Reuters: Intelligence reports accuse Iran of buying large amounts of a metal that has many civilian uses but which some U.S. and other countries’ officials believe Tehran
wanted exclusively for an atomic bomb, diplomats say. Washington says that oil-rich Iran is developing nuclear weapons under cover of a nuclear energy programme.
Iran bought metal useable in atomic bombs-diplomats
Rafsanjani reasserts Iran nuke right
UPI: A top Iranian cleric said Iran will soon join the international nuclear club, saying the suspension of uranium enrichment will last for four months only. Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, chairman of the powerful Expediency Council, said at Friday sermon Iran “will be member of the club grouping countries that possess nuclear industry very soon,” the Iranian News Agency, IRNA, reported.
Iran Working on New Missile, Exiles Say
Los Angeles Times: An Iranian opposition group asserted Thursday that the Islamic Republic was developing a new series of missiles with the capability to strike Western Europe, and seeking ways to arm them with chemical or nuclear warheads.
Iran said to sharpen nuclear program
Boston Globe: Iran is developing more advanced ballistic missiles that could deliver nuclear weapons to targets as far as Berlin and is also shielding from international inspectors two military complexes believed to be part of its clandestine atomic bomb program, American intelligence officials, international diplomats, and an Iranian opposition group claimed yesterday.
Rumsfeld warns Iran making ‘a lot of mistakes’
AFP: US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday Iran was “making a lot of mistakes” but said any action to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons was a call for President George W. Bush and other leaders to make. Rumsfeld was asked in an interview with Fox News television whether the United States could allow Iran to become another North Korea, which is believed to have nuclear weapons.
US slams Iran for restricting IAEA access to military sites
AFP: The United States on Thursday denounced Iran for not allowing inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit military sites suspected of housing work on nuclear weapons. The State Department said the denial of access to the two sites, despite Tehran’s repeated insistence that it is not developing nuclear arms and vows to cooperate with the IAEA, was “an anomaly in Iran’s behavior.”
Lack of “unrestricted access” hindering UN nuclear inspection of Iran
AFP: A clause dropped from a UN resolution on Iran this week calling for “unrestricted access” is now haunting UN inspectors as they investigate Tehran’s nuclear program, diplomats and analysts said Thursday. The problem is that access is often restricted. Iran is still refusing to give allow inspectors from the UN International Atomic Energy Agency to visit the Parchin …
Iran working on secret missile programs: opposition group
AFP: Iran is developing new medium- and long-range
missiles which can reach Western Europe and target US-led forces in Iraq, an Iranian opposition group claimed Thursday. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said the
new long-range missiles, the Ghadr and Shahab-4, had a planned range of 3,000 kilometers (1,900 miles) which would allow them to reach as far as Berlin.
Diplomats: U.N. Lacks Right to Inspect Sites in Iran
Reuters: Inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog would like to visit a military complex in Iran that an exile group said housed a nuclear weapons site, but they lack the legal
authority to go there, U.N. diplomats said. Iran, which insists its nuclear program is solely for electricity generation, earlier this week escaped possible U.N. Security Council economic …
Diplomats: Iran may be hiding nuke equipment
AP: Iran may be hiding equipment from the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, foiling efforts to police a freeze of all programs that Tehran could use to make nuclear weapons, diplomats said Thursday. The diplomats told The Associated Press that Iran has yet to respond to a request by the International Atomic Energy Agency …
