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Iran trebles trade with Latin America

Iran needs 20 uranium enrichment plants: atomic chief
Tehran (AFP) Dec 5, 2009 - Iran's atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi has said the country needs 20 uranium enrichment plants in order to meet all its electricity needs, state-owned English-language Press TV reported. Salehi told Press TV late Friday that the plants have to be equal in size to Iran's existing flagship uranium enrichment plant in the central city of Natanz. "We are in need of 20 thousand megawatts that means 20 times the amount (of fuel) the Natanz" facility can produce, Salehi said in an interview, adding that the Natanz site has a capacity of about 30 tonnes of enriched uranium per year. "Now the government has decided to have 10 sites with the same size as Natanz... every site will be producing 30 tonnes per year which is enough for one nuclear power plant," he said.

Natanz is estimated to have more than 8,000 centrifuges, machines that rotate at supersonic speed to refine uranium. More than half of them, or nearly 5,000 centrifuges, are currently actively enriching uranium under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). On Sunday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Tehran's plan to build 10 more enrichment facilities, apart from Natanz and the controversial Fordo unit which is being constructed inside a mountain near the Shiite holy city of Qom. Iran's decision to build 10 plants came after it was rebuked by the IAEA over the Fordo plant. World powers are outraged at Tehran for building the Fordo plant and some have even warned it could face a new set of sanctions.

But Salehi said new sanctions "will not really disturb us to the extent that they think would make us relent to their wishes." Press TV said Salehi also advised the West against any confrontation with Iran, which he said could have "unknown consequences." "I think it's about time to get wise people around the table and try to find a way out that would save the faces of all who are involved in this fabricated Iranian nuclear crisis. "I call it fabricated because it is really fabricated," the nuclear chief said. Tehran has maintained it will continue cooperating with the IAEA but has also warned that attempts to denying Iran its nuclear rights could reduce the country's cooperation to "a legally mandated minimum," which means it would not venture beyond its legal obligations, the channel reported. World powers suspect Iran is enriching uranium to make nuclear weapons, a charge denied by Tehran which claims its atomic programme is purely aimed at generating electricity for its growing population.
by Staff Writers
 Washington (UPI) Dec 4, 2009
A combination of official tours, trade exchanges and lucrative orders for hard-pressed Latin American exporters has raised Iran's profile in the region and the peak is yet to be reached, new statistics showed.

Iran's trade with Latin America trebled in 2008, reaching $2.9 billion. The trade increase was timely for Latin American exporters that suffered the effects of the 2008 financial crisis and faced heavily curtailed orders from the rest of the world.

The Latin Business Chronicle, citing International Monetary Fund statistics, said Brazil maintained its position as Iran's leading trade partner on the continent.

A surprise development was the rise of Argentina as Iran's second major trade partner in Latin America, despite an ongoing row over Argentina's claim that Iran was behind the 1994 bombing of a Jewish institution in Buenos Aires. The attack killed 85 people and wounded several hundred others. Iran denies any role in the incident.

An added complication in the row is the alleged involvement in the attack of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi, a former Revolutionary Guard commander. Iran has rejected the link and branded it a "Zionist" plot to defame Tehran.

Analysts said the growth in Argentine-Iranian trade ties indicated overarching pragmatism that has driven the policies of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and other regional leaders. Argentina has Latin America's largest Jewish community -- more than 200,000 inhabitants. Its community leaders have been vociferous over heightened Iranian contacts with Latin America.

Latin American media noted the shifting alliances caused concerns in both the United States and Israel. Israeli President Shimon Peres visited Argentina last month in a bid to blunt Iran's diplomatic advances, MercoPress reported.

Similar pragmatism has led Latin American countries to welcome closer ties with China, despite Western pronouncements over its human-rights record, and with Russia, in the face of concerns over a replay of Cold War politics.

Argentine exporters desperate for markets want to push Argentine-Iranian trade beyond the 2008 level of $1.2 billion, which itself was a dramatic increase over the 2007 total of $30 million.

Peru has become a major importer of Iranian produce to the region, and Iran's trade with Ecuador is dramatically up and is expected to go beyond $168 million recorded for 2008 -- a big jump from $6 million in 2007.

Iran's trade with Venezuela increased 31 percent to $52 million in 2008, but the figure reflects only a fraction of the planned turnover between the two countries after the conclusion of numerous agreements when President Hugo Chavez visited Tehran in September and Ahmadinejad returned the visit last month.

Iran has made significant gains in trade with other partners in the region, including Chile, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay.

This week Brazilian Foreign Minister Ceslo Amorim flew to Tehran to seek new opportunities for economic cooperation, the official Iranian Fars news agency said. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has defended his focus on building ties with Iran and backed Iran's nuclear power generation plans.

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NUKEWARS
Iran builds navy to hold vital strait
 Tehran (UPI) Dec 3, 2009
As tensions with Iran rise again, the Islamic Republic is reported to be expanding its naval power in the oil-rich Gulf and the Arabian Sea to be able to command the chokepoint Strait of Hormuz, the only way in or out of the Gulf. Closing that strategic waterway to maritime traffic, especially the 15 or so supertankers that sail through it every day delivering the world's oil supplies, ... read more






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