Iran has expertise to build nuclear bomb, says UN report

Iran's scientists have cracked the problem of building a nuclear bomb and studied how to deploy atomic warheads on missiles, according to a confidential United Nations report.

By David Blair, Diplomatic Editor Published: 5:02PM BST 18 Sep 2009
It finds that Iran's scientists already have the expertise to build a crude atomic bomb, known as an "implosion nuclear device". The report also says Iran has "sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable implosion nuclear device based on highly enriched uranium as the fission fuel".

At present, however, Iran could not build such a bomb because it does not possess uranium enriched to weapons grade level. Its experts are, however, enriching uranium inside an underground plant in Natanz. So far, they have only produced material of the purity needed to run civil nuclear power stations. Given time, however, they could produce highly enriched uranium required for a bomb.

The document, prepared by experts at the International Atomic Energy Agency, had not been disclosed to the 35 countries on the organisation's board. The internal report summarises everything the IAEA knows about the "possible military dimension of Iran's nuclear programme".

The IAEA report also finds that Iranian scientists have studied how to build a nuclear warhead capable of delivery on a missile. They tried to modify a missile so that it could carry a warhead that is "quite likely to be nuclear". They also tested the system of explosives used to detonate a nuclear warhead.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, has always publicly denied any ambition to build a weapon. But the IAEA report says that he wanted to acquire nuclear weapons as long ago as 1984, when he served as president. He allegedly told a meeting of senior officials that a "nuclear arsenal would serve Iran as a deterrent in the hands of God's soldiers".

The disclosure came as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad once again rejected any compromise over Iran's nuclear programme. He told NBC that Iran would "never" obey five UN Resolutions and stop enriching uranium. This process was "for peaceful purposes" and Iran had "no need" for nuclear weapons, added Mr Ahmadinejad.

Later, the president addressed a rally to mark "Jerusalem Day", Iran's annual day of solidarity with the Palestinian people. He again described the Holocaust as a "lie" and said that Western governments had used this invention to justify the creation of Israel.

But thousands of opposition demonstrators, who accuse the president of stealing victory in June's election by rigging the poll, massed in Tehran, chanting "death to the dictator". This display of popular fury against Mr Ahmadinejad, the first for two months, showed his failure to overcome the bitter legacy of his disputed re-election.

Mohammed Khatami, a former president, joined the opposition rally, but was pushed to the ground by hardliners and compelled to leave. Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who ran against Mr Ahmadinejad in the election, tried to attend the demonstration, but was forced to withdraw when hardliners surrounded his car.

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