[THS] U.N. Nuclear Watchdog In Milestone Iran Deal

[Peter Webster]

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19806.htm

U.N. Nuclear Watchdog In 'Milestone' Iran Deal

Agreement aims to provide answers about alleged weapons development

By The Associated Press

24/04/08 "AP" -- -- VIENNA, Austria - The U.N. nuclear monitoring agency
on Wednesday announced a "milestone" agreement with Iran that aims to
provide answers about allegations Tehran tried to develop nuclear weapons
under cover of a peaceful atomic program.

International Atomic Energy Agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming divulged
no details in a brief statement about the deal. But IAEA chief Mohamed
ElBaradei called the agreement "a milestone" that — if successful — should
signal the end of his organization's years of attempts to probe Tehran's
secretive nuclear program.

"An agreement was reached during the meetings in Tehran on a process
that aims to clarify the so-called alleged (nuclear weapons) studies during
the month of May," Fleming said in a statement from the Vienna-based
agency. She was alluding to talks Monday and Tuesday between senior
Iranian officials and IAEA Deputy Director General Olli Heinonen.

'Clarification'
ElBaradei, in Sarajevo before collecting an award from a Bosnian university,
said he was hopeful that by the May deadline "we will be in a position to
get the explanation and clarification from Iran as to these alleged studies,"
adding: "This, in my view, is a positive step."

He called the issue "the only remaining topic for us to investigate about past
and present Iran nuclear activities" — a statement sure to be challenged by
the U.S. and other nations suspicious that Tehran may be hiding an
undeclared nuclear program from the agency.

Still, any agreement by Iran to at least further discuss the allegations is a
positive sign. On April 13, Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the head of Iran's
nuclear program, abruptly canceled a meeting with ElBaradei. The
Aghazadeh-ElBaradei meeting had been considered a test of whether Iran
will continue to stonewall the IAEA in its attempt to investigate the alleged
military programs.

Intelligence received by the IAEA from the U.S. and other agency board
member nations and the agency's own investigations suggests that Iran:

experimented with an undeclared uranium enrichment program that was
linked to a missile project drew up blueprints on refitting missiles to allow
them to carry nuclear warheads was researching construction of an
underground site that apparently could be used for test nuclear explosions
ordered "dual use" equipment from abroad that could be part of a nuclear
weapons program, and, appointed officials to work on these projects who
were also active in Iran's civilian nuclear programs.
Additionally, Iran possesses diagrams showing how to mold uranium metal
into the shape of warheads.

Denials from Iran
Tehran has denied ever trying to make nuclear weapons and has rejected
the evidence as fake. But U.S. intelligence agencies say Tehran
experimented with such programs until 2003, and other countries believe it
continued past that date.

Iran is under three sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions for its refusal to
suspend uranium enrichment and meet other council demands designed to
ease fears its civilian nuclear program is a cover for attempts to make
atomic arms.

While the Islamic Republic says its enrichment program is meant to
generate nuclear fuel, its past nuclear secrecy and defiance of the Security
Council are fueling fears it could decide to use the technology to make the
weapons-grade enriched uranium used for the fissile core of nuclear arms.

In Iran on Wednesday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that
those imposing pressure on Iran on enrichment will suffer even as he said
that his country remained prepared to discuss its nuclear activities with the
outside world.

"The enemies should know that the Iranian nation is for logic and dialogue
with any of you if the criteria is justice and respect," Ahmadinejad told
thousands of Iranians in Hamedan, western Iran. "But if you resort to
deception and seek to impose (your demands), ... the Iranian nation will
heavily slap bad-wishers in the mouth."

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.