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Well, Dah! Mohamed ElBaradei discovered Iran is up to no good
 IRAN is believed to have begun small-scale enrichment of uranium, raising the stakes in its dispute with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over the extent of its nuclear ambitions. A report to be published by the United Nations nuclear watchdog tomorrow is expected to claim that scientists at Irans plant in Natanz have set up a cascade of 10 centrifuges to produce enriched uranium the fuel for nuclear power plants or bombs. Iran is a long way from the 50,000 centrifuges it would need for full-scale enrichment, but experts said that getting a small number of them to work together meant it had overcome some technical hurdles. The report, by Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the IAEA, will also accuse Tehran of continuing to deny inspectors access to crucial people and sites linked to its 20-year-old nuclear programme. ElBaradeis findings will set the tone for discussions at the UN security council next month which American officials believe could lead to sanctions against Iran this summer. International concerns over Irans intentions have been increased by the emergence in recent weeks of documents that for the first time appear to provide scraps of evidence of a covert weapons programme. Attention is focusing on the so-called Green Salt Project, a previously undeclared scheme to process uranium. The project was linked to tests on high explosives and missile design, suggesting a military nuclear dimension, the IAEA said. Inspectors travelled to Tehran this weekend to obtain more information. It is thought that some of the clandestine work was done at a plant in Lavisan, near Tehran, under the auspices of a body known as the Physics Research Centre. Iran denied IAEA inspectors access to Lavisan until 2004 by which time the buildings had been demolished. Posted by: Captain America 2006-02-26 |
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