Iran hands over atomic dossier

Iran today turned over to the UN nuclear agency documents on its past atomic energy activities, but the dossier apparently did not include the origin of traces of weapons-grade uranium found in the country.

“We have submitted a report fully disclosing all our past activities in the nuclear field,” Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran’s representative to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters.

Neither Salehi nor IAEA Director-General Mohamed El Baradei would elaborate on the contents of the package of documents, which Iran handed over ahead of an October 31 deadline to prove its nuclear programme is peaceful.

El Baradei said he expected the information to answer all outstanding questions about Iran’s nuclear activities. “I was assured that the report I got today is a comprehensive and accurate declaration,” he said.

But Salehi indicated that the origin of traces of highly enriched weapons-grade uranium found in at least two different sites inside the country was not in the package.

Diplomats said earlier this week that Iran was expected to provide the origin of the traces, which El Baradei has called the most troubling aspect of Iran’s nuclear activities.

Iran insists the contamination, found in environmental samples taken by agency experts, was imported on equipment it uses for peaceful nuclear purposes and that it does not know the country of origin because the equipment was purchased through third parties.

“How can you give the (equipment’s) origin … if you have taken it from the intermediaries on the foreign market?” Salehi said.

The UN agency’s board of governors meets on November 20. If it finds that suspicions remain about a possible weapons programme, it could find Iran in violation of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.

That would mean UN Security Council involvement and possible international sanctions.

Iran previously had insisted it would continue enriching uranium to non-weapons levels as part of a programme it says is aimed only at producing electricity.

Iran has allowed IAEA inspectors to view some sites, including at least one military facility, but for weeks has hesitated at making a full commitment to the IAEA demands.

The agreement giving UN inspectors unrestricted access to Iran’s nuclear facilities allows the country to maintain its “national dignity,” an Iranian government official said.

Massoumeh Ebtekar, one of Iran’s six vice presidents, said on a visit to Vienna that the agreement was “a sign of our sincere commitment to the peaceful use of nuclear technologies.”

“It’s a sign of commitment to our national dignity and our right to use these technologies in a peaceful manner,” Ebtekar added.