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Iran may still be hiding atomic activity: Germany |
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Thursday, 10 November 2005 |
Reuters, November 10 - Iran is not being fully open with U.N.
inspectors about its nuclear program and may still be hiding something
from the international community, Germany's designated foreign minister
said on Thursday.
"There is a lack of transparency. That is clear," Frank-Walter
Steinmeier said of Iran at a conference on the proliferation of weapons
of mass destruction. "We still have some suspicions that there are
developments being pursued (by Iran) that go against this principle."
Iran concealed its uranium enrichment program, which could be used to
develop atomic weapons, from the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) for 18 years, fuelling fears among Western countries that Tehran
has a covert nuclear weapons program.
Iran denies pursuing nuclear weapons and insists its nuclear program is
aimed solely at the peaceful generation of electricity. It has also
refused a U.S.-backed offer by Germany, France and Britain of political
and economic incentives if it scraps its uranium enrichment program.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei hopes a deal will be reached within days
that will defuse the standoff over Iran's nuclear program, the nuclear
watchdog said in a statement issued at its Vienna headquarters.
Steinmeier, who is expected formally to replace outgoing Foreign
Minister Joschka Fischer later this month, said Tehran had a right to a
peaceful nuclear energy program but must assure the world that it is
not pursuing atom bombs.
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