Iran's uranium is linked to Pakistan

Iranian.ws:

Aug 23, 2005

Traces of bomb-grade uranium found two years ago in Iran came from contaminated Pakistani equipment and is not evidence of a clandestine nuclear weapons program, a group of US government experts and other international scientists has determined.

"The biggest smoking gun that everyone was waving is now eliminated with these conclusions," said a senior official who discussed the still-confidential findings.Scientists from the United States, France, Japan, Britain and Russia met in secret during the past nine months to pore over data collected by inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, according to US and foreign officials.

Recently, the group, whose existence had not been previously reported, definitively matched samples of the highly enriched uranium - a key ingredient for a nuclear weapon - with centrifuge equipment turned over by the government of Pakistan.

Iran has long contended that the uranium traces were the result of contaminated equipment bought years ago from Pakistan. But the Bush administration had pointed to the material as evidence that Iran was making bomb-grade ingredients.

The conclusions will be shared with IAEA board members in a report due out the first week in September, according to US and European officials. The report "will say the contamination issue is resolved," a Western diplomat said.