Reza Aghazadeh, president of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, briefed a closed meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna yesterday in an effort to deflect allegations of a secret Iranian nuclear weapon program (see GSN, May 6).

The United States has repeatedly accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons and U.S. officials are expected to press the IAEA to find Tehran in violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

“We are reaching a point where it is going to be difficult for Iran to prove that it is meeting its obligations under the” treaty, said a high-ranking U.S. official.  “We are hoping that a vote in June … will find them in violation,” the official added.

U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton has pointed to gas centrifuges as evidence of Iran’s advanced nuclear capability (see GSN, Dec. 13, 2002).

“We think … the overall clandestine way Iran has carried out this activity demonstrates why Iran is in violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and its safeguards agreement with the IAEA,” Bolton said.

A Western diplomat who heard Aghazadeh’s speech said the situation was concerning.

“It was a skillful performance,” said the diplomat.  “They tried to give the image of transparency without providing substance about their nuclear program.  We think they are hiding things,” the diplomat added.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said, however, that the United States needs strong evidence to bring its allegations to the IAEA.

“For someone to be accused, one needs very hard proof.  So far there is no such proof either in the U.S.A. or in other countries,” he said (Geneive Abdo, Boston Globe, May 7).

During his presentation, Aghazadeh said that Tehran’s program was “only for peaceful purposes,” according to another diplomat present at the meeting (Associated Press/Raleigh News and Observer, May 6).

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