IAEA worries Iran could be working on nuclear weapon

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said for the first time Thursday that it had concerns that Iran is currently working on a nuclear warhead, according to a new report the agency released, dpa reported.

   It was the first time the Vienna-based organization has used such a formulation in one of its reports. Previous reports had referred to past activities.

   In his first report as new IAEA chief, Yukiya Amano wrote that his agency had amassed a "broadly consistent and credible" body of information on alleged activities related to nuclear weapons.

   "Altogether, this raises concerns about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile," Amano wrote.

   The report listed a number of alleged activities which "seem to have continued beyond 2004," including work related to nuclear explosives and the detection of neutrons, which could be used for military purposes.

The United States and other Western nations have long accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons and is pushing for another round of United Nations sanctions against Iran.

"We're working with our international partners to ensure that Iran ... faces real consequences for failing to meet its international obligations," US Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday in a speech about non-proliferation before the National Defence University in Washington.

   Iran has repeatedly denied it is working on atomic weapons and insists its uranium enrichment plants and other facilities are purely geared towards nuclear energy.

   However, the country's officials have not been cooperating with the IAEA on clearing allegations about military nuclear development.

   "They have not responded to any IAEA requests since August 2008," a senior official close to the IAEA said.

   Amano's report painted a picture of a standstill in the IAEA's efforts to get to the bottom of past and present nuclear activities in Iran.

   When Iranian engineers started to raise the level of enriching to uranium to 20 per cent last week at the facility in Natanz, from a previous level of 3.5 per cent, they did not inform IAEA inspectors in time to adjust their monitoring system of cameras and seals.

   Iran says it began the work at Natanz to make fuel for use in a medical-purpose reactor in Tehran, effectively rejecting an IAEA- drafted offer by Russia, France and the US to produce the fuel abroad.

   The senior official close to the IAEA said the production line currently has an output of around 100 grams of uranium enriched to 20 per cent.

    In addition, Iranian officials have not provided the nuclear agency with all the necessary information about a new enrichment site near Fordow, which was revealed only last September and has raised new questions whether there was a secret parallel nuclear programme geared towards nuclear weapons.

   Iran's stalling in this regard is "inconsistent with its obligation" under its binding inspections agreement with the IAEA, Amano wrote.

   In its main uranium enrichment production line in Natanz, which turns out uranium at a level of 3.5 per cent, there has not been much progress in past months in terms of expanding the site's capacity, with 8,610 centrifuges installed and 3,772 actually operating.

   So far, 2,065 kilogrammes of low-enriched uranium have been produced at Natanz, which is theoretically close to the amount needed for two nuclear weapons, if the material is further processed in a series of technical challenging steps.