Tuesday, November 16, 2004
No proof of secret Iranian N-programme: IAEA
Press Trust of India Vienna, November 16
The UN atomic watchdog said it has found no proof of a secret Iranian nuclear weapons programme but could not yet conclude there was no covert activity, as Iran pledged to suspend uranium enrichment to prove its peaceful intentions.
In a confidential report, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Monday that while Iran had been guilty of breaching international safeguards, almost two years of inspection had uncovered no proof of an illicit weapons programme.
The IAEA's report sets the stage for a definitive review of Iran's nuclear programme when its board of governors meets here on November 25, with the United States charging that Tehran is secretly developing nuclear weapons.
"All the declared material in Iran has been accounted for, and therefore such material is not diverted to prohibited activities," the IAEA report said, according to a copy obtained by AFP.
A diplomat close to the agency pointed out that the IAEA's legal authority was to investigate nuclear material and was "quite limited when you get into the area of nuclear weapons related activity."
The report said the IAEA was "not yet in a position to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran."
Washington wants the agency to haul Iran before the UN Security Council for possible sanctions, but the Iranian agreement to suspend enrichment, and the lack of a "smoking gun" in the report, will make that task harder.
© HT Media Ltd. 2004.