VIENNA, Austria — An International Atomic Energy Agency report this week on Iran’s nuclear program will point to efforts by Tehran to build a computer model of a nuclear warhead, diplomats said Saturday.
The report will provide many details on Iran’s alleged weapons projects, including evidence based on satellite images that show a steel structure for nuclear-related testing of explosives, they said.
Tensions were rising in the lead-up to the much-anticipated document, expected on Wednesday, with Israeli President Shimon Peres saying that military action against Tehran is growing more likely as Iran is moving toward a nuclear weapon.
“In the time that remains, we must urge the other nations of the world to act, and tell them that it is time to stand behind the promise that was made to us, to fulfill their responsibility, whether that means serious sanctions or whether it means a military operation,” he said on television Friday.
The West suspects Tehran’s nuclear program is aimed at making nuclear weapons, charges the country has denied. Iran on Saturday also denied that the IAEA report would show efforts by Tehran to build a computer model of a nuclear warhead.
“We have no problems if the IAEA insists to raise this issue in its next report, just their documents for proving the issue are all baseless,” Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said.
According to the Fars news agency, Salehi said Iran has already replied to these charges in a 117-page report to the IAEA.
Salehi added the IAEA should stick to its main duty as a UN nuclear watchdog, and not adopt a political approach under pressure of world powers.
The new report is based on a continuous stream of intelligence reports that Israel, the United States, Britain and France have provided to the international nuclear agency.
The diplomats said the IAEA had corroborated the intelligence data by using satellite images and other openly available sources.
“Given the past experience with Iraq, the agency is extremely careful about the information it puts in its reports — because it has seen faulty information used to justify military action,” one of the diplomats said.
IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said in an earlier report in May that he was concerned about seven Iranian research projects, including turning uranium metal “into components relevant to a nuclear device.”
Even though the upcoming report would contain damning information, the diplomats said it was unlikely that the IAEA’s governing board would condemn Iran when it meets on Nov. 17 and 18 in Vienna, Austria.
It might take some months to convince China and Russia to support a board resolution that could be the first step toward additional UN sanctions, they said.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
