Mashai: Ahmadinejad Meant the Nuclear Bomb

Ahmadinejad’s chief of staff Esfandiar Mashai claimed for the first time that during his boss’ visit of an exhibition on the achievements of the center for laser science and technology last year, Ahmadinejad talked of the “possibility of uranium enrichment to 100 percent” by Iran. He then completed his remarks by saying that these words meant making a nuclear bomb, and added that “not a single foreign media outlet created an uproar on this.”

Mashai then presented his conclusion of this to mean that “they (i.e. Westerners) are not concerned the nuclear bomb and Dr Ahmadinejad used this sentence to test them to see how concerned they really are about Iran producing a nuclear bomb.”

Mashai made these remarks in his meeting on Saturday morning as he talked to the young advisers of Iran’s ministry of education.

These remarks and interpretations that Mashai made were covered only by Mehr news agency (affiliated to the Islamic Propagation Organization of Iran). While other official news agencies in Iran, such as IRNA and Fars carried his remarks in general, they did not quote him or mention the words “enriching uranium by 100 percent” as presented by Mehr.

Another sentence that Mehr quotes Mashai to have said is this: “Laser activities can assistance in weapon enrichment activities.”

In another part of Mehr’s report on Mashai’s comments, the news agency writes, “A point that Dr Ahmadinejad mentioned as he was inspecting the center (i.e. Laser center) last year was the possibility of 100 percent enrichment which meant the development of a nuclear bomb, but it was noteworthy that not a single foreign media outlet created an uproar over this and this shows that they are not worried about the nuclear bomb.”

Mashai’s remarks as published by Mehr notwithstanding, even the president’s official website which did publish Ahmadinejad’s talk at the laser center on February 7, 2010. There is no mention of what Mashai claims. According to the president’s website, in the talk that Ahmadinejad gave at the laser center, he ordered Iran’s atomic energy organization to start work on “enriching uranium to 20 percent purity.” In another part of his talk, he is reported to have said, “Uranium can be enriched to different levels through care, detail, high speed and high quality using laser technology. Iran of course does not intend to use lasers in this field and with God’s help we will start enriching uranium to 20 percent and meet our needs this way.”

Mashai’s remarks about Ahmadinejad’s claims of enriching uranium to 100 percent purity are made while it is said that technically this is impossible to achieve. Technically, the highest level that uranium can be enriched is 98 percent. Uranium at this level has military use and in making nuclear weapons.

In the same remarks, Mashai also speaks about some individuals in Iran advocating nuclear activities in secret, and adds, “It is not prudent now to name these individuals,” but promised that Ahmadinejad would in time reveal their names. He also said that the West was happy if we suspended our nuclear enrichment activities just for two months, adding “suspending nuclear activities or hiding them would have provided the grounds for political and Western media manipulation.” Mashai claimed that Westerners planned to discredit the honor of the Iranian nation and later claim that the Iranians had told them lies and have hidden their nuclear activities.

The Iranian nuclear program began in 1974 when the Iran Atomic Energy Organization was formed and an agreement was soon signed to construct a nuclear power plant in Bushehr. The program was temporarily suspended after the 1979 Islamic revolution and then went underground, until the Mojahedin Khalq Organization exposed it through the publication of documents in 2002.

The uncovering of the secret activities is the accomplishment that the International Atomic Energy Agency claims and Western countries and the UN Security Council have presented to keep Iran’s nuclear issue alive.

Mashai’s remarks about the openness of Iran’s nuclear activities are made while Ahmadinejad himself in 2007 had publicly said that there were individuals who continuously gave away the country’s nuclear information to our “enemies and we have documents on their activities. They incited the enemy and questioned why others were not passing the nuclear resolutions against Iran, asking them to pass them quickly.” Ahmadinejad is reported to have said then, “If they increase their pressure on us (over the nuclear issue) we shall go from street to street exposing them and shall publish the documents related to their espionage activities. Why is the ministry of intelligence not publishing these documents?” Ahmadinejad’s reference is to those inside the country who were against the current policies of the administration.

In another part of his talk Mashai presented the theme that Ahmadinejad has been talking about for a while, i.e. the management of the world by Iran. It is said that Mashai, who is Ahmadinejad son in law, has great influence over the president on this subject. “Liberalism and Marxism have reached their dead end,” Mashai has said, adding that there was an opportunity for Iran to take over the management of the world from those who currently are doing it.

These remarks by Mashai brought an immediate response from Farda website which is run by General Morteza Talai, a member of Tehran municipality which is said to be close to the mayor of Tehran Bagher Taliban who ran against Ahmadinejad. “It is noteworthy that Mashai makes remarks three years after the statements by Ahmadinejad, and these are against the official government position which stresses the secret nature of nuclear activities.” The website then asks: “Which are the effective political groups that are pursuing a nuclear policy that is different from that of the government’s?” The website then says that earlier threats to reveal names have not been fulfilled and so these latest assertions by Mashai too should not be taken seriously. Farda downplayed Mashai’s remarks and even preached that he should talk about issues that relate to his responsibilities, which is to coordinate the activities of the office of the president and follow up on the orders and letters of the president. At the end, it even questioned whether Mashai was capable of doing his official job.