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The latest report from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog is expected to come this week, and newspapers are reporting it is set to accuse Iran of receiving foreign assistance in researching nuclear weapons. The Daily Telegraph said the West also feels that Iran has a blueprint for a nuclear weapon that can fit in a warhead and a testing container for the necessary explosives.
However, the British newspaper also said the report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is not expected to outright saying Iran is currently building a nuclear weapon or committed to do so.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, said that the IAEA report will claim information from experts from North Korea, Pakistan and Russia helped Iran with developing crucial components to an atomic weapons program, according to diplomats and experts cited by the Post. There is no evidence that the Russian government knew of the assistance of the former Soviet nuclear scientist, who provided lectures and research on warhead explosives used for a nuclear bomb.
As for Pakistan, designs from A.Q. Khan, the nuclear scientist who fathered their program and then helped Libya on theirs, also apparently assisted Iran. Mathematical codes and formulas also apparently came from North Korea. It was unclear from the newspaper articles if the governments of Pakistan or North Korea were themselves involved in Iran’s nuclear program.
One expert cited by The Post, David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security, reportedly said in a private presentation to intelligence professionals that IAEA officials believe Iran “has sufficient information to design and produce a workable implosion nuclear device.”
As for the aftermath to the forthcoming IAEA report, the United States has said they are focused on diplomatic and economic approaches towards Iran at this stage.
(By Staff, www.themideastupdate.com, November 8, 2011)