The leaders of the United States, Britain and France staged a bravura theatrical performance here last week by claiming to have just ‘discovered’ a secret Iran uranium enrichment plant near Qom. On cue, a carefully orchestrated North American media blitz trumpeted warnings of the alleged Iranian nuclear threat and ‘long-ranged missiles.’
In reality, the Qom plant, Iran’s second uranium enrichment operation, was detected by US spy satellites over two years ago, and was known to the intelligence community.
Iran claimed the plant would not begin enriching uranium for peaceful power for another 540 days. UN nuclear watchdogs say Iran should have revealed the plant earlier. UN nuclear rules, to which Iran adheres, calls for 180 days notice. Iran alerted the UN last week and said it would invite inspectors. That did nothing to silence Western howls of outrage.
