IAEA issues disturbing reports on Iranian, Syrian nuclear programs

Uranium traces found at Syrian plant, Iran has enough ‘yellow cake’ for bomb

IAEA bannerAccording to two IAEA reports released on Thursday, UN researchers have found new traces of uranium and graphite in samples taken from an Israeli bombed Syrian site, while Iran is believed to now possess enough fissile material to produce at least one atomic bo
The first report from the International Atomic Energy Agency adds to the mounting evidence that the facility in northern Syria was a nuclear reactor secretly built with help from North Korea. The report, delivered to the 35 nations of the UN watchdog agency's board, called the discovery of additional uranium and graphite "significant."ost. The IAEA report said that its "current assessment is that there is a low probability that the uranium was introduced by the use of missiles," a response to the Syrian claim that uranium found in previous soil samples originated from the missiles used when Israeli jets bombed the site in September 2007. The graphite and stainless steel particles found point to the type of North Korean reactor that the US says the Syrians were building with help from Pyongyang.

Meanwhile, experts say a similar IAEA report on Iran's nuclear ambitions failed to underscore the fact that Teheran already has enough fissile material to produce an atomic bomb. The report, also released Thursday, focused on the significant slowdown in Iran's efforts to acquire the centrifuges needed to enrich uranium but not the 209 kilograms of low-enriched uranium that the Iranians had failed to declare.

"It's worse than we thought. It's alarming that the actual production was under reported by a third," said Gary Milhollin, the director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control.

The addition of the newly discovered uranium brings the total amount that Tehran has so far enriched to over a ton, enough with additional purification to produce a nuclear weapon.

Guest Comment: "...and the civilized world fiddles while Iran-Syria churns (out)".

The U.S. gov't is now trying to set up diplomatic relations with Syria! Instead of organizing Western pressure and taking united steps against this rogue combination that wants to destroy it , we are turning a blind eye to their evil intent .

It is time to acknowledge and emphasize that this is not a regional danger. Several days ago , at a meeting with President Obama, Prime Minister of Canada Harper stated that "threats to the U.S. are threats to Canada". Both governments ought to be informed that 'threats to Israel are threats to the West'.

Chana/span>