DefenceWeb | Iran tested advanced nuclear warhead: report

Note by Marc Aupiais

According to the South African weapons industry's Defenceweb, quoting Reuters (Secular; Independent; British):

"The UN nuclear watchdog has asked Iran to explain evidence suggesting the Islamic Republic's scientists have experimented with an advanced nuclear warhead design, the Guardian reported in today's edition.

The newspaper, citing what it describes as "previously unpublished documentation" from an International Atomic Energy Agency compiled dossier, said Iranian scientists may have tested high-explosive components of a "two-point implosion" device.

  The IAEA said in September it has no proof Iran has or once had a covert atomic bomb program.

  The Vienna-based IAEA was not immediately available for comment on Thursday. Iran's Foreign Ministry and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) were also unavailable for comment when contacted by Reuters.

  The IAEA statement in September followed reports from the Associated Press quoting what it called a classified IAEA document saying agency experts agreed Iran now had the means to build atomic bombs and was heading toward developing a missile system able to carry a nuclear warhead. "

(Paragraphing may have been changed)

Defenceweb (South African; Secular; Connected to the defence industry)

06 / 11 | November / 2009

http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5091&Itemid=283