They are eliminating bottlenecks in the process of creating a reliable nuclear warhead,” said Albright, president of the D.C.-based Institute for Science and International Security. “I have no evidence of an Iranian decision to build them. On the other hand, doing the kind of work described in this document is a far cry from the common belief that Iran stopped work on nuclear weapons in 2003 and has not restarted.”
A U.S. intelligence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, acknowledged there have been “serious concerns for some time about where Iran may be headed with its nuclear activities.”
The leaked memo follows the disclosure in September that Iran had secretly built a small uranium plant in a mountain north of the ancient holy city of Qom.
In late October, IAEA inspectors who visited Iran for a first look at the secret plant also made a surprise discovery of 600 barrels of heavy water, a toxic liquid used in making plutonium, during a routine visit to one of Iran’s lesser-known nuclear facilities near the city of Isfahan.
A recent IAEA report called on Iran to “provide information on the origin” of the heavy water.
