The UN nuclear watchdog agency has found "no evidence" that Iran is trying to make nuclear weapons but cannot say, at this time, that Tehran's programmes are strictly peaceful, diplomats citing a confidential agency report said today.
The diplomats, who demanded anonymity, told The Associated Press that the report of the International Atomic Energy Agency faulted Iran for hiding nuclear activities that led to suspicions it was trying to make such weapons.
But the report, drawn up by IAEA director general Dr Mohamed ElBaradei, also says Iran has been co-operating with the agency since September, when the IAEA's board of governors set a deadline for it to disclose its past clandestine programmes.
"To date there is no evidence that the previous undeclared nuclear material and activities ... were related to a nuclear weapons programme," said the report, as cited by one of the diplomats. "However, given Iran's past pattern of concealment, it will take some time before the agency is able to conclude that Iran's nuclear programme is exclusively for peaceful purposes."
The agency sent the report today to its board of governors. The board meets on November 20th to discuss the report and decide whether to declare Iran in violation of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. If Tehran is found to have contravened the treaty, the board is likely to pass the issue to the UN Security Council, which could impose sanctions.
The United States, which leads charges that Iran was running a covert weapons programme, is expected to push to have Iran declared in violation of the treaty at the board meeting.
It is expected to seize on a passage in the report saying that Iran's recent disclosures "clearly show that in the past, Iran had concealed many aspects of its nuclear activities, which resulted in breaches of its obligations of the safeguard agreement" it had signed with the agency.
AP