West edges closer to confrontation with Iran

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TEHRAN, Jan 10, (AFP): Iran's showdown with the West slid closer to dangerous confrontation Tuesday as international alarm over a new uranium enrichment plant and Tehran's death sentence for a "CIA spy" raised the stakes.
Both sides were digging in deeper and brandishing military muscle, with Iran's defiance hardening and the United States and European Union actively taking steps to fracture the Iranian economy through further sanctions.
The IAEA's confirmation on Monday that Iran had begun enriching uranium in a new, underground bunker southwest of Tehran was seized upon by the United States, Britain, France and Germany as an unacceptable "violation" of UN Security Council resolutions.
But Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, on Tuesday shot back that the stance was "politically motivated".
The underground Fordo plant had been revealed two years ago and documented, he said. The 20-percent enriched uranium it was to produce would be used for "peaceful and humanitarian" purposes, namely isotopes for cancer treatment, he said.
Both Solatanieh and the IAEA stressed that the UN nuclear watchdog had deployed 24-hour cameras there and inspectors to keep it under watch.
That seemed unlikely to reassure the United States, though, or its chief Middle East ally, Israel, analysts said.
"Israel, which has already warned Iran that it could take military action against installations, is very, very worried by this facility ... We are moving into dangerous territory," said Mark Hibbs of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.