Outgoing IAEA chief has tough choice on Iran
Associated Press / George Jahn
20-Aug-2009

VIENNA — For close to a year, diplomats say, a report on Iran's alleged nuclear weapons experiments has been sitting in a drawer of a U.N. nuclear monitoring agency, with access limited to only a few top officials.

The question is whether the document — a summary of all the International Atomic Energy Agency knows about Iran's nuclear program — will be made public when agency publishes its latest report on Iran within two weeks.

As that date approaches IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei is faced with the tough choice of publishing all his agency findings about Iran's alleged arms programs, or leaving the decision to his successor later this year.

The existence of a secret IAEA summary of what the agency knows based on its investigations and U.S. and other intelligence was confirmed to The Associated Press over the past few days by three senior western diplomats from nations accredited to the IAEA, as well as a senior international official who follows the Iran nuclear issue.

What's more, the information concerning allegations that Iran actively pursued research into developing nuclear warheads and the way to deliver them has been available since September, the diplomats say.

Since then, the U.S. and its allies have pushed the agency to circulate the summary among the IAEA's 35 board member nations of what it knew and its conclusions about the allegations, said the diplomats, who demanded anonymity for discussing confidential i... >>>

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