WarSclerotic

Iran charm offensive fails to ease nuclear fears | Reuters.

(Reuters) – An Iranian effort to show rare openness about its disputed nuclear programme is doing little to dispel Western suspicions about Tehran’s atomic ambitions, with one Vienna-based envoy dismissing it as just a “charm offensive”.

Diplomats said they believed the U.N. nuclear watchdog would once again highlight concern about possible military aspects to Iran’s nuclear activities in its latest quarterly report, due to be submitted to member states in the next few days.

“I expect it will be a bit tougher than the last one. Still a number of outstanding matters related to PMD (possible military dimensions) that Iran refuses to answer,” a Western envoy told Reuters on Thursday.

Another diplomat painted a similar picture, saying Tehran had failed to address the IAEA’s core concerns.

Western nations suspect Iran is trying to use its nuclear programme to develop atomic weapons. The Islamic Republic has denied the charge, saying it wants to produce nuclear energy.

The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) — tasked with ensuring that nuclear technology is not diverted for military aims — has repeatedly complained about Iran’s lack of cooperation over allegations of military-linked nuclear work.

In previous reports, the IAEA has in vain urged Tehran to provide prompt access to sites, equipment, documents and people relevant for its probe.

In a move that Iran said showed the country’s “100 percent transparency and openness,” it allowed a senior IAEA inspector to tour the Islamic state’s main atomic facilities last month, including one for developing advanced enrichment machines.

The IAEA has been trying since 2008 to gain access to sites linked to the manufacture of centrifuges used to refine uranium — material which can have both civilian and military purposes — but Iran had until now ignored the requests.

Tehran last week also signalled some flexibility in responding to IAEA questions, with state television quoting a top nuclear official as saying the agency should present “their main claims” together with relevant evidence and documents.

But the Western envoy suggested Iran was merely using an old tactic to ward off any harsher international pressure on the country, while pressing ahead with its nuclear work.

“The Iranians’ recent charm offensive has not changed the Agency’s view on what Iran still needs to do,” he said.

URANIUM STOCKPILE

For several years, the IAEA has been investigating Western intelligence reports indicating Iran has coordinated efforts to process uranium, test high explosives and revamp a ballistic missile cone to accommodate a nuclear warhead.

Iran rejects the allegations as forged and baseless.

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano has taken a more hard-nosed approach than his predecessor, Mohamed ElBaradei, saying in his first report on Iran in 2010 he feared it may be working now to develop a nuclear-armed missile, not just in the past.

Tehran’s refusal to halt enrichment has led to four rounds of U.N. sanctions on the world’s No. 5 oil exporting state, as well as tighter U.S. and European Union restrictions.

Since talks between global powers and Iran foundered in January, Russia has advocated a phased plan in which Tehran would address concerns that it may be seeking nuclear weapons, and be rewarded with an easing of sanctions.

But Iran is showing no sign of heeding U.N. demands to curb its nuclear activities.

In late August, Iran said it had begun moving enrichment centrifuges to an underground bunker near the holy city of Qom as part of a push to triple output capacity of higher-grade enriched uranium, a development Washington called “troubling.”

Iran only disclosed the existence of the subterranean Fordow site to the IAEA in September 2009 after learning that Western intelligence agencies had detected the mountain site.

Transferring enrichment activity to Fordow could offer greater protection against any attacks by Israel or the United States, which have both said they do not rule out pre-emptive strikes to stop Iran getting nuclear weapons.

Western officials and analysts say that by producing 20 percent enriched material Iran has taken a significant step closer to the 90 percent threshold suitable for atom bombs. Iran says it needs the material to fuel a Tehran research reactor.

“Iran has no logical need for large stockpiles of 20 percent enriched uranium,” a U.S.-based think-tank said this week.

“Having such a large stockpile on hand and located within a fortified structure is more suited toward planning for the contingency of a breakout to nuclear weapons,” the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) added.

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