By IANS,
Washington/Tehran : Iran continued carrying out nuclear weapons research after 2003, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a report released Tuesday, CNN reported.
“The agency has serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear programme,” CNN quoted the report as saying.
“After assessing carefully and critically the extensive information available to it, the agency finds the information to be, overall, credible. The information indicates that Iran has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device.”
According to the IAEA report, Iran continued nuclear weapons research and technology development after 2003, at a time when it declared a halt in its nuclear programme, said RIA Novosti.
The report said that Iran had temporarily frozen nuclear activities, but that there was evidence the programme continued to be carried out at a more modest pace.
Iranian officials slammed the report as a distortion of facts aimed at satisfying US political interests.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Yukiya Amano, the IAEA’s head, a US puppet, saying that “they (the US officials) have appointed a man as the chief of the IAEA who has no authority”.
UN nuclear watchdog’s new report has triggered a new wave of threats from Israel since the senior members of the Israeli government backed the possibility of launching strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Israeli President Shimon Peres reiterated Sunday that an attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely.
Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi said Iranian armed forces were in “full combat readiness and will give a crushing response to those daring to attack the country”, Irna reported.
Earlier Tuesday, the Russian foreign ministry expressed dismay that the IAEA report has become a source of increased tension surrounding Iran’s nuclear programme.
It also questioned whether the IAEA was able ensure the appropriate confidentiality for its work, adding that the IAEA should be guided by the principle: “Do no harm.”
Iranian President Ahmadinejad called on the IAEA to issue a report on the atomic arsenal of the US, the Fars news agency reported.
The IAEA should release reports on the US atomic bombs concealed in 1,000 of its military bases, said Ahmadinejad.
The agency should report on the US atomic weapons instead of releasing “unreal” reports on the civilian nuclear programme of “independent” countries like Iran, he said.
Ahmadinejad said the IAEA was a tool at the hands of a number of countries who want to control the world, according to Xinhua.
He said that “unfortunately” IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano has “violated the agency’s rules” by repeating the words of the US, said Fars.
The IAEA director-general has urged Iran to cooperate with the agency to prove that its nuclear programme was for peaceful purposes.
Iranian leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami has also said the US was using the IAEA as a “tool against Iran”.
“The US is using international organisations, including the IAEA, as tools to pressure Iran over its nuclear programme,” Khatami was quoted as saying.
Recent tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran’s nuclear programme has raised concerns that the US and Israel may consider a possible military strike on Iran’s nuclear sites.