Iran Nuclear Watch: More Enriched Uranium Found in Iran – Density Close to Make a Nuclear Weapon?

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, left, walks with Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, right, upon arrival at a hotel to attend D-8 Summit this weekend in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, Friday, May 12, 2006. Tehran’s deepening standoff with the West over nuclear issues is likely to overshadow talks as leaders from Iran and seven other mostly Muslim countries launch the trade and development meeting in Indonesia on Saturday.

ASSociated Press: More Uranium Reportedly Found in Iran

The U.N. atomic agency found traces of highly enriched uranium at an Iranian site linked to the country’s defense ministry, diplomats said Friday, adding to concerns that Tehran was hiding activities aimed at making nuclear arms.

The diplomats, who demanded anonymity in exchange for revealing the confidential information, said the findings were preliminary and still had to be confirmed through other lab tests. But they said the density of enrichment appeared to be close to or above the level used to make nuclear warheads.

Still, they said, further analysis could show that the traces match others established to have come from abroad.

So, the Iranians have a method to their madness in stalling for time through protracted negotiations.

Have they been enriching their own uranium with clandestinely smuggled in P-2 centrifuges from Pakistan or have they purchased already weapons grade enriched uranium from the North Koreans?

International Atomic Energy Agency determined earlier traces of weapons-grade uranium were imported on equipment from Pakistan that Iran bought on the black market during nearly two decades of clandestine activity discovered just over three years ago.

The origin of the samples now under perusal created some concern in that regard.

One of the diplomats told The Associated Press that the samples came from equipment that can be used in uranium-enriching centrifuges at a former research center at Lavizan-Shian. The center is believed to have been the repository of equipment bought by the Iranian military that could be used in a nuclear weapons program.

The United States alleges Iran had conducted high-explosive tests that could have a bearing on developing nuclear weapons at the site.

The State Department said in 2004 that Lavizan’s buildings had been dismantled and topsoil had been removed in attempts to hide nuclear weapons-related experiments. The agency subsequently confirmed that the site had been razed.

In an April 28 report to the U.N. Security Council and the IAEA’s 35-nation board of governors, agency head Mohamed ElBaradei said the agency took samples from some of the equipment of the former Physics Research Center at Lavizan-Shian. The diplomat said the evaluation of those samples revealed the traces in question.

Should these samples confirm the speculation that Iran possesses or is near to possessing weapons grade enriched uranium the UNSC will bet set to act……but probably not before Israel and the United States begin their final war plans to destroy all of Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Stay tuned…..

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