No problem with Iran Bushehr nuke reactor: White House

"This reactor is monitored by the IAEA with cooperation from Russia. We have monitoring in place... and we believe Iran has the right to produce peaceful nuclear power," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters at his daily news conference.
"That does not let it get out of its responsibilities in international agreements and commitments to step away from an illicit nuclear weapons programme. So I would definitely divorce the two things," Gibbs said.

The spokesman, however, refuted reports that the sanctions on Iran are not working. "I think if you look at articles over the past several weeks, sanctions are having an impact on the economy of Iran."

"The (US) President that travels around the world and makes outlandish comments, in stepping away from his country’s obligations, is making it harder for the people of Iran. That's the message I think that's being delivered with sanctions," Gibbs said.

Earlier, the State Department spokesman P J Crowley said that it believes that Busher Iranian nuclear reactor is for peaceful purpose and does not pose a proliferation risk.
"We recognise that the Bushehr reactor is designed to provide civilian nuclear power and we do not view it as a proliferation risk because it is under IAEA safeguards and because Russia is providing both the needed fuel and then taking back the spent nuclear fuel, which would be the principal source of our proliferation concerns" he said.

Crowley said that in Bushehr, Iran does not need an indigenous enrichment capability to generate civilian nuclear energy... "and Russia's supply of fuel we think is a model that Iran should follow in its ambition for civilian nuclear energy."

But, this should not be confused with the global fundamental concerns about Iran's violations of international nuclear obligations, particularly in pursuit of uranium enrichment, he said.

"You know, Iran says it wants to have full control of fuel cycle to obtain self-sufficiency, but the fact is that Iran does not have, you know, sufficient uranium reserves in the country to meet its stated goal," Crowley said.

"So this is precisely the kind of international cooperation that we think is appropriate for Iran and it undercuts Iran's rationale for why it needs to pursue its own enrichment capability," he added