Iran not interested in Bolivian uranium: Tehran envoy

Source: Agence France-Presse

Iran not interested in Bolivian uranium: Tehran envoy
Wed Jun 3, 6:21 pm ET

LA PAZ (AFP) – Iran is not interested in mining Bolivia's uranium, and Israel talks about this only because it wants to thwart closer ties between Iran and Latin America, Tehran's envoy to La Paz said Wednesday.

Israel suspects that the leftist governments in Bolivia and Venezuela are supplying uranium for Iran's controversial nuclear program, according to an Israeli foreign ministry document leaked to media on May 25.

"We believe that (the uranium issue) is an Israeli pretext so that we do not strengthen our relations with friendly countries like Bolivia and other countries in Latin America," Massoud Edrini told the Radio Fides network, according to comments posted on its website.

In the two meetings between Bolivian President Evo Morales and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- in September 2007 in La Paz and one year later in Tehran -- "nothing was mentioned about uranium," Edrini told Radio Fides.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090603/wl_mideast_afp/boliviairanisraelnuclearpolitics_20090603222327

From the original article:

The Morales administration said it is currently impossible to export uranium because it is not being mined, though there are uranium deposits in the country.

Apparently some rightist governments and their mouthpiece media believe they can publish any claims they can invent and no one's going to be the wiser other than the people who live in the countries they wish to overthrow, and no one will believe them.

If Bolivia doesn't produce uranium, that's going to introduce a credibility issue regarding Israel's claim of Bolivian nefarious uranium scheming with Iran.

everything will be clear out

Iran not interested in Bolivian uranium: Teheran envoy
(AFP)

4 June 2009 Print E-mail
LA PAZ - Iran is not interested in mining Bolivia’s uranium, and Israel talks about this only because it wants to thwart closer ties between Iran and Latin America, Teheran’s envoy to La Paz said Wednesday.

Israel suspects that the leftist governments in Bolivia and Venezuela are supplying uranium for Iran’s controversial nuclear program, according to an Israeli foreign ministry document leaked to media on May 25.

‘We believe that (the uranium issue) is an Israeli pretext so that we do not strengthen our relations with friendly countries like Bolivia and other countries in Latin America,’ Massoud Edrini told the Radio Fides network, according to comments posted on its website.

In the two meetings between Bolivian President Evo Morales and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - in September 2007 in La Paz and one year later in Teheran - ‘nothing was mentioned about uranium,’ Edrini told Radio Fides.

Bolivia broke diplomatic ties with Israel in January over its military incursion into the Gaza Strip.

The Morales administration said it is currently impossible to export uranium because it is not being mined, though there are uranium deposits in the country.

‘Bolivia does not produce uranium,’ said Mining Minister Luis Alberto Echazu on May 29. ‘The country has never produced uranium.’

Bolivia has also been improving ties with Iran, which last week sent a legislative committee to La Paz to ratify a 1.2 billion dollar cooperation agreement between the two countries.

The agreement includes funds for development projects, including two cement factories.

More:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/darticlen.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2009/June/middleeast_June79.xml§ion=middleeast&col=