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Iran Digs in Heels Over Nuclear Secrets
EFL:Iran said Wednesday it had told the United Nations enough about its nuclear program and had no obligation to say more, rebuffing calls for it to be more open and dispel suspicions it is building a nuclear bomb. "Iran has given enough answers to the agencyâs questions," Hassan Rohani, head of Supreme National Security Council and Iranâs chief nuclear negotiator, was quoted as saying by the official news agency IRNA. I think thatâs answered all our questions. Tuesday the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran had continued to hide from it technology and research that could be linked to a weapons program -- despite its declaration in October that it had no more secrets to divulge. "We have other research projects which he havenât announced to the agency and we donât think it is necessary to announce to the agency," Rohani said. The IRNA report gave no details on the kinds of projects he was referring to. We can guess. Iranâs foreign ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, said in a statement sent to Reuters that outstanding IAEA concerns about Tehranâs nuclear program were "purely procedural" and did not undermine Iranâs denials that is pursuing atomic arms. "Nothing to see, move along, infidel!" IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Tuesday Tehranâs failure to disclose sensitive research in its October declaration was a "setback" and said he wanted to see "much more prompt" information coming from the Islamic republic. "I hope this will be the last time any aspect of the program has not been declared to us," ElBaradei said during a flight from the Libyan capital Tripoli to Rome. Thanks for nothing, El. Weâll take it from here. However, he praised Iranâs overall cooperation and its decision to suspend all activities related to the enrichment of uranium. Whatever... The IAEA said Iran had failed to declare designs and parts for advanced "P2" centrifuges, which can produce material for nuclear weapons, as well as experiments with polonium-210, a substance that can help trigger a chain reaction in a bomb. Rohani took issue with ElBaradeiâs view of the P2 issue, saying Iran was not obliged to report the centrifuge research. "Hey, you ainât supposed to know about those." On the subject of polonium, Asefi said the issue had been misunderstood and misrepresented by the media. "What was published about an unfinished research work 13 years ago about polonium is only a misunderstanding which will be solved soon." Oh, we understand. And youâre right about it being solved soon. Posted by: Steve 2004-02-25 |
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