Iranian officials continue to insist that the Bushehr nuclear plant has nothing to do with uranium enrichment, Iran's English-language news network PressTV reported on Wednesday.
"To decide on the timing of the enrichment activity is a domestic affair and the United States is not entitled to interfere in this issue. The protracted start-up of the Bushehr nuclear reactor demonstrates the scientific and technological capabilities of Iranian scientists," Iranian MP Mohammad Karim Shahrzad reportedly said.
RELATED:Odds of US attack on Iran could rise after Gates departure'Iran to build third plant'Analysis: Divisions among Iranian hardlinersAnother Iranian MP, Hossein Sobhaninia, added: "The fueling of the Bushehr plant can not be linked to Iran's nuclear enrichment program; Iran is well aware of its responsibilities."
Also on Wednesday, PressTV reported that Iranian Army official Ali Shadmani threatened to close the Straits of Hormuz if the US attacks Iran.
Earlier this week, former US ambassador to the
UN John Bolton warned that Israel has days to attack Iran, before the Bushehr reactor will be active.
“This is a very, very big victory for Iran,” Bolton told
The Jerusalem Post. “This is a huge
threshold.”
However, Iran expert Ilan Berman of the American Foreign Policy Council
said that the uranium enrichment plants are the real backbone of Iranian
efforts and expenditures to get a nuclear weapons capability, and he
suspected that they, rather than Bushehr, would be Israel’s primary
targets in any attack.
“It’s not at all clear that Bushehr would be a high value target because
it’s only tangentially related to any conceivable Iranian nuclear
weapons program,” he said. “My suspicion is this isn’t a game changer.
This isn’t going to give Iran enough fissile material for a bomb
overnight.”
Hilary Leila Krieger contributed to
this report.