium if nuclear talks fail: Iranian MP

TEHRAN,Oct.3(MNA) – The deputy chairman of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee said that Iran will produce highly enriched uranium if the nuclear talks between Tehran and the six major powers fail to yield positive results. “If the talks between Iran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) do not yield results, the Iranian youth will (produce) up to 60 percent enriched uranium to fuel submarines and oceangoing ships,” MP Mansour Haqiqatpour said. AP quoted a senior U.S. official as saying on September 27 that the six major powers had decided to lay the groundwork for another round of negotiations with Iran. The latest round of high-level talks between Iran and world powers was held in Moscow on June 18 and 19. Haqiqatpour said, “The 5+1 group, which repeatedly postpones the talks, should be aware that if the talks are dragged on into the next year,” Iran may start producing uranium enriched to a purity level of 40 to 50 percent. He was apparently referring to the next Iranian calendar year, which ends on March 20, 2013. “They should not suppose that if they increase threats and sanctions and intensify pressure on the country, we will remain calm,” he said, adding, “Now, we need 60 percent enriched uranium to fuel ships, and if Western countries do not provide us with it, our youth will produce it.” On July 3, MP Hossein Naqavi-Hosseini said that the Majlis Industries and Mines Committee had approved a plan which called for Iranian oceangoing tankers and ships to be powered by nuclear fuel in order to eliminate their need to be refueled while on long voyages. The parliament has not yet endorsed the plan. Earlier, MP Rouhollah Abbaspour, the rapporteur of the Majlis Industries and Mines Committee, had said that in response to the West’s anti-Iranian sanctions, the administration would be obligated to equip some vessels of the country’s shipping fleets with enhanced propulsion systems that would allow them to operate for long periods without needing to be refueled. Iran needs to produce uranium enriched to a purity level of higher than 20 percent in order to fuel the ships equipped with enhanced propulsion systems.