Skip Nav | Home | Mobile | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Security | Support Us

World

New IAEA Report on Iran Says Little, Sparks Flurry of New Speculation

Jason Ditz | 07.09.2010 12:58 | Analysis | Anti-militarism | World

"The IAEA’s latest report on Iran, leaked today to a number of media outlets, has sparked a wild array of stories and speculation, though it appears to say very little. CNN’s headline “IAEA: Iran still enriching uranium” perhaps says it all, as there was no one who actually thought they had stopped."


New IAEA Report on Iran Says Little, Sparks Flurry of New Speculation
US Finds Report 'Troubling' as Iran Sees Vindication
by Jason Ditz, September 06, 2010

The IAEA’s latest report on Iran, leaked today to a number of media outlets, has sparked a wild array of stories and speculation, though it appears to say very little. CNN’s headline “IAEA: Iran still enriching uranium” perhaps says it all, as there was no one who actually thought they had stopped.

Still, taking nothing about Iran and turning it into a massive scare piece has become something of a cottage industry within Western journalism, and within hours Britain’s Telegraph was announcing “Iran on brink of nuclear weapon” because the IAEA report noted that low level uranium enrichment had continued and its stockpile of low-enriched uranium had, of course, grown.
Other stories seized on the usual “matters of concern” in these reports, including the IAEA’s complaint that Iran had vetoed some of its proposed inspectors, something Iran has every right to do.
The White House was quick to declare the report “troubling” and insisted it proved Iran was “closer to a nuclear weapons capability,” something that does not appear to be supported by its content. And while Iran complained that the tone was less impartial than it had been under Mohamed ElBaradei, they insisted the report was vindication that reaffirmed that they were complying with the IAEA’s rules.

-----

Please spread widely. General Joe

Jason Ditz

Comments

Hide the following comment

Flashback: The IAEA: From UN nuclear watchdog to US lapdog

07.09.2010 17:19



from the archives:


The IAEA: From UN nuclear watchdog to US lapdog

by Finian Cunningham, 6 June 2010


As the United Nations’ nuclear inspections body, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), meets in Vienna later this week to discuss its latest report on Iran, there are signs that Washington is now writing the IAEA’s script.

The most glaring indication of the IAEA’s appeasement of US belligerence over the latter’s allegations of Iranian nuclear ambitions, and therefore the need for further punitive UN sanctions, is the gaping omission from the agency’s report of the Tehran nuclear fuel swap declaration.

Despite acknowledging that the agency has yet again not found any evidence to suggest the diversion of nuclear material from civilian purposes, the IAEA nevertheless draws the conclusion that it “remains concerned about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed nuclear related activities, involving military related organisations, including activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile”.

The report dated 31 May found its way into the media on 1 June ahead of the IAEA Board of Governors’ meeting scheduled for this week.

The report also states that Iran has amassed 2,427 kg of low-enriched (3-5 per cent) uranium. “Contrary to the relevant resolutions of the [IAEA’s] Board of Governors and the Security Council, Iran has not suspended enrichment related activities,” it says, adding: “Iran is not implementing the requirements contained in the relevant resolutions of the Board of Governors and the Security Council… which are essential to building confidence in the exclusively peaceful purpose of Iran’s nuclear programme”.

Conveniently for Washington’s strenuous efforts to cohere the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to vote through a fourth round of sanctions against Iran – perhaps also this week – the IAEA report played into the fevered imaginations of mainstream Western media outlets.

The Associated Press said it was “a report that heightened Western concerns about the country developing the ability to produce a nuclear weapon”.

AP asserted: “Two tons [approximately 2,000 kg] of uranium would be enough for two nuclear warheads.” [1] Similar overblown claims were made by the New York Times and other US media.

But, in truth, the latest IAEA report has very little to add to its previous ones, the last one being in February. Iran’s ambassador to the agency Ali Asghar Soltanieh dismissed the report as raising "repetitive" issues, which he said damaged the IAEA’s credibility.

“The continuation of this trend is seriously damaging the IAEA… [Yukiya] Amano [the agency’s director general] should put an end to this boring game and this sort of repetitive request and partial reflection of facts”.

William Beeman, professor at the University of Minnesota, said: “It is clear that the IAEA is being pressured to toughen their stance, but the tough language

is almost completely rhetorical. They still clearly assert that ‘the agency continues to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran,’ which is the bottom line. Aside from this there is barely anything new in the report.”

Beeman added: “One wonders how much the United States contributed to this report because the technical aspects are cut and dried. The final sections have all dark speculation – speculation that mirrors what we hear from the US administration.”

Yukiya Amano took over from Mohamed ElBaradei as the IAEA chief at the end of last year. ElBaradei had earned a reputation for scientific independence and he often clashed with the US, which accused him of “muddying the waters” and sending the “wrong message to Iran”. Most notably, ElBaradei forcefully stated that there was “no evidence” of Tehran having or intending to build a nuclear bomb, that its nuclear activities were legal, and he reiterated that Iran had met all its obligations with regard to facilitating IAEA inspections.

The same independence cannot be attributed to Amano. The disturbing question is why the IAEA under his charge did not give a single mention to the Tehran nuclear fuel swap declaration.

That deal was signed on 17 May between Iran, Turkey and Brazil in which Iran committed to swap half of its stock of low-enriched uranium in exchange for nuclear fuel rods enriched to the 20 per cent level from either France or Russia. This material would then be used for medical research and treatments. Iran, Turkey and Brazil are still advocating the proposal, which they say could be overseen by the IAEA. The 20 per cent uranium that Iran would receive, under Turkey’s guarantee, would be far below the 80-90 per cent level required for weaponisation, which Iran has repeatedly said that it is not interested in anyway, despite relentless western claims.

Tellingly, the US moved swiftly to dismiss the tripartite declaration within hours of its announcement, with secretary of state Hillary Clinton immediately renewing the push for the fourth round of sanctions.

This despite the fact that the Tehran declaration was hailed by several world leaders, including the UN chief Ban Ki-moon, as a “breakthrough” in the long-running US confrontation with Iran. The deal was formally submitted to the IAEA on 24 May [2] – a full week before the agency’s latest report was published.

The IAEA is supposedly a scientific body dedicated to promoting the peaceful use of atomic energy. Evidently, a serious exposure to US politics has contaminated that body.



* Finian Cunningham is a journalist and musician

www.myspace.com/finiancunninghammusic

_________________


Notes


[1]  http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iijfYgMUu7W_-ZKg8BjH5QNTww5QD9G20TA00

[2]  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/10148376.stm

__________________

Finian Cunningham
mail e-mail: Finian.cunningham@gmail.com
- Homepage: http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2010/06/06/the-iaea-from-un-nuclear-watchdog-to-us-lapdog-by-finian-cunningham/


Publish

Publish your news

Do you need help with publishing?

/regional publish include --> /regional search include -->

World Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Server Appeal Radio Page Video Page Indymedia Cinema Offline Newsheet

secure Encrypted Page

You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.

If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech