IAEA Nuclear Report on Iran Said to Be “Positive”

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei is expected to give “a positive report” on Iranian nuclear transparency, dismissing international suspicions that Tehran is secretly developing nuclear weapons, sources close to a U.N. organization’s probe said yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 20).

A delay in the report’s publication has resulted from U.S. pressure on agency staffers to persuade ElBaradei to tone down its upbeat assessment, sources told Iran’s Press TV (see GSN, Feb. 12).

The United States and other Western powers plan to direct harsh criticism at the report at a March meeting of the agency’s 35-nation governing board if ElBaradei does not revise its conclusions (Press TV, Feb. 20).

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations said today that he expects ElBaradei’s report to be a disappointment, Agence France-Presse reported.

“Our expectations, and those of many of my colleagues at the United Nations, are not high,” public radio quoted Dan Gillerman as saying.  “I fear that once again we will be disappointed by this report.”

“In recent years, Mohamed ElBaradei has demonstrated incomprehensible and exaggerated forbearance regarding Iran’s race toward arms,” Gillerman added (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, Feb. 20).

Meanwhile, an organization of Iranian exiles yesterday urged the U.N. nuclear watchdog to conduct immediate inspections of Iranian sites it said are hosting a clandestine nuclear weapons program, Reuters reported.

Iran relocated the command center for a program codenamed Lavizan-2 to a site on the edge of Tehran in April 2007, after its previous headquarters was destroyed following its exposure, said the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

Tehran is also working on nuclear warhead production at a facility codenamed B1-Nori-8500 at Khojir, a site about 12 miles southeast of the complex hosting Lavizan-2, the organization said.

The group’s conclusions were drawn from “hundreds” of inside sources including nuclear facility personnel and Iranian government and leadership officials, said Mohammad Mohaddessin, the organization’s foreign affairs chief.

“The Iranian regime is undoubtedly developing the nuclear bomb.  None of the essential work has been halted. … All three parts have been speeded up,” he said in reference to Iran’s uranium enrichment, missile development and alleged weaponization programs.

“We would like to urgently ask the IAEA … to immediately send inspectors to the sites,” he said.  “Time is running out to stop the regime acquiring a nuclear bomb.  If we do not act today, tomorrow might be too late.”

“We are aware of this but have no comment at this point,” said IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming.   “As with all new information coming our way, (our) analysts take a serious look and decide whether it would warrant a follow-up.”

Mohaddessin suggested that U.S. electoral politics might have played a role in a recent intelligence assessment’s conclusion that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003.

Iran’s nuclear weapons program is “probably at its most advanced stage” since 1983, said Alireza Jafarzadeh, a former representative for the Iranian opposition group who received credit in 2002 for disclosing accurate information about Iran’s nuclear activities (David Brunnstrom, Reuters, Feb. 20).

In Tehran, a member of Iran’s parliament said yesterday that Tehran might permit short-notice international audits of its nuclear sites if the U.N. nuclear watchdog recognizes its right to develop civilian nuclear power capabilities.

Iran in 2003 signed but did not ratify the Additional Protocol to the nation’s IAEA inspection agreement, which would allow IAEA officials to carry out the inspections, RIA Novosti reported.

“The ratification of the Additional Protocol is possible only if Iran’s official right to civilian atomic energy in the framework of the [Nuclear] Nonproliferation Treaty is recognized,” said Kazem Jalali, spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s foreign policy and security commission (RIA Novosti, Feb. 20).

Back to top
About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines © Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.