Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Massimo Calabresi

Aired March 09, 2003 - 09:14   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: First al Qaeda, then Iraq, and North Korea, now the Bush administration may have another international crisis at hand. We've reported that the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency discovered Iran was building a plant to enrich uranium. That's a key component of advanced nuclear weapons.
Now "TIME" magazine is reporting development of the plant is much more advanced than thought. To talk about these findings, Reporter Massimo Calabresi, who wrote the story, is joining us now.

Hello, to you. Nice to see you once again, Massimo.

MASSIMO CALABRESI, REPORTER, "TIME": Good to be back, Heidi.

COLLINS: If you can, can you just sum up your article a little bit for us right off the top here?

CALABRESI: Sure, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei traveled in late February to Iran to investigate allegations, rumors, intelligence reports that Iran had a production facility to create the fuel for -- well, to create highly enriched uranium, which is, as you say, a component in advanced nuclear weapons.

While he was there, he announced, as you said, the construction of this facility. What we've learned is that that facility is essentially ready to go. There are hundreds of centrifuges ready to go online and the parts for 1,000 more centrifuges readying to be assembled. It's a massive plant. In addition, last week, Iran announced they'd start a separate facility elsewhere in the country, that produces the gas that is introduced into those --.

COLLINS: That is hexafluoride gas, right?

CALABRESI: Uranium hexaflouride gas, that's right. That is introduced into those centrifuges to produce the enriched uranium. I should say, one wants to be careful here, they have not yet introduced gas into those centrifuges at the facility near Natanz. That would be a serious violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

What we have learned, however, is that in testing centrifuges earlier, the IAEA has concluded that Iran did, in fact, introduce the gas into other centrifuges, which in itself was a violation of the NPT.

COLLINS: Now, the director of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei will be going there next week, right? And there's something in your article that interests me. You say that he says that they knew about this centrifuge, but he was possibly trying to keep it under wraps, hoping that it would kind of all work out. Why would he want to do that? Doesn't the world deserve, or have a right to know?

CALABRESI: It's an incredibly sensitive topic coming at an incredibly sensitive time. What ElBaradei is trying to do is seal an agreement with Iran whereby they will bring all of their nuclear facilities, many of which were developed outside IAEA safeguards, under IAEA safeguards. And he's hoping that by avoiding scandal or crisis in the international public eye that he can negotiate this behind the scenes.

COLLINS: Massimo, we've asked this question before of other guests. But I'd be curios to know your answer. Who do you see as the most -- the biggest threat, I should say, to the United States? Iran, Iraq, or North Korea?

CALABRESI: Well, I mean, I hate to dodge the question, but they're each a different threat in a different way. Iran is a relatively consistent actor, much more predictable than the other two, than North Korea and Iraq.

North Korea, obviously, has been very, very bellicose in its rhetoric and is in a position to do much more immediate damage to allies of the U.S. and the 37,000 U.S. troops positioned on the peninsula. Iraq, for the reasons that have been laid out repeatedly over the last few months, probably does pose some threat as well.

COLLINS: Expansionism, of course, being one of those.

CALABRESI: That's right.

COLLINS: All right, Massimo Calabresi, of "TIME" magazine, we appreciate your expert insight today. Thanks so much.

CALABRESI: My pleasure.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired March 9, 2003 - 09:14   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: First al Qaeda, then Iraq, and North Korea, now the Bush administration may have another international crisis at hand. We've reported that the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency discovered Iran was building a plant to enrich uranium. That's a key component of advanced nuclear weapons.
Now "TIME" magazine is reporting development of the plant is much more advanced than thought. To talk about these findings, Reporter Massimo Calabresi, who wrote the story, is joining us now.

Hello, to you. Nice to see you once again, Massimo.

MASSIMO CALABRESI, REPORTER, "TIME": Good to be back, Heidi.

COLLINS: If you can, can you just sum up your article a little bit for us right off the top here?

CALABRESI: Sure, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei traveled in late February to Iran to investigate allegations, rumors, intelligence reports that Iran had a production facility to create the fuel for -- well, to create highly enriched uranium, which is, as you say, a component in advanced nuclear weapons.

While he was there, he announced, as you said, the construction of this facility. What we've learned is that that facility is essentially ready to go. There are hundreds of centrifuges ready to go online and the parts for 1,000 more centrifuges readying to be assembled. It's a massive plant. In addition, last week, Iran announced they'd start a separate facility elsewhere in the country, that produces the gas that is introduced into those --.

COLLINS: That is hexafluoride gas, right?

CALABRESI: Uranium hexaflouride gas, that's right. That is introduced into those centrifuges to produce the enriched uranium. I should say, one wants to be careful here, they have not yet introduced gas into those centrifuges at the facility near Natanz. That would be a serious violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

What we have learned, however, is that in testing centrifuges earlier, the IAEA has concluded that Iran did, in fact, introduce the gas into other centrifuges, which in itself was a violation of the NPT.

COLLINS: Now, the director of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei will be going there next week, right? And there's something in your article that interests me. You say that he says that they knew about this centrifuge, but he was possibly trying to keep it under wraps, hoping that it would kind of all work out. Why would he want to do that? Doesn't the world deserve, or have a right to know?

CALABRESI: It's an incredibly sensitive topic coming at an incredibly sensitive time. What ElBaradei is trying to do is seal an agreement with Iran whereby they will bring all of their nuclear facilities, many of which were developed outside IAEA safeguards, under IAEA safeguards. And he's hoping that by avoiding scandal or crisis in the international public eye that he can negotiate this behind the scenes.

COLLINS: Massimo, we've asked this question before of other guests. But I'd be curios to know your answer. Who do you see as the most -- the biggest threat, I should say, to the United States? Iran, Iraq, or North Korea?

CALABRESI: Well, I mean, I hate to dodge the question, but they're each a different threat in a different way. Iran is a relatively consistent actor, much more predictable than the other two, than North Korea and Iraq.

North Korea, obviously, has been very, very bellicose in its rhetoric and is in a position to do much more immediate damage to allies of the U.S. and the 37,000 U.S. troops positioned on the peninsula. Iraq, for the reasons that have been laid out repeatedly over the last few months, probably does pose some threat as well.

COLLINS: Expansionism, of course, being one of those.

CALABRESI: That's right.

COLLINS: All right, Massimo Calabresi, of "TIME" magazine, we appreciate your expert insight today. Thanks so much.

CALABRESI: My pleasure.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com