Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Anderson of Swansea (Labour). It was answered on Thursday, 29 June 2006.

Iran: Nuclear Programme

Question: My Lords, there must surely be a suspicion that the elites in Iran, with strong popular support, have made a strategic decision that it is in their national interest to acquire a military nuclear capability and that they are prepared to pay a high price for that, including condemnation at the UN, international isolation, sanctions and benefits foregone. Can my noble friend give any evidence to refute that suspicion?

Answer: No, my Lords, I cannot provide evidence to refute that suspicion. Iran has only one nuclear power reactor under construction for which it already has a 10-year fuel supply contract and a commitment from Russia to supply fuel for the entire lifetime of that reactor. There are no other reactors under construction or even approaching construction. To rush ahead and master enrichment technology and to continue towards the construction, on an industrial scale, of an enrichment facility has no rational basis if one looks at it simply in terms of fuel creation.

Secondary information