West edging closer to confrontation with Iran

Iran’s showdown with the West slid closer to dangerous confrontation yesterday as ­international alarm over a new uranium enrichment plant raised the stakes.

Both sides were digging in, with Iran’s defiance hardening and the United States and European Union actively taking steps to fracture the Iranian economy through further sanctions.

China, which rejects sanctions, warned of disastrous consequences if the Iranian nuclear row escalated into conflict, while Japan said it was “very concerned.”

The UN atomic agency’s confirmation on Monday that Iran had begun enriching uranium in a new, underground bunker southwest of Teheran was seized upon by the US, Britain, France and Germany as an unacceptable “violation” of UN Security Council resolutions. Russia, which has relatively close ties with Iran, also voiced concern on over the new plant.

“Moscow has with regret and worry received the news of the start of work on enrich­ing uranium at the Iranian plant,” the Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying by the Itar-Tass news agency.

Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Ali Asghar Soltanieh, tagged the West’s stance as “politically motivated”.

The underground Fordo plant had been revealed two years ago and documented, he said. The 20 per cent enriched uranium it was to produce would be used for “peaceful and humanitarian” purposes, he said.

Both Soltanieh and the IAEA stressed the UN nuclear watchdog had 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.

For his part, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday that his country was “fighting to establish solidarity and justice.”

He was in Nicaragua to attend President Daniel Ortega’s inauguration to a third term yesterday, the second stop on a tour of Latin American allies.