US:The sudden flurry of digging seen in recent satellite photos of a mountainside in central Iran might have passed for ordinary road tunnelling. But the site is the back yard of Iran's most ambitious and controversial nuclear facility, leading US officials and independent experts to reach another conclusion: it appears to be the start of a major tunnel complex inside the mountain.
The question is, why? Worries have been stoked by the presence nearby of fortified buildings where uranium is being processed. Those structures in turn are now being connected by roads to Iran's nuclear site at Natanz, where the country recently started production of enriched uranium in defiance of international protests.
As a result, photos of the site are being studied by governments, intelligence agencies and nuclear experts, all asking the same question: is Iran attempting to thwart future military strikes against its nuclear programme by placing key parts of it in underground bunkers?
The construction has raised concerns at the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Vienna-based UN watchdog that monitors Iran's nuclear programme.
On Friday, an IAEA spokeswoman confirmed that the agency had broached the subject with Iranian officials.
"We have been in contact with the Iranian authorities about this, and we have received clarifications," said Melissa Fleming, the spokeswoman. She declined to elaborate.
"The tunnel complex certainly appears to be related to Natanz," said David Albright, a former UN weapons inspector and president of the Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington-based non-profit group. "We think it is probably for storage of nuclear items."
US officials at several military and intelligence-gathering agencies said they were aware of the construction and were watching it closely, though none would comment publicly or speculate on the intended purpose of the tunnels.
A tunnel complex would reduce options for a pre-emptive military strike to knock out Iran's nuclear programme, according to US officials who closely follow Iran's nuclear activities. It also could further heighten tensions between the Bush administration and the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has said he is committed to pursuing a peaceful use of nuclear power.
Iran has been enriching uranium at Natanz on a small scale for more than four years, creating a less-enriched product that can be used for generating electricity. With further enrichment, the uranium could be used in making weapons. - (Washington Post Service)
Reuters adds: Iran has slowed the installation of centrifuge machines that enrich uranium for its controversial nuclear programme, the director of the IAEA said yesterday.