EDITORIAL: Iran's uranium program

If Iran is to continue with what it says is a peaceful nuclear program, it needs to win the trust of the international community. To do that, it must dispel suspicions that it is intent on developing nuclear weapons.

Instead, Iran has made a series of moves in the opposite direction. U.S. President Barack Obama has begun work on a new U.N. Security Council resolution to impose additional sanctions on Iran. That is a natural diplomatic response to the increasing danger of nuclear proliferation posed by Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country embarked on a program to enrich uranium to 20-percent purity from its current level of 3.5 percent for use as fuel for a research reactor. Although the level of purity Tehran is seeking is significantly lower than the 90-percent levels needed to manufacture nuclear weapons, the step has nevertheless raised international concern. It has sparked fears that the country could start making real progress toward producing weapons-grade uranium.

Iran has ignored past U.N. Security Council resolutions that imposed sanctions over its program to enrich uranium. Iran has denied having any intention to develop nuclear arms, citing its right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes like scientific research. Nobody can deny Iran's right to pursue a peaceful nuclear program. But its unilateral move to enrich uranium to higher levels, which only deepens the suspicions raging in the international community, is totally unacceptable.

For roughly the past four years, the five permanent members of the Security Council, along with Germany, have been negotiating with Iran for a diplomatic solution to the dispute. Last autumn, a tentative agreement was reached on a proposal to use facilities outside the country to process Iran's low-enriched uranium into fuel rods for use in Iran's research reactor.

But Iran made an abrupt about-face and rejected the proposal. Now, it has acted abruptly again in initiating work to accelerate its enrichment of uranium to a higher level of purity.

Tehran's switch to hard-line tactics has been prompted apparently by a deepening political rift within the country.

In the presidential election last June, a reformist candidate critical of Ahmadinejad's tough diplomatic stance won unexpectedly wide support from voters. The prolonged U.N. economic sanctions against the internationally isolated country are putting a heavy strain on the lives of Iranian citizens.

With his political power base shaky, Ahmadinejad tried to switch to a stance of international cooperation in an effort to calm public discontent with his foreign policy. But he has apparently reverted to a hard-line stance in the face of criticism from conservatives.

The international community's response to Iran's latest move will be defined by the kind of action the Security Council will take. Confidence in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) can be maintained only if the Security Council always makes an effective response to any move that undermines the treaty's integrity and authority.

North Korea conducted nuclear tests after committing a series of violations of the NPT. It also declared its withdrawal from the treaty. There must not be another such setback for the nonproliferation regime.

Among the key members of the Security Council, China has shown reluctance to support additional sanctions against Iran. Expanding sanctions is not the only diplomatic option. But discord among the council members only weakens international pressure on Tehran.

The Security Council's reconfirmation of its united front in dealing with Iran is most important to finding a diplomatic solution to the problem.

The council's rush to slap additional sanctions on Iran, however, could provoke a strong backlash among Iranians against what they perceive as great-power politics, effectively creating a favorable political situation for the Iranian regime.

Iran has a clear interest in accepting the existing U.N. resolutions and terminating its uranium enrichment program. Various diplomatic efforts must also be made to convince Iranian leaders of this.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 12