Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=10/30/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IAEA / IRAN (L-O)

NUMBER=2-309292

BYLINE=MELANIE SULLY

DATELINE=VIENNA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran has handed over a great deal of information on its past nuclear activities, but it is too early to judge whether the program is for peaceful purposes only. Melanie Sully reports from I-A-E-A headquarters in Vienna.

TEXT: Responding to an I-A-E-A resolution, Iran submitted by the October 31st deadline some 200 pages of what it says is a complete and accurate file about its nuclear program.

The I-A-E-A says the documents are very detailed, and Iran has cooperated well in the last weeks.

But the U-N nuclear watchdog agency spokesman, Mark Gwozdecky, says information provided by Iran earlier this year was often inconsistent.

/// GWOZDECKY ACT ///

By June, that information had changed, as we extracted more new information, and confronted them with things they could not refute. By September, we had again confronted them with a whole new set of evidence and information that forced them to change their story in many ways again.

/// END ACT ///

The I-A-E-A says it is now examining the new information to determine whether Iran is secretly building nuclear weapons. Conclusions from the examination of the file will be submitted to the I-A-E-A governing board by mid-November.

The United States has accused Tehran of maintaining a clandestine nuclear weapons program, which the Iranian government denies. But western diplomats have long questioned why an energy-rich country like Iran needs an ambitious nuclear program for civilian use.

The U-N nuclear agency say it expects to receive a letter from Tehran some time next week, accepting the terms of an additional protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Under that protocol, Iran would have to open its nuclear facilities to unannounced inspections.

The I-A-E-A board of governors meets at the end of November and, if doubts remain, could refer Iran's nuclear program to the U-N Security Council for possible sanctions. (SIGNED)

NEB/MS/MAR/TW/KL