Despite IAEA findings, Iran sings its old nuke-for-peaceful-purposes tune

Tehran, Sep. 18 (ANI): Even as a secret IAEA report revealed that Iran is capable of making a nuclear bomb and is developing a missile system to carry an atomic warhead, Iranian officials have reiterated claims that the Islamic nation's nuclear program is intended for peaceful purposes.

Fox News quoted Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, as saying that Iran is sincere in wanting to negotiate with the West.

He added that Western countries should "read between the lines" about Iran's intentions.

Although the prospects of finding anything between the lines were almost nil after the surfacing of the IAEA report, but Soltanieh insisted that discussions with the West would be a "real, new window of opportunity."

The secret U.N. watchdog report, titled "Possible Military Dimension of Iran's Nuclear Program," concludes:

*Iran worked on developing a chamber inside a ballistic missile capable of housing a warhead payload "that is quite likely to be nuclear."

*Iran engaged in "probable testing" of explosives commonly used to detonate a nuclear warhead - a method known as a "full-scale hemispherical explosively driven shock system."

*Iran worked on developing a system "for initiating a hemispherical high explosive charge" of the kind used to help spark a nuclear blast.

"Iran has sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable implosion nuclear device (an atomic bomb) based on HEU (highly enriched uranium) as the fission fuel," The agency assessed.

On October 1, Iran is scheduled to meet with the U.S. and five other world powers seeking curbs on its atomic activities for the first time in more than a year.

However, Tehran says it is not prepared to discuss its nuclear activities. (ANI)