London, November 09: The UN atomic agency has announced that it has “credible” information that Iran may have worked on developing nuclear weapons. The keenly anticipated report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was made available to members of the board and council late Tuesday evening India time, and appeared to confirm most of what has been appearing in the western media over the past few days.
“The agency has serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear programme,” the report said. “After assessing carefully and critically the extensive information available to it, the agency finds the information to be, overall, credible.
“This information indicates that Iran has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device.”
The Israeli daily Haaretz put up on its web site a 25-page .pdf file containing what it said was the IAEA’s report. Haaretz quoted an unnamed diplomatic source in Vienna as saying that this was “the most damning report ever published by the IAEA and the conclusion arising from it is one: Iran is working to acquire a nuclear weapon.”
The report comes amid rising speculation that Israel might launch a pre-emptive military strike in an attempt to knock out Tehran’s nuclear facilities. The US is likely to press harder for sanctions now. Russia and China had, on the other hand, pressured the IAEA not to publish the report, warning that Israel’s “extremely dangerous rhetoric” that could result in a “catastrophe”.
——Agencies