Iran to purchase 1,350 tons of puified uranium ore from Kazakhstan

The AP is reporting that Iran is nearing an agreement with a source in Kazakhstan to import 1,350 tons of purified uranium ore:

Iran is close to clinching a deal to clandestinely import 1,350 tons of purified uranium ore from Kazakhstan, according to an intelligence report obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. Diplomats said the assessment was heightening international concern about Tehran's nuclear activities.



Such a deal would be significant because, according to an independent research group, Tehran appears to be running out of the material, which it needs to feed its uranium enrichment program.


The report was drawn up by a member nation of the International Atomic Energy Agency and provided to the AP on condition that the country not be identified because of the confidential nature of the information.


In Washington, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said, "the transfer of any uranium yellowcake ... to Iran would constitute a clear violation of UNSC sanctions."

Meanwhile, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, who denied through a spokesman media reports that he was planning to travel to Iran, has requested permission to visit Iran.  (He was against it before he was for it).  The White House has expressed support for a Kerry trip:

A White House official told WSJ that the administration would not oppose the senator’s effort. “This sounds like the kind of travel a chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee would — and should — undertake,” the White House official said.

Yeah.  Except for the part about the United States severing diplomatic relations with Iran in 1979 after they breached our embassy and took 53 Americans hostage (with the exception of Madeline Albright's brief visit with Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi at the UN in New York right before George W. Bush was elected President and exposed the fact that Iran was behind the bombing of American military housing in Khobar Towers in Dharhan, Saudi Arabia in June of 1996 murdering 19 U.S. airmen).

Kerry does not impress me as an effective or persuasive emissary for the U.S.  But I am certain Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will enjoy and make the most of his visit.  I am also certain that the Iranian protesters who have been putting their lives on the line in recent weeks will consider an Obama-sanctioned visit by Senator Kerry as the ultimate U.S. betrayal of their fight for freedom.