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IAEA Report Raises New Doubts on Iran Nuclear Program

[New York Times] Elaine Sciolino and William J. Broad - The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report on Thursday that Iran had made new but incomplete disclosures about its past nuclear activities, missing a critical deadline under an agreement with the agency and virtually assuring a new push by the U.S. to impose stricter international sanctions. In the report, the agency confirmed for the first time that Iran had reached the major milestone of 3,000 operating centrifuges, a tenfold increase from just a year ago. In theory, that means that it could produce enough uranium to make a nuclear weapon within a year to 18 months. But the agency said that the centrifuges were operating well below their capacity. The report could also fuel debate about how much time is left for diplomacy to succeed. The confirmation that Iran has 3,000 operational centrifuges suggests that it is quickly moving to a position where it could, if it wanted to, produce a bomb. Last year President Ahmadinejad claimed Iran was developing a more advanced and reliable centrifuge that would quadruple Iran's powers of uranium enrichment.
2007-11-16 01:00:00
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