US sees 'apparent clean-up' at Iran site

Head of US mission to IAEA tells agency Iran produced enough low-enriched uranium for several nuclear weapons

Reuters|Published: 06.05.12 , 19:47

A senior US official said on Tuesday that Iran was carrying out apparent clean-up efforts at a military site, Parchin, that the UN nuclear watchdog wants to visit as part of a probe into suspected atom bomb research in the Islamic state.

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Robert Wood, acting head of the US mission to the International Atomic Energy Agency, also told the IAEA's 35-nation board that Iran had produced enough low-enriched uranium for several nuclear weapons if refined further to high levels.

"Iran has actually accelerated its production of low-enriched uranium," Wood said, according to a copy of his statement. "There appears no immediate peaceful need for such stockpiles or for such an acceleration of the program, and we would note that this quantity of low-enriched uranium is enough for several nuclear weapons if further enriched to higher levels."

Also on Tuesday, IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz slammed the discourse in Israel over the Iranian nuclear issue, saying that "there is a lot of public chatter about the issue, by people who used to know (things about Iran's nuclear program), but no longer do."

Speaking at the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Gantz emphasized that "Iran has yet to make the decision to cross the threshold due to its own strategic considerations."

Moran Azulay contributed to the report