Iran samples show enriched uranium

UN inspectors have found enriched uranium in environmental samples taken in Iran, which could mean Tehran has been enriching uranium without informing the UN nuclear watchdog, diplomats said.

The diplomats, who asked not to be named, told Reuters initial analysis showed enrichment levels possibly consistent with an attempt to make weapons-grade material and high enough to cause concern at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Iran said later yesterday that the IAEA had not informed it about any findings.

"The International Atomic Energy Agency has not told Iran about this issue," Khalil Mousavi, spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, told Reuters. "As soon as the agency takes a stance on this, then we will announce our stance," he said.

If Iran, dubbed part of an "axis of evil" by Washington, has been enriching uranium without telling the IAEA, this would deepen US suspicions that its nuclear ambitions go beyond its stated aim of using nuclear energy only to generate electricity.

However, the diplomats said the mere presence of enriched uranium in the samples was not solid proof Iran had done the enrichment itself. Contamination was another possibility, though how it had arisen would have to be explained to the IAEA.

The IAEA declined to confirm or deny the statements of the diplomats, though an agency spokeswoman said IAEA inspectors have been taking samples in Iran.

"The results of environmental sample analyses are being reviewed at the agency and we expect to take more samples over the next few weeks," Melissa Fleming said. "Only the IAEA will be in a position to judge the significance of the analysis results.

"At this point, we are still in the middle of a complex inspection process in Iran, in which we are investigating a number of unresolved issues," she added.

Iran insists it has no interest in building nuclear weapons, as Washington charges, but has resisted international calls for it to accept tougher inspections of its nuclear programme.

It was not clear at which of Iran's nuclear facilities the samples had been taken.

In June, the IAEA board of governors chided Iran for failing to report many aspects of its nuclear programme and asked for more information on research and development in Iran's uranium enrichment programme.

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei was not available for comment on the diplomats' remarks, but he told a board meeting on the agency's budget that he hoped Iran would accept the tighter inspection regime to provide assurances that its nuclear programme is peaceful.