I guess after we will achieve a regime change in Iran, there will still be people claiming that Iran never had any nuclear material, right?
Here is another, related article:
Iran admits not reporting uranium imports
Associated Press
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030608.wiran0608/BNStory/Front/ Tehran, Iran — Iran admitted Saturday it failed to inform United Nations nuclear authorities that it imported a small quantity of uranium 12 years ago, but that this did not constitute a violation of the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, also urged the UN's Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency to widely publish a report into Iran's nuclear program to prove Washington is wrong when it claims Iran is in violation of the treaty.
Washington has long accused Tehran of wanting to build a nuclear bomb and wants the IAEA to declare Iran in violation of the international treaty. Iran rejects such claims and says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Mr. Aghazadeh said an IAEA report published last week on Iran's nuclear facilities referred to "a legal debate," but did not back up American claims that Iran was violating international atomic protocols.
"There is no mention of the word violation, something the U.S. is trying to instigate," Mr. Aghazadeh told state-run television. "The report only mentions failure, which is still a legal debate between us. And these are normal differences."
On Friday, a diplomat from an IAEA member state said the IAEA report indicated Iran had not declared the import of some nuclear material and its subsequent processing.
Mr. Aghazadeh accused America of being the "biggest violator of the NPT," saying it transferred nuclear technology to Israel.
Mr. Aghazadeh said the report mentions Iran's 1991 import of a small quantity of uranium hexofluoride, a chemical form of uranium used for the enrichment process.
IAEA regulations then did not require Tehran to inform the agency of the importation, he said.
Mr. Aghazadeh acknowledged, however, that the agency report said Iran "should have informed" it of the acquisition.
He did not say why Iran imported the hexofluoride, but Iran has since identified the materials to the IAEA, which now has them under "safeguard."
The report will be publicly discussed when the agency's board meets June 16.
Three IAEA inspectors arrived in Iran Saturday to assess the country's nuclear activities. The visit is widely seen as a chance for Iran to counter U.S. accusations of a nuclear weapons program and show it is eager to co-operate with the IAEA.
Also Sunday, Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Washington's outcry over Iran's nuclear capabilities is an attempt to block Iran's economic progress.
"By making accusation against Iran, the United States wants to play down the social progress the Iranian nation has achieved in the past 24 years," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted him as saying.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told CNN's Late Edition Sunday that Washington was not seeking regime change in Iran, but said many young Iranians were dissatisfied with Tehran's political leadership.
"What we have to do is keep showing to the Iranian people that there is a better world out there waiting for you, and you can become a more responsible member of the international community if you stop supporting terrorist activity and if you stop trying to develop weapons of mass destruction," Mr. Powell said.
Washington accuses Iran of sponsoring terrorist groups and recently claimed Tehran was harbouring members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
Iran rejects the claims, but admits to holding unidentified al-Qaeda members in custody and says it will deport them to their home countries once their identities are confirmed.
George Tenet: "Mr. President, in reviewing the previous intelligence reports, we noticed a small error".
Pres.Bush: "George....this better be good"
George Tenet: "Mr. President, it should have been spelled with an "N", not a "Q"."
