Iran’s uranium enrichment program has increased its production rate by 17 percent in recent months and by 84 percent since 2009, according to a new study by the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center. Author Greg Jones projected that Iran could produce enough weapons-grade uranium to fuel a nuclear weapon in about 62 days if it chose to do so. Jones based his estimate on data drawn from the May 24 report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which spelled out in greater detail than ever before the growing concerns that …
Cairo was flooded with protesters for the seventh day on Monday, as opposition leaders promised that Tuesday would see a “march of a million” aimed at toppling the besieged Mubarak regime. Significantly, a spokesman for Egypt’s military noted that the army recognized “the legitimacy of the people’s demands” and promised that it “will not use force against the public.” This suggests that the army has adopted a more neutral stance in the current crisis. Vice President Omar Suleiman, promoted last weekend by President Hosni Mubarak in an effort to calm …
The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency yesterday warned that he cannot confirm that all of Iran’s nuclear activities are for civilian purposes. IAEA chief Yukiya Amano told the IAEA Board of Governors, which is meeting in Geneva Switzerland, that “we cannot confirm that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities because Iran has not provided the agency with the necessary co-operation.” His statement is a slightly softer indictment of Iran’s nuclear defiance than a confidential IAEA report leaked last week that indicated that the U.N. …
Yesterday the International Atomic Energy Agency released a report that warned that it has evidence that Iran may be working on a nuclear warhead. This is the first time the IAEA has suggested that Tehran had either resumed such work or in fact had never stopped, as U.S. intelligence agencies had concluded in a controversial 2007 National Intelligence Estimate. The draft report (pdf) cited undisclosed evidence that “raises concerns about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for …
Iran’s top nuclear negotiator released a vague statement Tuesday indicating that Iran will soon offer a diplomatic proposal concerning the standoff over its refusal to abide by its commitments under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Saeed Jalili, who also heads the country’s Supreme National Security Council, told reporters that: Iran has prepared to present its revised package of proposals . . . and is ready to hold talks with world powers . . . in order to ease common concerns in the international arena. This statement, made on the eve of …
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz yesterday published a disturbing report alleging that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N.’s “nuclear watchdog”, has willfully suppressed evidence that Iran is continuing efforts to develop a nuclear weapon. Citing anonymous Israeli officials and “senior Western diplomats”, reporter Barak Ravid wrote that controversial IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei “was refraining from publishing evidence obtained by [his] inspectors over the past few months that indicate Iran was pursuing information about weaponization efforts and a military nuclear program.” If true, such irresponsible efforts to cover up …
Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, often described as the U.N.’s “nuclear watchdog,” criticized NATO earlier this week for encouraging nuclear proliferation. He urged NATO to drop any reference to nuclear deterrence in its new strategic statement, saying it encouraged proliferation: “You are sending a message to anyone around the world who reads your concept that they too need nuclear weapons,” he said. “The idea that nuclear is the supreme guarantee should be dropped because it’s absolutely the wrong message to the rest of the world.” ElBaradei …
