Monday, December 14, 2009

CNN - Combat News Network: 'Alarming' secret document details Iran's nuclear goals


FD: Do Wars Come in Three's?
(1) Iraq - (3) Iran - (2) Afghan
We NEED ALTERNATIVE ENERGY NOW!
Oil addiction is going to be the death our Republic if we don't MOVE ON!



STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Papers reinforce "deep concerns over Iran's nuclear program," source says
* Says UN nuclear watchdog has a copy of papers, which Times of London also obtained
* IAEA investigating document, hasn't formally asked Iran for more information about it
* " the Iranians have been lying to everybody" about nuclear arms, ex-diplomat says

London, England (CNN) -- A secret document that appears to show that Iran was working on building nuclear weapons as recently as 2007 is "alarming" and "part of a body of evidence backing up deep concerns over Iran's nuclear program," a Western diplomatic source with knowledge of the papers told CNN on Monday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, has a copy of the secret papers, which were also obtained by the Times of London, the source said.

IAEA officials confirm they are investigating the document, but said they have not formally asked Iran for more information about it.

"What it means, essentially, is that the Iranians have been lying to everybody" when they said they were not seeking to build nuclear weapons, said Mehrdad Khonsari, a former Iranian diplomat.

"The only realistic use of this is in a nuclear weapon," said David Albright, the president of the Institute for Science and International Security.

"It shows that either Iran is developing the capability [to build nuclear weapons] or it is moving to implement a bomb program -- and either one is bad," said Albright, who reviewed the document for the Times before the newspaper published its report Sunday.

But Albright warned that the document is edited and has no date on it. The source who gave it to the Times said it was from 2007, but neither the Times nor the ISIS was able to date it definitively, Albright said.

United States intelligence concluded in 2007 that Iran had suspended work on its nuclear weapons program in 2003.

Iran denies seeking to build nuclear weapons, saying its nuclear program is for civilian energy and medical research.

CNN Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance and Richard Allen Greene contributed to this report.

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