Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Manufacturing Consent to Attack Iran: Did IAEA Revive Uranium Paper Issue Under Pressure?

By Gareth Porter

"A 15-page paper on the process requirements for casting and machining of uranium metal into hemispherical forms – said to useful only for making the core of a nuclear weapon – has been raised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in recent months as evidence of an alleged Iranian intention to built nuclear weapons.......

The timing of the IAEA's decision in early 2008 to highlight the uranium metal document, after having previously indicated that it was resolved, suggests that it was the result of new political pressures on the agency. The new IAEA hard line on the issue came after Iran had provided new information that resolved the entire list of issues about the history of its nuclear program on which the IAEA had been raising doubts since 2003.

It also coincided with the introduction into the IAEA process on Iran of "alleged studies" of weaponization – documents whose authenticity has not verified by the agency and which it has not been allowed to share with Iran. "

No comments: