Venezuela, Iran Vs. U.S.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is known for his anti-Americanism and public support for regimes that oppose the United States. But there is growing concern that Chavez’s government may have taken serious steps to go beyond mere rhetorical support with a deal that some experts say could allow Iran access to uranium deposits in Venezuela.

Public details of the Venezuelan-Iranian uranium deal are not clear, but an article on The Washington Post speculates that the agreement could involve the production and transfer of Venezuelan uranium to Iran. Media reports also talked of an alleged Israeli intelligence report that gave an account of the exact locations of uranium deposits in Venezuela and spoke of “extraction” already taking place in the State of Bolivar.

In addition to the Israeli report, Josй V. Mйndez, a Venezuelan expert in nuclear matters talked of the establishment of a “subcommittee of the U.S. Senate“ to probe the alleged Iranian-Venezuelan deal. “If the matter of the subcommittee is true, I must say that that is precisely like what happened before the Iraq invasion,” he said.

A U.S. State Department official said: "We are aware of reports of possible Iranian exploitation of Venezuelan uranium, but we see no commercial uranium activities in Venezuela."

But a Venezuelan diplomat, Julio Cйsar Pineda, said that uranium reserves in Venezuela “were estimated to be approximately 50,000 tons.” He also believes in the possible existence of the Israeli report. “Israel is on the alert as to what is happening because there is that Iranian threat of wiping it off the map. Europe is also on the alert and even the Arabic world…”

The speculations come at a critical time between Iran and the West, after the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a non-binding statement giving Iran 30 days to halt uranium enrichment activities.

In January, members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) voted for sending Iran’s nuclear case to the UN Security Council. Only Venezuela, Cuba and Syria voted against it.

“The nuclear matter is very sensitive and the world powers are very perceptive of that. It is significant that China, who receives 15% of its oil from Iran, and Russia, who provided it with nuclear technology, have not voted in favor of Iran at the UN. And yet Venezuela did. They have already entered us in the game of nuclear chess,“ said Cйsar Pineda.

Last month, Chavez said that "it's absolutely false that the Iranian government is developing an atomic bomb." He also criticized the U.S. for being hypocritical for maintaining its nuclear weapons and those of friendly countries while demanding that others "paralyze their programs for peaceful uses of nuclear energy."

Venezuela insists, like Iran, that it seeks atomic technology strictly for civilian purposes. Chavez recently attempted to purchase his own nuclear technology from Argentina. But Argentina marked its distance from the idea of its wealthy neighbor. Iran, on the other hand, hinted that it will help Venezuela in developing nuclear energy for peaceful uses and always within the norms of the IAEA.

In February, Caracas and Tehran announced that they reached several agreements during a visit to Venezuela by the speaker of the Iranian parliament, Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel. One of those deals, perhaps the most important, could lead to the mining of Venezuelan uranium for Iranian use, prompting U.S. opposition figures to warn that Chavez’s government could be planning to provide Tehran with uranium for its nuclear program, according to The Washington Times.

Tehran and Caracas also agreed to set up a joint U.S. 0 million development fund aimed at promoting bilateral trade and consolidate a relation in which there already existed an old accord meant to oppose Washington’s imperialism. Both countries also signed bilateral agreements to build homes and factories in the South American country.

Allying himself with states that share his opposition to the U.S. is nothing new for the oil-rich Chavez, but any deal towards a joint nuclear effort with Iran is alarming for Washington.

The U.S. fears that Venezuela may be  sharing uranium with Iran, and that Iran may be giving secret nuclear advice to Venezuela in order to avail itself of nuclear fuel. Both countries fear that the Bush administration may find an excuse for invading them.

According to Venezuela’s former Defense Minister Raul Salazar, Chavez’ support for Iran’s nuclear program was pushing relations with Washington past "the point of no return." Caracas’ support for Tehran has so far been purely political, he said, but "that is not to say [uranium transfers to Tehran] couldn't happen in the future."

But Chavez dismissed the reports of the Venezuelan-Iranian uranium deal as being part of an "imperialist plan" propagated by international news media. “Now they say I am sending uranium to make atomic bombs from here, from the Venezuelan Amazon to send directly to the Persian Gulf," he said last week. "This shows they have no limit in their capacity to invent lies."

Venezuelan Foreign Commerce and Integration Minister Gustavo Marquez  also denied sending uranium shipments to the Middle East. "There is no sort of exploitation of that,” he said.

And Venezuela’s former representative to the IAEA, Leancy Clemente Lobo, said: “I do not believe that uranium is being taken out of Venezuela sent to Iran, because they have more of it there that we do here. Iran does not need Venezuela in the nuclear sector; quite to the contrary. But one must be careful to recognize and accept the rules of the game. There has always been this hullabaloo because it is a kind of neuralgia; it happened to Pakistan with respect to India, Korea lives it now, Brazil and Argentina expressed it in their time. And this is Venezuela’s moment.”