07-04-06
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is known for his anti-Americanism and public
support for regimes that oppose the United States. But there is growing concern
that Chavez’s government may have taken serious steps to go beyond mere
rhetorical support with a deal that some experts say could allow Iran access to
uranium deposits in Venezuela.
Public details of the Venezuelan-Iranian uranium deal are not clear, but an
article on The Washington Post speculates that the agreement could involve the
production and transfer of Venezuelan uranium to Iran. Media reports also talked
of an alleged Israeli intelligence report that gave an account of the exact
locations of uranium deposits in Venezuela and spoke of “extraction” already
taking place in the State of Bolivar.
In addition to the Israeli report, Jose V. Mendez, a Venezuelan expert in
nuclear matters talked of the establishment of a “subcommittee of the US Senate“
to probe the alleged Iranian-Venezuelan deal.
“If the matter of the subcommittee is true, I must say that that is precisely
like what happened before the Iraq invasion,” he said.
A US State Department official said: "We are aware of reports of possible
Iranian exploitation of Venezuelan uranium, but we see no commercial uranium
activities in Venezuela."
But a Venezuelan diplomat, Julio Cesar Pineda, said that uranium reserves in
Venezuela “were estimated to be approximately 50,000 tons.” He also believes in
the possible existence of the Israeli report.
“Israel is on the alert as to what is happening because there is that Iranian
threat of wiping it off the map. Europe is also on the alert and even the Arabic
world…”
The speculations come at a critical time between Iran and the West, after the
UN Security Council unanimously adopted a non-binding statement giving Iran 30
days to halt uranium enrichment activities. In January, members of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) voted for sending Iran’s nuclear case
to the UN Security Council. Only Venezuela, Cuba and Syria voted against it.
“The nuclear matter is very sensitive and the world powers are very perceptive
of that. It is significant that China, who receives 15 % of its oil from Iran,
and Russia, who provided it with nuclear technology, have not voted in favour of
Iran at the UN. And yet Venezuela did. They have already entered us in the game
of nuclear chess,“ said Cesar Pineda.
In March, Chavez said that "it's absolutely false that the Iranian government
is developing an atomic bomb." He also criticized the US for being hypocritical
for maintaining its nuclear weapons and those of friendly countries while
demanding that others "paralyze their programs for peaceful uses of nuclear
energy."
Venezuela insists, like Iran, that it seeks atomic technology strictly for
civilian purposes. Chavez recently attempted to purchase his own nuclear
technology from Argentina. But Argentina marked its distance from the idea of
its wealthy neighbour. Iran, on the other hand, hinted that it will help
Venezuela in developing nuclear energy for peaceful uses and always within the
norms of the IAEA.
In February, Caracas and Tehran announced that they reached several
agreements during a visit to Venezuela by the speaker of the Iranian parliament,
Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel. One of those deals, perhaps the most important, could
lead to the mining of Venezuelan uranium for Iranian use, prompting US
opposition figures to warn that Chavez’s government could be planning to provide
Tehran with uranium for its nuclear program.
Tehran and Caracas also agreed to set up a joint development fund aimed at
promoting bilateral trade and consolidate a relation in which there already
existed an old accord meant to oppose Washington’s imperialism. Both countries
also signed bilateral agreements to build homes and factories in the South
American country.
Allying himself with states that share his opposition to the US is nothing
new for the oil-rich Chavez, but any deal towards a joint nuclear effort with
Iran is alarmingfor Washington. The US fears that Venezuela may be sharing
uranium with Iran, and that Iran may be giving secret nuclear advice to
Venezuela in order to avail itself of nuclear fuel. Both countries fear that the
Bush administration may find an excuse for invading them.
According to Venezuela’s former Defence Minister Raul Salazar, Chavez’ support
for Iran’s nuclear program was pushing relations with Washington past "the point
of no return." Caracas’ support for Tehran has so far been purely political, he
said, but "that is not to say [uranium transfers to Tehran] couldn't happen in
the future."
But Chavez dismissed the reports of the Venezuelan-Iranian uranium deal as
being part of an "imperialist plan" propagated by international news media. “Now
they say I am sending uranium to make atomic bombs from here, from the
Venezuelan Amazon to send directly to the Persian Gulf," he said. "This shows
they have no limit in their capacity to invent lies."
Venezuelan Foreign Commerce and Integration MinisterGustavo Marquez also denied
sending uranium shipments to the Middle East. "There is no sort of exploitation
of that,” he said.
And Venezuela’s former representative to the IAEA, Leancy Clemente Lobo,
said: “I do not believe that uranium is being taken out of Venezuela sent to
Iran, because they have more of it there that we do here. Iran does not need
Venezuela in the nuclear sector; quite to the contrary. But one must be careful
to recognize and accept the rules of the game.”
“There has always been this hullabaloo because it is a kind of neuralgia; it
happened to Pakistan with respect to India, Korea lives it now, Brazil and
Argentina expressed it in their time. And this is Venezuela’s moment.”
Source: Al Jazeera