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**Ironduke** · 10-30-2007, 05:36 AM

I like Sarko.

Quote:

IAEA findings on Iran dismissed

France and the US have dismissed a finding by the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog Mohammed ElBaradei that there is no evidence of Iran building a bomb.

French Defence Minister Herve Morin challenged Iran to allow UN inspectors unlimited access to sites.

A White House spokeswoman said Iran was "enriching and reprocessing uranium, and the reason that one does that is to lead towards a nuclear weapon".

Mr ElBaradei said on Sunday that Tehran was years away from developing a bomb.

Iran denies it is seeking to build nuclear weapons and says it wants only civilian nuclear energy.

Its refusal to stop enriching uranium - a process which can lead to a nuclear bomb - has led the UN Security Council to impose two sets of sanctions, which the US has followed up with unilateral penalties of its own.

French scepticism

"Our information, which is backed up by other countries, is contrary [to Mr ElBaradei's comments]," Mr Morin told reporters on a visit to Abu Dhabi.

"If... ElBaradei is right then there is no reason that Iran stops ElBaradei and the IAEA [the UN nuclear watchdog] from carrying out inspections.

"If [the nuclear programme] is only civil what would be the reason to stop international inspections?"

The IAEA has some access to Iranian nuclear facilities but Tehran's refusal to allow intrusive inspections means the UN cannot verify the absence of undeclared nuclear material.

The US Ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, said on Monday that Washington saw "no indication" Iran was moving towards suspending uranium enrichment.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | IAEA findings on Iran dismissed