Iran had a “coordinated effort” relevant to the development of a nuclear bomb until 2003, the UN nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday in an unexpectedly clear verdict on Iran’s past activities and atomi
Iran had a “coordinated effort” relevant to the development of a nuclear bomb until 2003, the UN nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday in an unexpectedly clear verdict on Iran’s past activities and atomic weapons.
Iran’s possibly arms-related work continued beyond 2003, but in a less coordinated way, and there was no credible indication of anything past 2009, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a report to its Board of Governors.
The report obtained by Reuters was required und-er a July deal between Te-hran and six major powers that provides for sanctions against Iran to be lifted in exchange for res-trictions being placed on the country’s nuclear acti-vities.
The IAEA’s board must now decide to what extent the agency will continue to examine whether Iran sought nuclear weap-ons in the past. Iran has said it will not uphold its side of the deal unless the matter is closed by the board.
“There’s no smoking gun in there but we didn’t exp-ect one,” one Vienna-base-d diplomat said of the report, but added: “Impor-tantly, it’s not a clear balance sheet for Iran.”
The report entitled “Final Assessment of Past and Present Outstanding Issues Regarding Iran’s Nuclear Programme” said: “The Agency assesses that a range of activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device were conducted in Iran prior to the end of 2003 as a coordinated effort.”
The year 2003 was when the IAEA confirmed that Iran had built a secret underground facility for enriching uranium.
The report added the IAEA had “no credible indications of activities in Iran relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device after 2009”.
Iran’s senior nuclear negotiator, deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi, said shortly after the report was circulated to IAEA member states that it showed the programme had no military dimensions.
Iran believes that the IAEA should now say the matter is now closed.
Meanwhile, the United States said on Wednesday that it was ready to take the next step in implementing the Iran nuclear deal after an IAEA report on Tehran’s weapons program.
State department spoke-sman Mark Toner said that the UN watchdog had confirmed Washington’s long-standing allegation that Tehran had once been working on a nuclear bomb, but he added that Iran had cooperated adequately with IAEA investigators.
“The IAEA report is consistent with what the United States has long assessed with high confidence,” Mr Toner told reporters.
“The report allows for procedural closure of the PMD file but this will not limit the agency’s ability to ... look at concerns if they arise,” the Vienna-based diplomat said.
