The U.N. nuclear watchdog showed documents and photographs on Tuesday suggesting Iran secretly tried to modify a missile cone to fit a nuclear bomb, diplomats said, and Tehran again dismissed the findings as forged.
Iran said an International Atomic Energy Agency inquiry into its nuclear activity was at a dead-end because the IAEA was demanding Tehran reveal conventional military secrets without nuclear dimensions. Iran has denied seeking atom bombs.
The Vienna-based U.N. watchdog said in a report on Monday that Iranian stonewalling had brought an agency inquiry into whether Tehran had covertly researched ways to make a nuclear bomb to a standstill.
Britain has accused Iran of showing contempt for the U.N. watchdog and, with the United States and France, vowed to seek harsher sanctions on Tehran over its defiance of U.N. demands for full disclosure and a suspension of uranium enrichment.
The Islamic Republic has denied the allegations but the IAEA says Iran must substantiate its position by granting access to sites, documents and relevant officials for interviews.
Top agency inspectors briefed its board of governors on the report's findings on Tuesday ahead of a meeting by the 35-nation body next week likely to heighten pressure on Iran to cooperate.
Washington's IAEA envoy said the group was shown photos and documents of Iranian work on re-designing a Shabab-3 to carry what would appear to be a nuclear weapon.
"The (IAEA) Secretariat told us the information they have is in their words, 'very credible', unquote, and they have asked iran to provide 'substantive responses', unquote," Gregory Schulte told reporters.
He said the meeting was told that Iran had refused IAEA requests to interview engineers involved in the work and visit their ostensibly civilian workshops, depicted in photos.
Full sanctions, where not a dollar is exchanged with Iran from all UN member nations, or a military strike. Those are the two options I see right now. There's no mistaking these photos and the source now. For the longest time, Iran touted the IAEA when there was doubts, now that proof has surfaced with these pictures, Iran is claiming fabrication and blocking access to various sites for inspection.
Any "don't bomb Iran" folks care to pipe up? Or are you all going to slither away without saying a word?
Any "George Bush is making it all up about Iran" folks going to say anything, now that it's been proven that he was right all along?
Didn't think so.
Travis
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