Bloomberg – World News, Sep 3, 2009 – French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner accused the United Nations nuclear watchdog of witholding information about Iran’s nuclear program.
Kouchner accused the International Atomic Energy Agency of putting key information about Iran’s program in annexes of a report published last week.
The IAEA has already said the report, which concluded the threat of Iran producing an atomic weapon has been exaggerated, was published in its entirety. The Israeli Foreign Ministry Aug. 30 accused the IAEA of omitting information in the report.
“Reading this report, none of our questions have been answered,” Kouchner said today at the inauguration of an archive center. “I think that in the annexes there are elements that would make us question the military aspect of Iran’s nuclear program. I want to see the annexes. I want them to be released as soon as possible.”
France has been pushing for stronger sanctions against Iran over its refusal to stop enriching uranium. Iran says its program is aimed at producing electricity. France, the U.S., and Israel say Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons.
“There are articles claiming that the Secretariat is hiding information, and that there are sharp disagreements among staff members involved about the contents of the report,” IAEA spokesman Marc Vidricaire said in a statement Aug. 28. “Needless to say, such allegations have no basis in fact.”