The U.N. nuclear watchdog said in a confidential report seen by Reuters on Tuesday that Iran had acknowledged importing parts for centrifuges capable of making bomb-grade uranium which it previously said were made in Iran. | So much for the "self-developed" program storyline. |
Washington accuses Iran of pursuing a nuclear arms programme. Tehran denies this, saying its nuclear programme is for power generation only. | "You seen the price of oil lately?" |
"Iran has acknowledged that, contrary to... earlier statements, it had imported some magnets relevant to P2 centrifuges from Asian suppliers," the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report said. | Pretty much everyone east of Iran could be considered Asian, to Iranians |
The report also said that high enriched uranium (HEU), enriched to the point where it contains 36 percent uranium-235 -- the fissile uranium atom -- was found at a different site never previously named by the IAEA, Farayand. Iran has said the traces of 36 percent HEU found at Farayand and Kalaye Electric Company came from Pakistan. "It is unlikely, based on the information currently available, that the agency will be able to conclude that the 36 percent...contamination was due to components originating from the state in question," the report said. | Translation = "We don't believe them, but we can't prove it, yet" |
Several diplomats said the state in question was Pakistan. They also said the 36 percent HEU could have come from Russia, but another Western diplomat who follows IAEA issues said it could not be ruled out that it was domestically produced. Iran last year agreed to freeze its uranium enrichment, which can be used for making a nuclear bomb, and signed a protocol allowing intrusive inspections of its nuclear sites by the IAEA. | I think they have a different idea of what "intrusive" means. |
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