Nuclear evidence on Iran to stoke Mid-East tensions
Western powers are likely to seize on the International Atomic Energy Agency document, which has been preceded by media speculation in Israel of military strikes against Iranian nuclear sites, to press for more sanctions on the oil producer. However, Russia and China fear the publication of the IAEA’s findings could hurt any chance of diplomacy resolving the long-running nuclear row and they have lobbied against it, signalling opposition to any new punitive UN measures against Iran.
The report is tentatively scheduled to be submitted to IAEA member states on Wednesday before a quarterly meeting the following week of the agency’s 35-nation board of governors in Vienna. The document is expected to give fresh evidence of research and other activities with little other application than atomic bomb-making, including studies linked to the development of an atom bomb trigger and computer modelling of a nuclear weapon.
