Vienna, Nov 11: The UN nuclear watchdog has found no evidence that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons but is not ready to say Tehran's atomic program is exclusively peaceful, the agency said in a report released yesterday. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that despite breaches by Iran of international nuclear safeguards agreements, "there is no evidence that the previously undeclared nuclear material and activities . . . Were related to a nuclear weapons program," according to a text of the confidential document, read to a news agency by diplomats. The IAEA is still investigating the possibility that Iran is hiding an atomic weapons program, said the report, which is to be submitted to a meeting next week of the agency's 35-nation board of governors, which could declare Iran in non-compliance with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). This could lead to UN sanctions against Iran but diplomats said the country may escape a non-compliance ruling as it has over the past month yielded to key IAEA demands.

The IAEA in September had asked Iran to do three main things ahead of the November 20 meeting: fully disclose its nuclear programme, agree to tougher inspections and suspend the enrichment of uranium that could be used to make an atomic bomb.
The main dispute is over traces of highly enriched uranium IAEA inspectors found at two sites in Iran.
Bureau Report