NEW YORK (May 8) -The White House, increasingly concerned about Iran's nuclear program, is pressuring member nations of the International Atomic Energy Agency to declare that Iran violated a nonproliferation treaty, the New York Times reported on Thursday.
Citing unnamed members of the Bush administration, The Times reported that the new U.S. pressure was sparked by the recent assessment of an IAEA report on a uranium enrichment plant in the Iranian city of Natanz.
"We knew that Iran was working on a centrifuge program," The Times quoted an administration official as saying. "But we were surprised by the number of centrifuge pieces waiting to be assembled. They had a hundred-plus centrifuges built, and they were building more."
Iran maintains the facility is only for peaceful purposes.
The atomic energy agency is scheduled to meet next month, and a finding against Iran could spark punitive action by the United Nations, the Times reported.
Even as public attention focuses more on the wrangling with North Korea over its nuclear ambitions, U.S. officials told the Times the Iran problem was equally urgent.
On Wednesday, an Iranian government spokesman said the country expected to receive a clean bill of health from the atomic energy agency, and that it was complying with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
05/08/03 00:47 E
