Iran said it had been vindicated after the UN nuclear agency concluded that traces of highly enriched uranium found on centrifuge parts in Iran had entered the country on imported equipment and were not a result of Iranian enrichment activities.
The findings by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) supported Iran's claims that the material entered the country together with centrifuge parts from Pakistan.
The discovery of traces of highly enriched uranium in Iran had been used as evidence by the US that Tehran was experimenting the production of highly enriched uranium, which is only used in nuclear weapons.
The traces were found on centrifuges at the uranium enrichment plant in the central Iranian city of Natanz and Kalaye Electric site, west of Tehran, two years ago and raised concerns about the motives behind Iran's nuclear activities.
The US claims Iran is using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to secretly develop nuclear weapons. Tehran denies the charge, saying its nuclear program is designed only to generate electricity.
Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, on Tuesday said the findings prove Iran was right and the US was wrong.
"Accurate scientific investigation by the IAEA has proved that US accusations were unfounded," state-run television quoted Saeedi as saying on Tuesday.
Saeedi said the time had come for the West, including Europeans, to trust Iranian intentions.
"Given the fact that Iran has been cleared of the accusations and that its statements have been approved, there is no justification for Western countries not to trust Iran," he said.
Prominent political analyst Davoud Hermidas Bavand concurred: "The findings by IAEA mean future pressures on Iran over its nuclear program will be only politically motivated without any legal value."
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
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