The IAEA report reportedly cites delays by Tehran in providing some information the UN agency has requested, but stops short of saying there is conclusive evidence that Iran is pursuing development of nuclear weapons. The IAEA will debate what action, if any, to take against Tehran at a September 13 meeting of its board of governors.

U.S. secretary of state Colin Powell, en route from Panama City, Panama, told reporters that he would begin talks the next day with the foreign ministers of France and Germany and Britain’s foreign affairs secretary to press for referring Iran’s nuclear program to the Security Council. “Our view is that it should have been referred to the Council long ago,” Powell said. Powell was in Panama attending the September 1 inauguration of that country’s new president, Martín Torrijos.

“We still believe that the Iranians are not ’fessing up to everything,” Powell said. “They still have a program that, in our judgment, is a nuclear program designed to develop, ultimately, a nuclear weapon.”

If Washington is successful, the Security Council could impose a range of economic and other sanctions against Iran. “We’re looking at the range of possible actions of a political, economic, diplomatic and other nature that might be taken,” said Powell.

The International Herald Tribune reported that British foreign secretary Jack Straw, French foreign minister Michel Barnier, and German foreign minister Joschka Fischer met September 3 to discuss how to deflect Washington’s initiative.

Paris, Berlin, and London differ with Washington on how best to advance their imperialist interests vis-à-vis Iran. Last October, under heavy pressure from these three European imperialist governments and Russia, Tehran agreed to allow unannounced inspections of the country’s nuclear facilities by the IAEA. The European governments pressed for the concession from Tehran as an alternative to more aggressive moves by Washington.

Powell called Straw, Barnier, and Fischer the day before their meeting. The Herald Tribune reported that diplomats involved in the discussion described the conversation as Powell giving them a “stern message” that it was time to stop offering Tehran “carrots” and to move toward threatening sanctions.

Jack Straw said the IAEA report contained “clear reservations about the nature of Iran’s nuclear program.”

Asked whether Tehran should be taken to the Security Council, the German foreign minister said, “That could become a subject, but the consequences of that action would have to be very carefully considered,” reported the Boston Globe.

Dutch foreign minister Bernard Bot, whose government holds the European Union’s presidency, issued a statement September 3 expressing the EU’s “concern over Iran’s nuclear plans.” Bot said the EU wants to “send out a very strong signal…that we’re in business, that we have given every opportunity, also in the past to keep the dialogue going.” Bot said the EU was “pessimistic” about developments in Iran’s nuclear program.

The IAEA report focuses on the decision by Tehran to begin enrichment processing of 40 tons of uranium, which the imperialist “experts” at the IAEA claim is enough to make five nuclear bombs. Uranium enrichment, however, is also necessary for producing nuclear plant fuel for energy generation.

Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran’s former envoy to the IAEA, said the nuclear agency had been informed of plans to enrich uranium “a long time ago.” Salehi said that the equipment being used in the Natanz plant in Isfahan does not have the capacity to enrich uranium to a grade that could be used for weapons. “To produce a bomb, you need vast facilities, including thousands of advanced centrifuges, cascaded in a special pattern,” the Iranian scientist said. He also noted that in addition to Tehran’s agreement to allow unannounced inspections of its nuclear facilities, IAEA cameras record activity in the plant 24 hours a day.

Following the agreement it reached with the European governments last October, Tehran agreed to temporarily suspend enrichment of uranium as a “show of good faith.” On July 30, Tehran announced that it would resume plans to enrich uranium because the European governments had failed to keep their promises to get the IAEA investigation closed.

Washington is arguing that given Iran’s vast oil reserves the pursuit of nuclear technology can only mean Tehran wants to build a nuclear bomb. Tehran counters that it needs to produce 7,000 megawatts of electricity by 2021 through nuclear power plants in order to meet the growing energy demands of a country of 65 million and to spur economic and industrial development.

In related developments, Iran’s intelligence minister, Ali Yunessi, announced recently the arrest of several people charged with espionage against the country’s nuclear programs and sending the information abroad. According to the Iranian News Agency (INRA), Yunessi said that the People’s Mujahedeen, an armed group that seeks to overthrow the Iranian government, “played the main role in transferring the information abroad.” The group, which is led by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, has been a main source of Washington’s “evidence” that Tehran is trying to build nuclear arms. Yunessi said the group made similar claims in a series of press conference held in the U.S. capital just before the start of a major investigation of Iran’s nuclear facilities by the IAEA last year.

The IAEA has also dispatched an “inspections team” to south Korea and will report its findings at its September 13 meeting. Seoul admitted recently that scientists in south Korea had secretly enriched uranium to nearly bomb-grade levels, reported the September 3 Washington Post. The program came to light only after south Korean scientists were pressed by IAEA inspectors with questions about certain equipment they had acquired. IAEA inspectors have said the method utilized in south Korea to enrich uranium has no civilian application and is not used in any nuclear energy programs.  
 
 
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