The
western propaganda against war continues unabated.
U.N.
watchdog: Iran makes significant nuclear steps
Iran
has made a significant advancement in its nuclear program with the
completion of its underground uranium enrichment facility near the
holy city of Qom, according to a report released Friday by a United
Nations watchdog group.
17
November, 2012
The
International Atomic Energy Agency report stated Iran has now
installed all of the nearly 2,800 centrifuges it will use to enrich
uranium at the Fordow plant, but not all the centrifuges are
operational.
The
IAEA also says Iran has increased its stockpile of both 5% and 20%
enriched uranium, which can more readily be converted to a weapons
grade level. Iran maintains its nuclear program is for peaceful
purposes, but the United States, Israel and other nations contend
Iran seeks to build nuclear weapons.
The
Fordow facility was built into the side of a mountain, making it less
vulnerable to attack. Israel has made it clear that completion of the
plant could make it difficult to stop Iran if it decides to go ahead
and build nuclear explosives.
In
August, the agency reported that Iran had stepped up its production
of high-grade enriched uranium and had relandscaped one of its
military bases in an apparent effort to hamper a U.N. inquiry into
its nuclear program.
Friday's
report said Iran still hasn't allowed the agency access to the
military site, called Parchin. The agency has been seeking access
since January.
The
new report repeated the conclusion reached in August that "extensive
activities" at the Parchin site are certain to have "seriously
undermined" the agency's verification process.
Those
activities include "significant ground scraping and landscaping"
with new dirt roads, the August report said.
Many
Western diplomats and nuclear experts believe the Parchin site has
been secretly used to test high-explosive nuclear triggers, an
essential step toward achieving a weapons capability. Iran denies
that Parchin has any role in its nuclear program.
"The
agency reiterates its request that Iran, without further delay,
provide both access to that location and substantive answers to the
agency's detailed questions regarding the Parchin site,"
Friday's report said.
"Given
the nature and extent of credible information available, the agency
continues to consider it essential for Iran to engage with the agency
without further delay on the substance of the agency's concerns,"
the report said.
The
IAEA once again stated that Iran is not cooperating sufficiently with
the agency for it to conclude that the country is conducting
"peaceful activities."
The
agency said that despite its effort to step up talks with Iran, the
nation has offered no "concrete results."
The
agency's director general is, in turn, "unable to report any
progress on clarifying issues relating to possible military
dimensions to Iran's nuclear programme," the report said.
IAEA
and Iranian officials have scheduled a December 13 meeting in Tehran
to address the ongoing issues in the country's nuclear program, the
report said.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.