UN:A REPORT by the United Nations nuclear watchdog organisation presents the clearest indication yet that Iran was working on a nuclear weapon through 2003.
There is no evidence that the weapons programme continued after 2004, said the report published on Monday, echoing a US intelligence analysis in December.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its probe was based on questions raised by its inspections and on allegations from intelligence reports provided by the US and other countries. The IAEA recently presented Iran with documents that picture a clandestine programme including uranium enrichment, missile development and plans for fitting missiles with nuclear warheads.
Iran declared that it had answered all the agency's questions and insisted that the documents were fabricated, but the report scolded Tehran for stonewalling investigators on key issues.
The agency said it believes Iran may have additional information, in particular on high-explosives tests and missile-related activities. It questions the military's role in procuring parts for the nuclear programme, which Iran has said is for peaceful energy production.
David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, said the report points to work on a nuclear weapon, but that elements which you would expect to see in such a programme were missing.
The report was circulated to the IAEA board's 35 members and the UN Security Council ahead of a board meeting in early June. The Security Council has imposed three sets of sanctions on Iran for defying its demands to stop enriching uranium. Instead of stopping, Iran has added 500 centrifuges since February and is testing a new type that works five times faster. The process can produce material for a reactor or a weapon, depending on enrichment.
Monday's report, more than any previous account, made clear the agency's frustration at not getting clear or timely answers. It included an annex of the intelligence documents shown to Iran, and questions to which the government had and had not responded.
Iran earlier this month sent the UN a proposal meant to stave off sanctions and continue international dialogue, but mainly discussed issues such as poverty and price fluctuations.
The proposal mentions the possible establishment of an international nuclear enrichment consortium in Iran, an idea Tehran has floated before as a way for world powers to gain assurances that Iran wasn't diverting nuclear material to a weapons programme.
It also dangled the possibility of a six-month period of targeted negotiations during which Iran would be willing to discuss its nuclear programme. But the proposal failed to mention the possibility of halting enrichment. - (LA Times-Washington Post service)