- 9 January 2012
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- NIAC round-up
Defense Secretary Panetta: Iran seeking nuclear latency, not nuclear weapon
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta appeared on Face the Nation and said of Iran, “Are they trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No. But we know that they’re trying to develop a nuclear capability. And that’s what concerns us. And our red line to Iran is do not develop a nuclear weapon.” (Transcript: CBS Face the Nation 01/08) (Think Progress 01/08).
Iran announces future enrichment at underground site as talks loom
On Friday, diplomats in Vienna said Iran has taken steps in preparation for uranium enrichment at the Fordo site. According to one diplomat, Iran began feeding uranium gas into centrifuges as part of preparations for enrichment (Reuters 01/06).
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said that Iran and international powers have in principle agreed to resume talks on Iran’s nuclear program in Turkey. Additionally, Feireidoun Abbasi, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, said that Tehran has shown a new generation of centrifuges to the IAEA (Fars News Agency 01/08).