Iran admits: May have worked on designing nuclear weapon....Didn't read Khomeini's 'invisible Fatwa'.

Iran admits: May have worked on designing nuclear weapon....Didn't read Khomeini's 'invisible Fatwa'.(Jpost).

Iran moves to cooperate in UN nuclear bomb probe, UN says progress has been made but: "There are still a lot of outstanding issues."

Tero Varjoranta, the UN nuclear agency's chief inspector, spoke to reporters on Monday, after Iran agreed to start addressing suspicions that it may have worked on designing an atomic weapon, a potential breakthrough in a long-stalled investigation into Tehran's atomic activities.

Iran and the UN nuclear agency have made progress in talks on the country's disputed nuclear program but there are still many outstanding issues, the watchdog's chief inspector. Varjoranta said progress had been "good" but added: "There are still a lot of outstanding issues."

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran had agreed during talks in Tehran to take seven new practical measures within three months under a November transparency deal with the IAEA meant to help allay concern about the nuclear program.


For the first time, one of them specifically dealt with an issue that is part of the U.N. nuclear agency's inquiry into what it calls the possible military dimensions to Iran's atomic activities. Iran has repeatedly denied any such ambitions.


It said Iran would provide "information and explanations for the agency to assess Iran's stated need or application for the development of Exploding Bridge Wire detonators".Although such fast-functioning detonators have some non-nuclear uses, they can also help set off an atomic device.

Suggesting that more difficult matters would have to wait a while longer, there was no mention in the IAEA's statement of its long-sought access to the Parchin military site, where it suspects explosives tests relevant for nuclear bombs may have been conducted a decade ago. Iran denies this.

The IAEA had hoped to persuade Iran in the talks finally to start addressing its suspicions. While denying them, Iran has said it will work with the IAEA to clear up any "ambiguities".


The issue of detonator development was mentioned in a report that the IAEA prepared in 2011 containing a trove of intelligence information about alleged activities by Iran that could be used in developing atomic arms.

"Given their possible application in a nuclear explosive device, and the fact that there are limited civilian and conventional military applications for such technology, Iran's development of such detonators and equipment is a matter of concern," the IAEA said in the 2011 document.


It said Iran had told the UN agency in 2008 that it had developed such detonators for civil and conventional military applications. "However, Iran has not explained to the agency its own need or application for such detonators," it said.Hmmm.....I guess they didn't get the memo on The 'INVISIBLE NUCLEAR FATWA' of Khomeini.Read the full story here.

Related:

Don’t Misunderstand Khamenei’s Nuclear Fatwa.