Info From Murky Sources

Finally, a report from the IAEA about Iran’s nuclear program that satisfies the United States! State Department spokesman Philip Crowley, however, says the report contains many causes for concern. Vice President Joe Biden went immediately to the practical side of the issue, saying, “We are working with our international partners to ensure that Iran also faces real consequences for failing to meet its obligations.”

Naturally, the German echo is indispensable here as well. Government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said there was reason for “great worry,” citing various media sources (“Iran is Building an Atomic Bomb!!” – Bild Zeitung headline of February 19). “Iran’s persistence in ignoring” U.S. and European Union demands, he said, “forces us to impose further sanctions.” But Tehran has at least been assured that Iran is safe from attack by German forces. “We are not contemplating a military solution,” Wilhelm promised, clearly without agreement from either Washington or Jerusalem.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report in question hasn’t even been officially released yet, but is available on the internet. Officially, it will be presented at the next IAEA governor’s meeting in early March. But, as usual, special highlights of it have been made widely available via “targeted indiscretions.” Basically, it’s all about just a few sentences in the report that appear under the heading “Possible Military Dimensions.” The BBC reported these as follows: “The information available to the agency… is extensive… and broadly consistent and credible in terms of the technical detail… [and] raises concerns about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile,” Mr Amano says.

Even if these assertions are being triumphantly quoted by Western politicians and media sources, they contain absolutely no new revelations. They do not address new IAEA insights, they just represent an updated political assessment easily explained by the fact that it’s the first report issued by the agency’s new director, Yukiya Amano. His predecessor, Egyptian Mohammad el-Baradei, successfully withstood Western threats and refused to speculate on unfounded rumors and suspicions.

The agency’s referenced “information” originates from secret intelligence sources, the BND (German Federal Intelligence Service) among them. The principle evidence is reported to be a laptop computer smuggled out of Iran containing plans for a nuclear warhead. The IAEA has yet to make this questionable proof available to U.S. authorities.

Prior to the uproar, Iran had assured the IAEA that it had no interest in producing nuclear weapons. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a television appearance last Friday, “We don’t have any belief in the atomic bomb and don’t pursue it.’’