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Iran gives UN nuclear agency documents
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-21 10:46
Diplomats and officials said Thursday that Iran has handed over sensitive
documents to U.N. nuclear inspectors and allowed them to question a senior
official about activities that could fuel atomic weapons — concessions that may
thwart U.S. efforts to bring Tehran before the Security Council.
At issue is how much centrifuge and related technology Iran received from the
nuclear black market starting in the 1980s and where that equipment is.
There are suspicions that part of the technology, which can enrich uranium
either to low-grade fuel or the fissile core for nuclear warheads, has not been
declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency and has been used by the
military to make bombs.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Director General Mohamed ElBaradei is seen in Vienna, October 7,
2005.[Reuters/file] | The IAEA hoped that Iran's
decision to cooperate with inspectors over the enrichment program would help the
probe into those suspicions, the diplomats and officials told The Associated
Press on condition of anonymity because the information was confidential.
A U.S. official familiar with the issue said Iran was making "important
concessions" in handing over the documents and allowing the interview after
nearly two years of stalling.
But Tehran still had not met other demands, including giving access to
military sites identified by Washington as possibly being used for
weapons-related experiments, the official said.
For the Americans, Iran's cooperation is a mixed blessing. It blunts the U.S.
effort to have the Islamic republic referred to the Security Council as soon as
next month by weakening the argument that Iran was not cooperating with the IAEA
inquiry. The Security Council could impose sanctions if it determines that Iran
violated the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, although that is unlikely because
veto-wielding China and Russia oppose referral.
That effort seemed on track several weeks ago. The IAEA board last month
declared Iran in violation of the nuclear arms-control treaty, opening the way
to Security Council referral when the 35-nation board meets Nov. 24.
But the chances of referral started foundering even before Iran agreed last
week to provide documents and access to the IAEA official.
The diplomats and officials said Beijing and Moscow still oppose referral.
Also, the addition of anti-American nations like Cuba, Belarus and Syria to the
IAEA board hurts U.S. efforts.
One diplomat accredited to the agency said both Washington and London, a key
supporter of Security Council involvement, were reassessing their positions.
"They're now saying that if Iran does not engage in any further 'provocation'
the issue will not go to" the Security Council, the diplomat said.
The U.S. official suggested that Washington and its allies may even tolerate
Iran's continued uranium conversion — a precursor to enrichment — even though
that conversion precipitated the IAEA board vote.
The resumption of conversion scuttled talks between Iran and France, Britain
and Germany on reducing suspicions about Tehran's nuclear ambitions and led the
European nations to support the U.S. push for Security Council action.
The Americans and their allies suspect Tehran's nuclear activities —
undetected for nearly two decades before 2002 — is a front for weapons
ambitions. Iran says it is interested only in generating electricity.
Given all the factors, any renewed push to refer Iran to the Security Council
at next month's IAEA meeting is "going to be very difficult," the U.S. official
said. Last week's intense lobbying by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in
Moscow "did not break any new ground," the official said.
One diplomat said Iran's new willingness to cooperate — agreed to last week
during a visit by Olli Heinonen, an IAEA deputy secretary general — seemed to be
calculated to blunt the threat of referral.
Another diplomat close to the IAEA cautioned that Iran's decision may not
help clear up suspicions about the existence of a secret military enrichment
program.
"There is still much to learn," he said.
Former agency officials also warned against setting expectations too high,
with one saying IAEA questioning of Iranian officials was never done
individually, and the Iranian interviewed probably was briefed by superiors on
what to divulge.
Those speaking to the AP declined to divulge the identity of the Iranian
interviewed by Heinonen and the contents of documents given the inspector,
saying that could prompt Iran to stop cooperating.
Underpinning suspicions about a secret military enrichment program are
Tehran's previous declarations that the nuclear black market offered Iranian
officials P-1 centrifuge designs in 1987 and 1994.
The agency also questions Iran's claim that, although the nation received
designs for the more advanced P-2 centrifuge in 1995, it did not start
development until 2002. That, say experts with former links to the agency, may
suggest secret military work that has not been declared.
In a report last month, IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei declared that Iran did
"not yet provide sufficient assurance that no related activities were carried
out during that period."
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