IAEA's work stalled while Iran's nuclear programme advances (1st Lead)

Vienna - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not made any headway on solving outstanding issues on Iran's nuclear programme while the country keeps making progress at its uranium enrichment centre, according to an IAEA report released Friday. The United Nations Security Council has passed a series of sanctions against Tehran, trying in vain to pressure the country to halt the enrichment facility which could theoretically produce material for nuclear weapons. In his latest report issued to IAEA member states, Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said that as of May 31, Iran had 4,920 uranium enrichment centrifuges running at its plant in Natanz, up from 3,936 such machines operating in February. In addition, Iran has now produced 1,339 kilogrammes of low- enriched uranium, 33 per cent more compared with the figure given in the last report in February. Commenting on this increase, a senior official close to the IAEA said that 'most of it can be attributed to the number of additional machines,' and not on substantial technological advances. Some expert have said already in February that Iran theoretically has enough low-enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb, if it was processed in a series of further steps. Iran denies having any such plans. An additional 2,301 centrifuges have been installed but are not yet in operation. Given the increasing size of the plant, 'it's getting increasingly difficult to do the surveillance,' and the IAEA would have to adjust its monitoring system consisting of cameras and other equipment, the official said. The Vienna-based agency has not made any progress in the past months on clarifying indications that Iran was conducting nuclear weapons-related research projects in the past. 'Certainly we would like to get moving on these matters,' the official said, as the nuclear watchdog has been working on the Iranian nuclear file for six years. The report came one day after US President Barack Obama warned of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East while once again offering to enter into a bilateral dialogue with Iran. The US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China have offered Tehran improved political and economic relations if the enrichment programme is halted and open questions are resolved with the IAEA. However, the leadership in Tehran has not provided IAEA inspectors access to documents, locations and officials that could shed a light on alleged studies on uranium metal, missiles and high explosives. Also, the IAEA said it still has no access to the Arak site, where a heavy-water reactor is being built. Iran is basing its denial on legal grounds. While Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ruled out any compromise over the nuclear programme, the other contenders in the race for the June 12 presidential election have criticized his inflexible stance. Ahmadinejad's main challenger Mir-Hussein Moussavi said last week that talks with the West about a diplomatic settlement in the dispute over Iran's nuclear programmes should continue. The IAEA's governing board is expected to discuss the Iran report in its regualr meeting starting on June 15.