Iran accused of hiding atomic plans

Iran hid designs for centrifuges capable of producing material for nuclear bombs from the UN atomic watchdog, diplomats said yesterday.

US Undersecretary of State John Bolton said it was clear what Tehran was up to.

"There's no doubt in our mind that Iran continues to pursue a nuclear weapons programme," said Mr Bolton, described by diplomats in Vienna as one of Washington's hardest hardliners.

But Russia defied US pressure to sever nuclear ties with the Islamic Republic as Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev said Moscow would sign a deal with Iran next month to ship nuclear fuel for Iran's Bushehr power plant.

Western diplomats in Vienna said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) uncovered designs for an advanced enrichment centrifuge that should have been mentioned in Iran's October declaration of its atomic programme. They said Iran's failure to do so was a serious omission.

Tehran said at the time its declaration was true and complete and always denies it was trying to make a nuclear bomb.