Πηγή: M&C
Nov 5 2011
Vienna - An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report next week on Iran's nuclear programme 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 that is expected on Wednesday, with Israeli President Shimon Peres saying that military action against Tehran was growing more likely as Iran was moving towards 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 in a television interview Friday.
The West suspects Tehran's nuclear programme is aimed at making nuclear weapons. Iran denies this and says its programme is peaceful.
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 November 17 and 18 in Vienna.
It might take some months to convince China and Russia to support a board resolution that could be the first step towards additional UN sanctions, they said.
Editor's Note:
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has said that evidence which the U.N. reportedly plans to release showing alleged Iranian work on nuclear weapons is a fabrication. During a press conference in Tehran Saturday said that the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency had given in to U.S. pressure to level accusations against Tehran.
"The Americans raised documents like this in the past: the Niger scandal", he said, in reference to claims made prior to the 2003 Iraq war, based on a forgery, that Baghdad had sought uranium from Niger.
See also: Iran dismisses reported UN claims of nuclear work
.
"The Americans raised documents like this in the past: the Niger scandal", he said, in reference to claims made prior to the 2003 Iraq war, based on a forgery, that Baghdad had sought uranium from Niger.
See also: Iran dismisses reported UN claims of nuclear work
.
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