Pak Iran146;s nuclear fuel source: IAEA

UN nuclear inspectors have reached a 8216;8216;tentative conclusion8217;8217; that traces of enriched uranium detected in Iran came from...

UN nuclear inspectors have reached a 8216;8216;tentative conclusion8217;8217; that traces of enriched uranium detected in Iran came from equipment provided by a smuggling network run by Pakistan8217;s disgraced former nuclear chief A.Q. Khan, a media report said.

The traces have been at the heart of an ongoing international dispute over whether Tehran has reneged on its obligations to inform the IAEA of all enrichment activities. 8216;8216;IAEA inspectors have reached a tentative conclusion that the contamination came from equipment provided by the nuclear smuggling network headed by Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan,8217;8217; Jane8217;s Defence Weekly said yesterday, quoting 8216;8216;sources close to the agency8217;8217;.

It said inspectors believe they can confirm that a sample of uranium enriched to 54 per cent, found at an Iranian site, had come from Pakistani equipment. 8216;8216;The confirmation was only possible after Islamabad gave the IAEA data to verify the uranium source and the US provided a simulation of the Pakistani nuclear programme that matched the account,8217;8217; it said.

A separate contamination sample, of uranium enriched to 36 per cent, derived from Russian equipment that Moscow had supplied to China, which in turn passed it on to Pakistan as part of a previous nuclear assistance programme, it said.

From Pakistan, it was sold by Khan to Iran, it added. 8216;8216;The sources note that origins of other several contamination samples are difficult to trace and may never be known,8217;8217; the weekly said.

Reacting to IAEA8217;s statement, Pakistan today said it will not allow the IAEA into its territory as part of the UN probe into Iran8217;s nuclear programme. Pakistan8217;s Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said: 8216;8216;We have been cooperating with IAEA and sharing information. But as far as inspection of Pakistan is concerned, that is out of the question. We are not a signatory of the NPT. 8221;

Meanwhile, US President George W. Bush said Iran 8216;8216;must abandon its nuclear ambitions8217;8217; and vowed to stand with US allies to pressure Tehran to do so. 8216;8216;Iran must abandon her nuclear ambitions,8217;8217; Bush said yesterday during a campaign event.