Tribune news services
September 15, 2006

VIENNA — A recent U.S. House of Representatives committee report is “outrageous and dishonest” in its assertions about whether Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, a senior official of the United Nations nuclear watchdog has said.

The UN nuclear agency officials said Thursday that their concerns had echoes of their arguments with the Bush administration four years ago over reports that Iraq was producing weapons of mass destruction.

The charges were contained in a letter dated Sept. 12 and sent to Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, whose staff produced the report.

The letter, signed by senior director Vilmos Cserveny of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says the House committee’s report is false in saying Iran is making weapons-grade uranium at an experimental enrichment site, when it has in fact produced material only in small quantities that is far below the level that can be used in nuclear arms.
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The letter says the uranium was only enriched to 3.6 percent, a level suitable for producing power, but far short of the 90 percent or so commonly associated with fuel for weapons.

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Let me put on my ‘big surprize’ face…