UN Nuclear Watchdog Ends Vienna Meeting
The UN nuclear watchdog wrapped up a meeting in Vienna with non-aligned countries protesting a call by Britain to hand over key Iranian nuclear documents to the world's five main atomic powers for analysis. The IAEA's 35-nation board of governors on Thursday put off taking Iran to the UN Security Council to give time for new Russian diplomacy to resolve the crisis over Iran's nuclear program, but the United States warned that referral would happen soon if Tehran did not meet its non-proliferation obligations. Non-aligned states, which back Iran's right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, said the issue should remain within the framework of the IAEA.
[T]he European Union "sees grounds for deep concern" that Iran "has admitted to having in its possession a document which was supplied" by an international black market and which is a guide to making the explosive core of an atom bomb. The document tells how to melt and cast enriched uranium into hemispheres, the IAEA reported last week. Experts said the only use for such a technology is to make nuclear weapons.
But Iranian ambassador Mohammad Akhondzadeh said Thursday that this was "simple and non-sophisticated information which could be found in open literatures and on Internet". Iran's turning it over to the IAEA "is a clear indication of Iran's full transparency," he said.
Posted by: Pappy 2005-11-26 |