WarSclerotic

According to the report, International Atomic Energy Agency Chief Mohamed ElBaradei drew up a 13-point agreement in September aimed at convincing world powers to allow Iran to continue its contentious nuclear program under close UN inspection.

ElBaradei has apparently been trying to resolve this issue before he leaves office at the end of November, according to The Times. The newspaper said it had received the report from a concerned party privy to the issue.

The IAEA has denied that the document exists, said The Times.

The Times exclusive comes hours after the IAEA released a report western official say proves Iran is still not meeting its obligations to the international community over its nuclear program.

“[The] IAEA’s latest report on Iran underscores that Iran still refuses to comply fully with its international nuclear obligations,” U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said on Monday.

A copy of the IAEA report obtained by Reuters on Monday noted that Iran’s belated revelation of a second uranium enrichment site raised concern about possible further secret nuclear sites in the Islamic Republic.

Kelly further said that Iran’s failure to disclose the Qom enrichment facility to the International Atomic Energy Agency was the most recent example of continued noncompliance.

“Now is the time for Iran to signal that it wants to be a responsible member of the international community,” he added. “We will continue to press Iran in ways consistent with the dual-track approach to meet its international nuclear obligations.”

The report further said Iran had told the IAEA that it had begun building the bunkered site near Qom in 2007, but the IAEA had evidence the project began in 2002, paused in 2004 and resumed in 2006. Iran reported the site’s existence to the IAEA in September.

IAEA inspectors also found that Iran had reduced since August the number of centrifuges enriching Uranium at its main Natanz site by 650 to 3,936, while slightly raising the total number of machines installed to 8,692. Western diplomats and analysts said the slowdown was probably caused by technical glitches.

A senior official, meanwhile, said Monday that the nuclear agency believes Iran plans to start enriching uranium at the previously secret facility in 2011.

The official said the IAEA also believes that the site near Qom will be able to house 3,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges.

A senior international official familiar with a new IAEA report said Monday that number could allow Iran to enrich enough material to be able to arm one nuclear warhead a year. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the restricted nature of the information.