Signs of advanced program in Iran

WASHINGTON -- International inspectors have found new evidence that Iran engaged in a more ambitious program than it had admitted to develop advanced machines for producing material that could be used in nuclear weapons, according to a report obtainedyesterday.

Discoveries by the International Atomic Energy Agency contradicted previous contentions by Iran that its scientists had made little attempt to manufacture sophisticated Pakistani-designed P-2 centrifuges.

IAEA inspectors also found traces of weapons-grade uranium that indicated Iran either imported nuclear-related components from a country other than Pakistan or has made more progress than previously known in developing its own ability to produce material capable of being used in nuclear weapons.

The latest in a yearlong series of critical reports on Iran's nuclear program by the IAEA said serious questions remained about the scope and intentions of Tehran's atomic activities, but it did not say evidence of a weapons program had been found.

Still, the findings seemed to ensure that pressure on Iran would not be eased later this month at the agency's board meeting in Vienna. The report was prepared for the June 14 board meeting, and a copy was provided to the Los Angeles Times by a Western diplomat.

Washington has argued that Tehran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program behind the faade of a civilian effort. Iranian officials have said repeatedly that the program is purely to generate electricity.

At a meeting of parliament members from NATO countries in Bratislava, Slovakia, IAEA director Mohammed ElBaradei said it was not clear whether Iran's program was exclusively for peaceful purposes or had a military dimension.

"We haven't seen concrete proof of a military program, so it's premature to make a judgment on that," he said, according to the Reuters news agency.

The report was worded carefully to try to keep the negotiations open with Tehran. The IAEA praised Tehran's cooperation, but also said Iran had continued to change its story on key issues and to withhold information.

Jon B. Wolfsthal, a nonproliferation specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in Washington, said that after reviewing the report, it did not answer the question of Tehran's ultimate nuclear intentions. "It's clear from this report that we have not gotten a clear picture of Iran's program," Wolfsthal said. "There are still major gaps."

The IAEA report focused a particularly harsh light on Iran's efforts to develop the sophisticated P-2 centrifuges from designs and components purchased from the black-market network run by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.

"Important information about the P-2 centrifuge program has frequently required repeated requests and in some cases continues to involve changing or contradictory information," the report said.

Iran said it inadvertently left the P-2 plans out of its disclosures to the IAEA because they constituted a small program.