World

Report: Satellite Images Show Iran Covering its Tracks on Secret Nuclear Activity

VIENNA (The Blaze/AP) — Satellite images of an Iranian military facility appear to show trucks and earth-moving vehicles at the site, indicating an attempted cleanup of radioactive traces possibly left by tests of a nuclear-weapon trigger, diplomats told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The assertions from the diplomats, all nuclear experts accredited to the International Atomic Energy Agency, could add to the growing international pressure on Iran over its nuclear program, which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes.

While the U.S. and the EU are backing a sanctions-heavy approach, Israel has warned that it may resort to a pre-emptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities to prevent it from obtaining atomic weapons.

Two of the diplomats said the crews at the Parchin military site may be trying to erase evidence of tests of a small experimental neutron device used to set off a nuclear explosion. A third diplomat could not confirm that but said any attempt to trigger a so-called neutron initiator could only be in the context of trying to develop nuclear arms.

Iran Starting to Cover Tracks on Nuclear Program, IAEA Diplomats Reports

The diplomats said they suspect attempts at sanitization because some of the vehicles at the scene appeared to be haulage trucks and other equipment suited to carting off potentially contaminated soil from the site.

The images, provided by member countries to the IAEA, the U.N’s nuclear watchdog, are recent and constantly updated, one of the diplomats said. The diplomats all asked for anonymity to discuss sensitive information.

The IAEA has already identified Parchin as the location of suspected nuclear weapons-related testing. In a November report, it said it appeared to be the site of experiments with conventional high explosives meant to initiate a nuclear chain reaction.

It did not mention a neutron initiator as part of those tests, but in a separate section cited an unnamed member nation as saying Iran may have experimented with a neutron initiator, without going into detail or naming a location for such work.

In contrast, the intelligence information shared with the AP by the two diplomats linked the high-explosives work directly to setting off a neutron initiator at Parchin.

In explaining such a device, the agency’s November report said that “if placed in the center of a nuclear core of an implosion-type nuclear device and compressed, (it) could produce a burst of neutrons suitable for initiating a fission chain reaction.”

If Iran did try to trigger a neutron initiator, it would harden international suspicions by adding a nuclear component to a suspected string of experiments linked to weapons development that generally have not included radioactive material.

Iran has previously attempted to clean up sites considered suspicious by world powers worried about Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Iran razed the Lavizan Shian complex in northern Iran five years ago before allowing IAEA inspectors to visit the suspected repository of military procured equipment that could be used in a nuclear weapons program. Tehran said the site had been demolished to make way for a park, but inspectors subsequently found traces of uranium enriched to or near the level used in making the core of nuclear warheads.

Iran Starting to Cover Tracks on Nuclear Program, IAEA Diplomats Reports

A suspected uranium-enrichment facility in Iran. (Photo: Digital Globe/Reuters)

The Iranians also embarked on an extensive redo at the Kalay-e Electric Co., just west of Tehran, before agency inspectors were given access nine years ago. Although the site was re-painted and otherwise sanitized, samples taken from Kalay-e also showed traces of enriched uranium, though at levels substantially below warhead grade.

One official from an IAEA member country with good intelligence on Iran said the Parchin neutron initiator experiments were conducted between 2003 and 2010. Another said any such tests were closer to 2003, adding it was not clear whether they were successful.

The timing is important.

U.S. intelligence officials say they generally stand by a 2007 intelligence assessment that asserts Iran stopped comprehensive secret work on developing nuclear arms in 2003. But Britain, France, Germany, Israel and other U.S. allies think such activities have continued past that date, a view shared by the IAEA, which says in recent reports that some isolated and sporadic activities may be ongoing.

Iran vehemently denies allegations that it conducted any research and development into atomic weapons and says the totality of its nuclear activities are meant purely to generate power or for research.

Asked for comment, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s chief delegate to the IAEA, told the AP he would not discuss any nuclear issues until after he delivered his statement to the agency’s 35-nation board meeting Thursday. IAEA officials also said they could not comment.

Attention most recently focused on Parchin several days ago, when senior IAEA officials first spoke of unexplained activities at the site without saying what they could be and said an inspection of buildings there was taking on added urgency.

One of six diplomats who spoke with the AP said his country continued to reserve judgment on what the movements at the site meant but two others who had seen recent spy satellite imagery said the trucks and other equipment at the site almost certainly showed attempts to clean it of radioactive contamination.

They declined to go into detail but said radioactive traces could also be left by material other than a neutron initator, such as uranium metal which can be used as a substitute for testing purposes.

IAEA expert teams trying to probe the suspicions of secret weapons work by Iran tried – and failed – twice in recent weeks to get Iranian permission to visit Parchin. Tehran then said on Monday that such a visit would be granted.

But it said that a comprehensive agreement outlining conditions of such an inspection must first be agreed on – move dismissed by a senior international official familiar with the issue as a delaying tactic. He, too, asked not to be named because the matter was sensitive.

The diplomats and officials spoke ahead of a meeting of the IAEA board Thursday focusing on Iran’s defiance of U.N. Security Council demands to end uranium enrichment – which can make both nuclear fuel and fissile warhead material – and dispel other suspicions that it may be seeking nuclear weapons.

That session was to take place Wednesday but had to be adjourned to give six world powers time to find common ground on how harshly to criticize Iran. They agreed on a text late Wednesday but only after marathon negotiations reflecting the difficulty of presenting a united front at upcoming talks with Iran.

Officials did not detail the text agreed upon, but the U.S., Britain, France and Germany wanted a joint statement that takes Iran to task for defying U.N. Security Council resolutions demanding it end uranium enrichment and cooperate with an IAEA probe of suspicions it secretly worked on nuclear arms.

A senior Western diplomat, however, told the AP that Russia and China, which have condemned Western sanctions on Iran as counterproductive, sought more moderate language. He also asked for anonymity to discuss confidential matters.

Comments (38)

  • Sandoz
    Posted on March 8, 2012 at 8:22am

    How do you KILL 11 Million 238,000 thousand people?
    Add to that 5,200,000 German civilians and war dead.
    Add to that 28,736,000 Europeans killed during WW2
    as a result of Hitler’s aggressive governmental policies.
    The answer is breathtakingly simple.
    And it is a method still being used by some elected leaders
    to achieve various goals today.
    How do you kill Eleven Million People?
    LIE TO THEM. – Andy Andrews

    Report Post »  
  • omgfolks
    Posted on March 7, 2012 at 10:31pm

    Well of course they did. Why is this news. We should just give them a nuke or two from the working end if they want them so bad.

    Report Post »  
  • The_Jerk
    Posted on March 7, 2012 at 9:15pm

    They are in control:
    http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/white-man-s-burden-1.14110

    Report Post »  
  • Chuck Stein
    Posted on March 7, 2012 at 8:36pm

    A neutron initiator isn’t too big of a technological development. All you need for the neutrons is an apha-emitter (Polonium 210 is the traditional favorite, but Americium 241 — an isotope used in smoke detectors — could work, too) and beryllium. For a bomb-useful initiator, you need a means of keeping the alpha particles away from the Beryllium until you want the neutrons. The initiator used in the Little Boy (Hiroshima) bomb was called an “urchin.”

    Report Post »  
    • schlepnier
      Posted on March 8, 2012 at 5:35am

      @Endthefed
      Yes the iranian people are mostly under 35 and hate the oppressive religous government, however the people running the government in iran are crazy enough to build and use a nuke on israel even if it means neclear retaliation because they are true believers.

      Report Post » schlepnier  
  • MammalOne
    Posted on March 7, 2012 at 6:36pm

    Remember the satellite photos Colin Powell used to argue for the existence of WMD’s in Iraq?

    Report Post » MammalOne  
    • Manitu0
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 6:46pm

      Remember July of 2007 when we removed 550 metric tons of yellowcake uranium from Iraq and sent it to Canada? No? Google it…. then ask yourself how a country who didn’t have a nuclear program possess that material. WAKE UP@!

      Report Post » Manitu0  
    • MammalOne
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 6:51pm

      Remember when we wasted hundreds of billions of dollars, killed hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, got tens of thousands of citizens killed, and changed the story about why we did it about a hundred times because none of the arguments held weight?

      I do, I’m not eager to do it again. Some of us learn from history.

      Report Post » MammalOne  
    • justangry
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 7:15pm

      I’m with you Mammalone. Other than Afganistan, I see no justification for what we’ve been doing.

      Report Post » justangry  
    • MS-GlenNBC
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 7:24pm

      Can we have our drone back?

      Oops! I forgot, this is the Anti Gingrich Network. I’ll go to the huff-po and look for news and journalism.

      RIP Breitbart.

      Report Post » MS-GlenNBC  
    • MammalOne
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 9:00pm

      lol MS-GlennBC! I love the name!

      Report Post » MammalOne  
    • 83plus
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 9:39pm

      And if Iran builds a bomb and uses it on Israel, then what? Ask them not to do it again?

      Report Post »  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on March 7, 2012 at 6:04pm

    It looks like as of now Iran has a working device, or at least the critical parts for it; now comes the questions of – when do they unleash it at Israel, and who else will they use them upon for their leaders desired bloodbath for the 12th Imadi return?

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • The_Jerk
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 6:10pm

      Israel is, and has been, a far greater threat to peace. Israel has been the aggressor nation in the Middle East, even as its Zionist terrorist founders were busy doing their killing.

      Report Post »  
    • gvblaze
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 11:22pm

      Hey, Jerk, don’t you mean the “Kahzars”? Oh, wait, you said that. Zionists, the entire government of the nation of Israel is infected with them. The sad fact of the matter is that most of the people in America, in their ignorance, have allowed themselves to be brainwashed into believing that the current nation of Israel is the modern remnant of the old Jewish heritage that we read about in the Bible. They don‘t know about the hijacking by the Kahzars and they don’t realize or understand that the Arabs don’t really hate the Jews, they hate the Kahzars that have infected the land of Israel and brainwashed the world into believing they are “The Jews of The Bible”. (…and I love how they leave out that they tortured and killed probably millions of muslims before they renamed their Byzentine (sp?) empire to “The Nation Of Israel”. Its all a big ruse. Ha! But try and explain it the the “Sheople Majority” and you’re out of luck. They “deer in the headlights” on you after about two sentences and you’re done. Thanks modern government education for destroying the intellect of people of all colors.

      Report Post » gvblaze  
    • schlepnier
      Posted on March 8, 2012 at 5:39am

      Hey jerk you really need to stop reading history for arab dummies…..israel the agressor? now that funny considering that in 4 wars they have NEVER been the aggressor and they have put up with more crap from their arab neighbors than any nation in europe or america would ever put up with and retaliated far less.

      Report Post » schlepnier  
  • Razorhunters
    Posted on March 7, 2012 at 5:47pm

    7 countries in 5 years.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=pyEJ6Aja-UQ

    Report Post » Razorhunters  
    • The_Jerk
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 6:01pm

      “A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Ream.” Written in 1996. It’s all for the Zionist state of Israel. Your wealth. Your sons and daughters. Written by Jews for Jews. Fact, not antisemitic.
      http://www.iasps.org/strat1.htm

      Report Post »  
    • Razorhunters
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 6:09pm

      i know of the zionist, nwo,bilderbergs,illuminati…
      we are hosed unless do something now.

      thanks for the link

      Report Post » Razorhunters  
  • christos
    Posted on March 7, 2012 at 5:42pm

    ..If it quakes like a duck and looks like a duck,,,IT IS A DUCK and out of LUCK duck.

    Report Post » christos  
    • The_Jerk
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 5:45pm

      You are so correct. Just ask Mordechai Vanunu.
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordechai_Vanunu

      Report Post »  
    • AvengerK
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 6:02pm

      While Barry wants to hope Iran doesn’t get nukes. I‘ll tell you why Barry doesn’t want to act on Iran. He’ll be forced into opening up new theatre of war. He‘s gambling that Iran will not have nukes before the election and that Israel doesn’t take action before hand. It’s purely a political move by Obama. He doesn’t care whether Iran gets nukes or not…he’s counting on it not being his problem. Meantime…he can play to the anti-war elements of the left base. A base he‘s shaking every tree for votes because he knows he’s bled out independents and needs every lefty vote he can shake out of hibernation.

      Report Post »  
    • Seede
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 8:27pm

      Vanunu was a traitor and deserved the death penalty. He was a traitor to his own people and his nation. I guess that is ok with you as it sounds as though you love traitors or misfits. If he was in my charge he would never have made it back to Israel for a closed door trial. Be as it may, he broke parole several times and had no regrets of his being a wimp quisling. He may have been directly responsible for some Israeli deaths of which you did not mention. Seems as though that attitude is the norm for American men now days.

      Report Post »  
    • The_Jerk
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 9:19pm

      Seede, no, I do not like or support traitors. I despise hypocrites, and those who treat others differently than they expect to be treated by others. Israel has nukes. Why shouldn’t Iran… or for that matter, any Middle East nation?

      Report Post »  
  • The_Jerk
    Posted on March 7, 2012 at 5:41pm

    If I were Iran, I would tell the world that I will open up my nuclear facilities to inspection when Israel does the same to its nuclear facilities. Fair is fair, but American Zionists have no desire to be fair; as demonstrated by American policy in the Middle East over the past six and a half decades.

    Report Post »  
    • christos
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 5:46pm

      The only difference here is Israel is not claiming to wipe anyone off the map Iran is,,,Daily

      Report Post » christos  
    • lynda1276
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 5:55pm

      what’s fair is fair? huh? big difference here- one is a nut case!!

      Report Post »  
    • Razorhunters
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 5:56pm

      no they just do it behind the scenes
      9-11 Mossad ‘Mural Van’ – NYPD Police Radio
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Huf2Kz7bV2k

      Report Post » Razorhunters  
    • The_Jerk
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 5:57pm

      “We possess several hundred atomic warheads and rockets and can launch them at targets in all directions, perhaps even at Rome. Most European capitals are targets for our air force…. We have the capability to take the world down with us. And I can assure you that that will happen before Israel goes under.”
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_van_Creveld#Views_on_current_affairs

      Report Post »  
    • Razorhunters
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 5:59pm

      9/11 September 11th – Jewish Agents – Mossad in America Pt 1 of 4
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9laaUwCc4Rs

      Report Post » Razorhunters  
    • The_Jerk
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 6:03pm

      Lynda1276, the nut cases are those who ignore the truth and history.

      Report Post »  
    • Seede
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 8:07pm

      Mr. Jerk,
      You say fair is fair??? Then by your standards America and all other nuclear countries must do the same even though they are not threatening any of their neighbors. Everyone should inspect everyone’s nuclear facilities. Then what happens if everyone doesn’t like each other facilities?? Then, I guess, you would want all of the bombs put in a pile and divided equally?? Then what?? Then an international law should be passed that all countries can not make any more bombs unless the bomb board says it is okay?? Then how does everyone know that no one is making any more bombs?? I guess we go right back to the inspection thing and start all over again. Yep! You sure have it all figured out Mr. Jerk.

      Report Post »  
    • The_Jerk
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 9:10pm

      Seede, “You say fair is fair??? Then by your standards America and all other nuclear countries must do the same even though they are not threatening any of their neighbors.”

      Last time I’ve checked, America has bombed and/or invaded many, many, more nations than any other nation in the world since it has adopted its preemptive excuse for war making. Start with Korea. After WWII we unilaterally made ourselves the world’s police force, illegitimately.
      Minding your own business used to be virtuous.

      Report Post »  
  • martinez012577
    Posted on March 7, 2012 at 5:35pm

    I remember images just like this before the Iraq war showing us all the stuff the Iraqi were doing with their WMDs.

    We will be at war soon to help Obama get reelected and finish off our economy. I would say the GOP candidate could attack Obama on this issue but like most of the other issues Romney agrees with Obama.

    Report Post » martinez012577  
    • The_Jerk
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 5:43pm

      Romney is Obama-lite.

      Report Post »  
    • Zoe
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 5:49pm

      Weren’t they called Obomanites in the ancient writings…….?

      Report Post » Zoe  
    • justangry
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 6:15pm

      Martinez, They’re different because the TV tells them they are. My three year old told me the other day that by driving we were making the clouds sick…

      Report Post » justangry  
    • MammalOne
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 9:09pm

      @justangry

      You should have told him “no, it’s making my bank account sick!”

      Report Post » MammalOne  

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