"Report says Iran hasn't answered all questions on nuclear program"
"by Mark Heinrich, Reuters | February 23, 2008
VIENNA - The United Nations nuclear watchdog agency said yesterday that Iran had failed to explain Western intelligence reports showing explosives and missile work linked to the production of atomic bombs and said this was a "serious concern."
The International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran had not cleared all outstanding questions by an agreed February deadline, although it said Tehran had increased cooperation with UN inspectors in the past few months....
Iran, which has said its nuclear program is only for power generation to meet the growing demands of its economy, said the IAEA backed its contention that it is pursuing peaceful activities.
The IAEA said that although Iran was being more open with UN monitors than before, it was testing technology that could give it the means to enrich uranium much faster.
In unusually strong wording, the IAEA said Iran had not so far explained documentation pointing to undeclared efforts to "weaponize" nuclear materials by linking uranium processing with explosives and designing of a missile warhead.
"Iran in the last few months has provided us with visits to many places that enable us to have a clearer picture of Iran's current program," said IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei. "However, that is not in my view sufficient."
ElBaradei said one crucial requirement was for Iran to implement the IAEA's Additional Protocol, which allows unscheduled inspections that could verify that Tehran is not engaged in secret bomb work beyond declared civilian atomic energy sites.
Another issue was Iran's failure so far to address Western intelligence, published for the first time by the report, about coordination between uranium processing, missile warhead design work, and high-explosives tests, he said.
ElBaradei said Iran should heed Security Council demands for a suspension of all uranium enrichment activity as a major step toward easing mistrust.
But he expressed satisfaction UN inspectors had been able to clarify all outstanding past issues about the program, except for weapon making, in the past few months because Iran had provided credible answers that had been withheld earlier.
In Tehran, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, said the IAEA document "proves the Iranian nation was right about the nature of its nuclear activities. This report showed that our activities are peaceful."
One begins to wonder about the veracity of this report when one considers the Zionist bias of the AmeriKan MSM!
Can you make sense of this article, readers?
What exactly does the report say?
"While we welcome the progress the IAEA has made on some issues, until Iran meets its obligations the international community can have no confidence that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful," said Kate Starr, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council."
And what about Israel's?
That a peaceful program, shitter?
