VIENNA – Wall Street Journal – Dec. 2, 2015 – The United Nations atomic agency said in a closely followed report Wednesday that it believed Iran was working in a “coordinated” way on nuclear weapons know-how until the end of 2003 and that some of these activities continued beyond that point.
However the International Atomic Energy Agency said it had concluded after a five-month probe that there were no “credible indications” of nuclear weapons related activities in Iran after 2009. It said that Iran’s nuclear work before that was limited to weapons feasibility and scientific studies, and to the acquisition of some nuclear capabilities.
The findings are unlikely to stop Iran from winning sanctions relief under the July agreement between Iran and six world powers, U.S. officials have said.
However they could add to concerns among critics of that deal about the extent of Iran’s nuclear know-how. That could spark fears it would take Tehran less time to develop a weapon if it breached July’s nuclear agreement than previously thought.
Some of the information the IAEA provided reinforces evidence that Iran had a weapons program, something Tehran has always denied.
For example, the IAEA says that the evidence it has collected contradict Iran’s explanation for work it conducted at the Parchin military site that Western officials believe was related to nuclear weapons development.
Many western officials believe Iran was pursuing a nuclear-weapons option until 2003, although there are different views on how much of that work continued beyond that date.
Western diplomats had said in recent weeks that Tehran’s cooperation with the IAEA on the probe had been modest at best.
However U.S. officials have said that the implementation of July’s nuclear deal, which pledged sanctions relief for Iran in exchange for Tehran significantly scaling back its future nuclear program, should not be blocked by the report. They say Iran has already fulfilled its formal obligations under July’s deal by providing written explanations on its past activities in August, sitting down with the IAEA for follow-up talks and allowing IAEA officials access to Parchin.