Venezuela AFFIRMS / DENIES Iran Is Helping It Look for Uranium

From the New York Times - September 25, 2009:

A senior aide to Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, said Friday that Iran was assisting Venezuela in the detection and testing of uranium deposits found in remote areas of Venezuela. The disclosure points to the importance Mr. Chávez has placed on the development of a nuclear energy program.

“Iran is helping us with geophysical aerial probes and geochemical analysis,” Rodolfo Sanz, Venezuela’s minister of basic industries and mining, told reporters... "We could have important reserves of uranium..."

Mr. Chávez has denied that Venezuela wants to develop nuclear weapons... Still, Mr. Chávez has moved ahead in seeking the help of other countries. This month, he said he had reached an agreement with Russia, the top weapons supplier to Venezuela, for assistance in creating a nuclear energy program. Mr. Chávez also referred this month to a plan to create what he called a “nuclear village” in Venezuela with technological assistance from Iran...

From the New York Times - September 26, 2009:

Venezuela’s minister of science and technology denied Saturday that Iran was helping his country seek uranium, saying Venezuela was working only with Russia to detect deposits of the radioactive metal.

The official, Jesse Chacón, said Venezuela, which has vast deposits of various minerals and precious stones including gold, diamonds and nickel, was also seeking deposits of other natural resources and was taking aerial photos to determine what it should exploit...

The country’s minister of mining, Rodolfo Sanz, said Friday that Iran was helping Venezuela detect uranium deposits and that initial evaluations suggested reserves were significant...

Mr. Sanz declined to respond to reporters when questioned Saturday about the conflicting statements.

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