The International Atomic Energy Agency plans next week to outline evidence that Iran has worked on technology for attaching a nuclear warhead to a missile, a senior U.S. State Department official said yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 10).
Iran has maintained that its nuclear program has always been strictly peaceful, and the nation has consistently brushed off concerns shared by Washington and other Western governments that its atomic activities could support weapons development. Tehran has also resisted IAEA inquiries into allegations that it has conducted nuclear-weapon design studies, including a purported effort to modify a missile to accommodate a nuclear warhead (see GSN, Aug. 28).
The U.N. nuclear watchdog intends next week to “address Iran’s continuing failure to cooperate with the IAEA’s investigation of the possible military dimensions of its nuclear program, including strong evidence that it has done work on a missile warhead for delivering nuclear weapons,” said Robert Einhorn, the State Department's special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control.
He said the research in question occurred before 2003. That is the year that Tehran closed down its formal military nuclear effort, according to a 2007 U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (see GSN, Oct. 16).
“That’s not to say categorically that there’s no such activities taking place since then,” Einhorn said.
The IAEA evidence came from "a number of governments,” including the United States, Einhorn said, adding that the files included “substantial information, some of it acquired on a laptop computer, regarding work done in the past on the design for what all experts seem to agree is a nuclear warhead" (Janine Zacharia, Bloomberg, Nov. 10).
Meanwhile, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday urged Iran to accept a U.N. proposal for enrichment of Iranian uranium in other countries, the Christian Science Monitor reported.
At talks early last month with the five permanent U.N. Security Council member nations and Germany, Iran tentatively agreed to terms intended to defer its ability to fuel a nuclear weapon with material produced from its low-enriched uranium stockpile. France, Russia and the United States indicated their support for a version of the proposal put forward by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, but Iran appeared to balk at the plan's call for the rapid transfer of much of its uranium.
In a joint statement, Medvedev and Sarkozy said they "do not rule out" imposing additional economic penalties on Iran over the nation's disputed nuclear work. The Middle Eastern state has already been hit with three U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions.
One expert, though, questioned Russia's commitment to isolating Iran.
"There's quite a bit of military cooperation between the two countries, and suspected nuclear cooperation before '04," said David Albright, head of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security
In addition, Russian scientists might be providing Iran with secret nuclear assistance, either independently or with official approval (Howard LaFranchi, Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 10).
One Iranian lawmaker yesterday reaffirmed concerns that Western powers might not return the nation's uranium under the U.N. plan, which calls for the material to be enriched for use at a medical research reactor in Tehran, the Tehran Times reported.
“The fact is that we do not completely trust the West and the plans (put forward) in negotiations because they have repeatedly proved that they do not live up to their commitments,” said Iranian parliament member Kazem Jalali (Tehran Times, Nov. 11).
Senior Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said his nation would not abandon any of its nuclear rights in a compromise with world powers, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Tehran has long rejected calls to halt its uranium enrichment program, an effort that can produce civilian nuclear fuel as well as nuclear-weapon material (Xinhua News Agency/China View, Nov. 10).
In Jerusalem, Israeli Defense Force Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi yesterday said his nation is preparing to curb Iran's nuclear efforts by any available means, Reuters reported.
"We are readying all the options and decision-makers will have to consider which paths to take" to halt Iran's nuclear work, an Israeli official quoted Ashkenazi as saying.
The international community should commit to a course of action by the end of the year for ending Iran's disputed nuclear activities, Ashkenazi said, adding that punitive financial measures or diplomatic engagement could be effective.
"If the Iranians understand they will have to pay a steep price, it wouldn't be illogical or unreasonable to say they may change their current direction," he said, according to the official (Reuters, Nov. 10).
France yesterday said military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities "would be a catastrophe," United Press International reported.
"The Middle East is already a powder keg, without adding an additional conflict," the Kuwait News Agency quoted French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner as saying.
By engaging Iran, Western powers hope to "avoid the military option," he said (United Press International, Nov. 10).
Elsewhere, Iran today pressed Moscow to follow through on its sale of an advanced air-defense system, the Associated Press reported.
"We have concluded a contract with Russia to buy S-300 missiles. We don't think it is appropriate for Russia to be seen in the world as an unreliable partner," Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said, according to state media.
Israel has expressed concern that Iran could use the Russian defenses to guard its nuclear facilities against potential airstrikes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was said to have visited Moscow in September in hopes of persuading the Kremlin to cancel the deal.
By doing so, Moscow would give up a $1 billion profit and could be penalized $300 million to $400 million, experts have speculated in official Russian media (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Nov. 11).