- News>
- World
Iran fails to declare centrifuge designs-diplomats
Vienna, Feb 12: Iran failed to declare highly sensitive designs for uranium enrichment centrifuges to the UN nuclear watchdog, calling into question the Islamic Republic`s Cooperation with the agency, diplomats said today.
Vienna, Feb 12: Iran failed to declare highly sensitive
designs for uranium enrichment centrifuges to the UN nuclear
watchdog, calling into question the Islamic Republic's Cooperation
with the agency, diplomats said today.
Several western diplomats told a news agency on condition of anonymity
that information from Libya and other countries had led to the
discovery of the designs, which could be used to develop machines to
produce weapons-grade material.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) officials have
expressed concerns about the existence of a global nuclear black
market that has helped countries under embargo such as Iran, North
Korea and Libya skirt international sanctions and obtain nuclear
technology that could be used to make weapons.
Libya admitted in December that it had been seeking nuclear,
chemical and biological weapons and invited US, British and UN
experts to help it destroy its weapons of mass destruction
facilities.
Washington has called on Iran to follow Libya's example by owning
up to running atomic weapons programme and fully cooperating with
IAEA inspectors. Iran insists that its nuclear programme is purely
for peaceful purposes.
Bureau Report
Bureau Report