IAEA Inspectors Find Centrifuge Equipment at Iranian Air Base

International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors have found a gas centrifuge system, designed to enrich uranium, at an Iranian air force base outside Tehran, USA Today reported today (see GSN, Feb. 18).

A source knowledgeable of the discovery said Iran had constructed and tested the system at the air base, but there was no indication that any uranium had been inserted or enriched. The discovery of centrifuge components at a military site appears to discredit Iranian claims that its nuclear research is for peaceful purposes only, USA Today reported (Slavin/Diamond, USA Today, Feb. 19).

Diplomats said the centrifuge parts found at the air base were compatible with the P-2 centrifuge, a more advanced centrifuge than Iran has acknowledged researching (BBC News, Feb. 19)

The discovery will be included in a report to be presented next month at a meeting of the IAEA’s Board of Governors, said sources familiar with the inspection report. The report will also say that the centrifuge discovered at the air base is not of a type that can be used at the nuclear sites Iran has previously declared (CNN.com, Feb. 19).

Iran today, though, denied that it was conducting nuclear activities at a military site, according to Reuters.

“Iran’s nuclear activities are entirely peaceful and Iran has not had and nor does it have military nuclear activities,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said (Reuters/CNN.com, Feb. 19).

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