The U.N. nuclear atomic energy agency says that Iran is suspected of conducting secret experiments whose sole purpose can only be the development of nuclear arms. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
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The conclusion is contained in a restricted International Atomic Energy Agency report obtained by The Associated Press Tuesday, shortly after it was circulated to the IAEA’s 35-nation board and to the U.N. Security Council.
The report says that while some of the suspected secret nuclear work by Iran can have peaceful purposes, “others are specific to nuclear weapons.”
A 13-page attachment to the agency’s Iran report details intelligence and IAEA research that shows Tehran working on all aspects of research toward making a nuclear weapon, including fitting a warhead onto a missile.
A 2007 National Intelligence Estimate given to then-President George W. Bush indicated that Iran had abandoned its weapons-related research in 2003. However, an ongoing investigation by the Fox News Specials Unit concludes that more that 600 entities were working inside Iran to support its program, and at least 40 sites where the work is taking place are suspected to still exist across the country.
The Qom uranium enrichment construction site, hidden deep in the mountains of Iran, causes concern among many investigators. Intelligence shows that security walls have recently doubled around the site.
Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, not weapons production.
In remarks broadcast on state television, Ahmadinejad said that International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano was simply repeating U.S. allegations. “He delivers the papers that American officials hand on him,” Ahmadinejad said.
“I am sorry that a person is heading the agency who has no power by himself and violates the agency’s regulations, too,” the Iranian president said.
He repeated Iran’s stance that it is not involved in making a nuclear weapon. “They should know that if we want to remove the hand of the U.S. from the world, we do not need bombs and hardware. We work based on thoughts, culture and logic,” he said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Tuesday if Iran wanted to develop nuclear weapons, it would declare so openly, “but our reason and experience tell us that, for us, nuclear weapons would not serve as a deterrent.” Salehi spoke during a visit to neighboring Armenia.
Ahmadinejad said the U.S. has recently added $81 billion to its current budget on nuclear weapons, some 300 times the entire Iranian nuclear budget.
