into its power reactor in Bushehr Tuesday, sending many commentators in the West into apoplexy and prompting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to come running to Iran’s defense.
Clinton told the world to calm down, that the Bushehr power reactor is not the issue of concern and that Bushehr is the kind of program Iran ought to be allowed to have.
“I have heard some of the news coverage that, you know, ‘Oh, my goodness, the Iranians are starting their reactor’,” she said with the sound of mock shock in her voice. “That is not the issue,” she said.
“They are entitled to peaceful civilian nuclear power,” she explained to a bevy of reporters. “They are not entitled to nuclear weapons.”
The United States has publicly supported Bushehr ever since Iran signed a contract with Russia providing that Russia would cart away the used nuclear fuel from Bushehr. Products can be extracted from used fuel to be used in weapons.
President Bush publicly stated US support for Bushehr four times. But that simply has not sunk in with many in Europe and North America who think Bushehr ties in with the suspected Iranian weapons program.
In fact, the US stand is so poorly understood that many people who understand that Bushehr is a peaceful site have condemned the United States for opposing it. The Islamic Republic has also repeatedly told its public that the United States is opposed to Bushehr.
Clinton said, “Our problem is not with their reactor at Bushehr. Our problem is with their [uranium enrichment] facilities at places like Natanz and their secret facilities at Qom [Fordo] and other places where we believe they are conducting their weapons program.”
She said, “What they [Iran] are doing is starting a reactor that is—based on everything we know about it and everything that the Russians have informed us about it, since they have worked with the Iranians many years to build this reactor—strictly for peaceful purposes.”