U.N. nuclear watchdog faults Iran's lack of cooperation

A critical IAEA report could spur a new round of sanctions. Iran maintains its enrichment program is peaceful.

By Simon Montlake

posted May 27, 2008 at 10:21 am EDT

A new report by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says Iran has failed to come clean on its uranium enrichment program and that it has serious concerns over alleged research into nuclear weapons.

The critical report released to the UN Security Council on Monday is likely to buttress calls by the US and other Western countries for new sanctions on Iran. Iranian officials say they have cooperated with the IAEA and will continue to enrich uranium for future power generation, not for military purposes.

Last week, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Iranian banks may face further curbs on international trade under measures designed to pressure Iran into stopping its nuclear program. She said Iran's economy was already suffering as a result of successive sanctions and she warned that Iran faced further sanctions if it failed to fall into line with nuclear inspections, reported the Associated Press. The UN Security Council agreed to a third round of economic sanctions on Iran in March.

European countries have proposed incentives for Iran to suspend enrichment of uranium, a key step toward acquiring nuclear weaponry. These include supplying Iran with enriched uranium for use in nuclear power stations. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Monday he had a new offer to present to Iranian leaders, a revised version of a previous package, Bloomberg reports, though the details of the offer haven't been made public.

The New York Times says that the IAEA report uses unusually blunt language to spell out Iran's lack of cooperation on key issues, though the agency says it still needs more time to produce a definitive assessment of Iran's nuclear activities. The report lists 18 leaked documents – dismissed as forgeries by Iran – that indicate past efforts to develop nuclear missile technology. Last December, US intelligence agencies concluded that Iran had suspended work on designing a nuclear warhead in 2003 due to international pressure, but said it was unclear if this work had resumed.

The [IAEA] report also makes the allegation that Iran is learning to make more powerful centrifuges that are operating faster and more efficiently, the product of robust research and development that have not been fully disclosed to the agency.

That means that the country may be producing enriched uranium — which can be used to make electricity or to produce bombs — faster than expected at the same time as it a replaces its older generation of less reliable centrifuges. Some of the centrifuge components have been produced by Iran's military, said the report, prepared by Mohamed ElBaradei, the director general of the agency, which is the United Nations' nuclear monitor.

Iran's ambassador to the IAEA said the report shows that its nuclear program was peaceful and not for military purposes, reports Reuters, citing an Iranian news agency. Ali Asghar Soltanieh said US allegation of secret missiles programs were "baseless" and that Iran had been vindicated by the report. He didn't comment on the IAEA's criticism of Iran's withholding of information on missile-related activities.

Earlier this month, Iran presented its own document to the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany that proposes ways to defuse global security tensions, reports Asia Times. While the Bush administration gave a cool response to the "Proposed Package for Constructive Negotiations," Iran may be offering a way out of the diplomatic stalemate by asking existing nuclear powers to improve access to peaceful nuclear technology. A key proposal is to create an international uranium-enrichment facility in Iran. The Asia Times argues that bringing Iran into regional security talks could be a quid pro quo for scaling back its nuclear ambitions.

Britain's Guardian reports that Iran agreed an action plan last year with the IAEA that was supposed to clarify several outstanding issues and allow inspectors into nuclear facilities. But many of the same questions remain, including the alleged Iranian weapons program that the IAEA report describes as a "serious concern."

The new report could lead to new discussions on sanctions in the Security Council, but there is resistance to further punitive measures from Russia and China, and scepticism over whether they are effective. It will also renew speculation on whether the Bush White House would consider taking military action aimed at slowing down Iran's nuclear programme, before George Bush's term expires next January.

Policymakers in Washington and the Middle East aren't ruling out a US military strike against Iran on Bush's watch, TIME magazine reported. While the US Congress is wary of the White House's saber-rattling, Bush probably received encouragement for a harder line during his recent trip to Israel, where Iranian nuclear capacity is widely seen as an existential threat. A senior US adviser on the trip reportedly told Israeli officials that Bush was ready to attack Iran, but faced objections from Ms. Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The White House has denied this claim.

"I'm worried that by November it's going to be too late," to stop Iran from gaining the ability to produce nuclear weapons, said Yossi Kuperwasser, the former senior intelligence officer for the Central Command of the Israeli Defense. On military action against nuclear sites in Iran, he said, "Just do it."

Iran's nuclear ambitions are already spurring a preemptive arms race in the Middle East, according to a new report by Britain's International Institute of Strategic Studies, says The Daily Telegraph. The IISS said last week that Iran's neighbors are investing in civil nuclear programs that would allow them to develop bombs in the event of Iran developing nuclear weapons. Since 2006, 13 Middle East countries have unveiled new plans – or overhauled existing ones – to generate electricity from nuclear fuel, an apparent reaction to Iran's decision to resume uranium enrichment after a suspension period.

"Iran's programme could become a powerful regional proliferation driver, building on regional rivalry, security concerns and one-upmanship," said John Chipman, the IISS chief executive.

"For the time being, these considerations are contributing to a regional surge in interest in nuclear energy. The question is how to keep this interest confined to purely civilian nuclear programmes."