Posted on 04/16/2013 1:05:50 PM PDT by drewh
NIAMEY, Niger (AP) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited the uranium-rich West African nation of Niger on Tuesday, although officials discounted that the mineral was the reason for his visit.
Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou denied international speculation that Iran had come in search of uranium for its enrichment program, which Western powers suspect might aim to produce nuclear weapons.
The two-day stop in Niger is the second on Ahmadinejad's trip to West Africa. He already has visited Benin and is due to visit Ghana before returning home.
The West has imposed several rounds of punishing sanctions on Iran in an effort to force the country to scale back its uranium enrichment program.
Iran has refused, insisting its program is for peaceful purposes, and says it has a right to enrich under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Last week, Iran announced two nuclear-related projects to expand capabilities to extract and process uranium.
Iran already has uranium mines and the ability to turn the raw ore into a material called yellowcake, which is the first step in the enrichment chain.
But the new facilities - expansion in the country's largest uranium mine and processing facility - give Tehran greater access and control in making the raw materials for enrichment to nuclear fuel and, potentially, for warhead-grade material.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
He’s there for the chick-peas.
Ping.
He’s there fpor a suntan. I hope he visits the mines and gets a real sunburn.
I wonder if they are going to sell the Iranians the same yellow cake that the Iraqis never had.
Alert Joe Wilson so he can tell us there’s no yellow cake in Niger...or something.
Oh, wait... nevermind.
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