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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran may be working on nuclear warhead: IAEA |
| 2010-02-19 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] The U.N. nuclear watchdog fears Iran may be working now to develop a nuclear payload for a missile, the agency said in a confidential report on Thursday obtained by news agencies. The International Atomic Energy Agency report also confirmed Iran had produced its first, small batch of uranium enriched to a higher purity -- 20 percent -- but said the Islamic Republic had failed to give inspectors the required advance notice. Both developments will stoke Western concerns that Iran is secretly bent on developing nuclear weapons capacity from the enrichment process. Tehran says the effort is meant only to yield electricity or radio-isotopes for agriculture or medicine. The IAEA has been investigating for several years Western intelligence reports indicating Iran has coordinated efforts to process uranium, test explosives at high altitude and revamp a ballistic missile cone in a way suitable for a nuclear warhead. In 2007 the United States issued an assessment saying Iran had halted such research in 2003 and probably not resumed it. But its key Western allies believe Iran continued the program -- and the IAEA report offered independent support for that perception for the first time. "The information available to the agency is extensive,.... broadly consistent and credible in terms of the technical detail, the time frame in which the activities were conducted and the people and organizations involved," the report said. "Altogether this raises concerns about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile." It was unusually blunt language in the first IAEA report on Iran under new Director-General Yukiya Amano, who is seen as more inclined to confront Iran over its behavior than his predecessor, Mohamed ElBaradei. The report, to be considered at a March 1-5 meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation governing body, said it became harder to unearth relevant information as time passed, and it was therefore vital for Iran to cooperate with IAEA investigators "without further delay." Iran has dismissed the intelligence as a load of fabrication but failed to provide substance to back up its position. It has refused all contact with the IAEA on the matter for 18 months. Last week, Iran announced a start to higher-scale enrichment, saying it was frustrated at the collapse of an IAEA-backed plan for big powers to provide it with fuel rods for nuclear medicine made from uranium refined to 20 percent purity. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 "You're digging a hole." "Oooh! Nothin' slips by you, does it?" -- Paint Your Wagon |
| Posted by: mojo 2010-02-19 13:16 |
| #5 In International Relations trusting souls will unfortunately not last very long. They are not our friends. We DO not trust them. They actually hate our guts. And what exactly is a Moslem's word actually worth? There is no nice way this is all gonna end. Somebody wins and somebody loses. Oldest rule in the book. Its only a matter of time. They have three years, we have to get rid of Skinny first. A lot can happen in three years....keep the pressure on and get ready, and BE ready..its gonna happen. |
| Posted by: BlackBart 2010-02-19 10:39 |
| #4 Couldn't be. The experts who put together the NIE said they quit back in the early decade. /sarc off |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-02-19 08:21 |
| #3 Boy Howdy!! Can't slip anything past those dudes, can you? |
| Posted by: AlanC 2010-02-19 07:07 |
| #2 Ahh, that explains those long-range missiles that currently have nothing to do. |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-02-19 01:43 |
| #1 Yeah, and Daytona International Raceway may be 'working' on patching a pothole in turn 2 also.... |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2010-02-19 00:14 |