Report says Iran hiding nuclear activities
27.03.2004
LOS ANGELES (Reuters)
Swiss Info
A committee of senior Iranian officials is overseeing efforts to conceal important elements of
Tehran's nuclear program from international inspectors, the Los Angeles Times has reported, citing Western diplomats and an
intelligence report.
The newspaper said on Saturday if the allegation was confirmed, it would bolster Washington's charge Iran was seeking to
hide an atomic weapons program.
The United States says Tehran is using its nuclear power program as a front to develop an atom bomb. Iran denies that and
insists its program is solely for the peaceful generation of electricity.
The diplomats told the paper Iran set up the committee late last year to coordinate the concealment efforts after inspectors
found evidence it had tried to hide elements of its nuclear program, including research on advanced centrifuges that could
produce weapons-grade uranium.
The newspaper quoted a diplomat, speaking anonymously, as saying the committee's work included trying to hide nuclear
evidence at almost 300 locations. The committee is said to include senior officials of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization who
report to high-level government officials.
Pirooz Hosseini, Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency U.N. watchdog group, told the newspaper that
charges of a cover-up were "totally baseless".
"We have adopted a policy of full transparency, and we have declared all of our nuclear activities to the IAEA," he was quoted
as saying.
A team from the IAEA will head to Iran this weekend to conduct inspections that Tehran has delayed in retaliation against a
harshly worded resolution on the Islamic republic, officials said on Wednesday.
A Bush administration official told the newspaper it had received the intelligence report, which was not prepared by the United
States, within the past month and believed it to be credible.
"The report is being viewed seriously because it originates from outside U.S. intelligence services," the unidentified official
was quoted as saying. "It has contributed to a greater sense of frustration, both in the U.S. and within the IAEA."
The Times said the Western diplomat who first described the new intelligence report was not an American. It said he provided
a written analysis of the report rather than the actual document.
http://www.swisspolitics.org/en/news/index.php?section=int&page=news_inhalt&news_id=4824962"Those who do not have a place among the people are the ones who should flee this country..."
She's got guts. I hope she doesn't suddenly disappear.