Iran bought nuclear equipment on black market

Iran today admitted publicly to buying nuclear equipment from an international black market, including dealers on the Indian subcontinent, in a bid to display greater transparency and ease concerns over its controversial nuclear programme.

The revelation, made by Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi, marked the first time Iran has publicly revealed it has purchased such technology from the nuclear black market and comes ahead of a crucial International Atomic Energy Agency meeting next month.

It also came a day after Malaysian police released a report citing a businessman who said operatives of Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan’s nuclear program, sold uranium enrichment equipment to Iran for three million US dollars (£1.5m) in the mid-1990s.

The United States accuses Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons, claims which Tehran rejects. It says its nuclear programme is geared toward producing nuclear energy, not making atomic bombs.

“We purchased some (nuclear) parts from some dealers but we don’t know what was the source or which country they came from,” Asefi told reporters. “It happened that some of the dealers were from some subcontinent countries.”

Asefi said that Iran did not know where the nuclear equipment components came from nor did he give information on what materials were purchased.

Khan, Pakistan’s nuclear pioneer, has admitted selling technology and know-how to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

Asefi’s comments suggest that the equipment was purchased from the black market network led by Khan, though he didn’t name any country.

“We have said from the beginning that we acquired some equipment from some dealers. We haven’t mentioned any specific scientist or government organisation,” Asefi said.

Beyond adding another piece to the puzzle of who provided what in the clandestine supply chain headed by Khan, the revelations cast fresh doubt on Tehran’s commitment to dispelling suspicions that it is trying to make atomic arms.

But Asefi reiterated that Iran’s nuclear programme is peaceful and geared only toward energy production. “We remain committed to our obligations under the International Atomic Energy Agency. We’ve never pursued nuclear arms and will never do so.”

Saeed Leilaz, an Iranian political analyst, said Asefi’s announcement was part of Iran’s strategy of transparency toward its nuclear activities.

Tehran also wants to avoid the same fate that befell Iraq under Saddam Hussein, whose regime was toppled by US-led forces on the premise that it was developing nuclear and other unconventional weapons, he said.

Under US pressure to come clean on its atomic activities, Iran signed an additional Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty protocol late last year allowing unfettered inspections of its nuclear sites. It also suspended its uranium enrichment program insisting it was a voluntary, temporary goodwill gesture.

Diplomats in Vienna, however, have revealed that UN inspectors searching Iran’s nuclear files earlier this month found drawings of high-tech equipment that can be used to make weapons-grade uranium, including a P-2 centrifuge, more advanced than the P-1 model Iran has acknowledged using to enrich uranium.

Asefi said Iran had informed the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency of its research into the P-2.

“There was some research work that was not utilised and we had informed the IAEA about that in due time,” he said.

Earlier this month, Asefi said US sanctions against Iran and forced the Persian country to expand its nuclear energy capabilities and seek self-sufficiency in meeting its nuclear fuel needs in the next decades.

Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi has also said Iran had the potential to produce nuclear fuel to sell internationally but did not have a ready supply.