UN Urges U.S. to Share Alleged Bomb Proof With Iran

By Jonathan Tirone

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. and its allies should share documents with Iran in which they allege the government in Tehran has been secretly developing nuclear weapons, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

``I call upon member states which provide the agency with documentation related to the alleged studies to authorize the agency to share it with Iran,'' Mohamed ElBaradei, director- general of the UN agency, said today in remarks prepared for a meeting of the organization's 35-member board of governors.

The IAEA criticized Iran in a Sept. 15 report to the UN Security Council for not answering inspectors' questions about the nature of the country's nuclear research. Iran, which is under three sets of UN sanctions for failing to cooperate with the IAEA, says the U.S. documents are fake and don't merit a response until Iranian officials see evidence of the allegations.

``There is no proof to the authenticity of the documents,'' Iran's IAEA ambassador, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, told reporters today at the agency's Vienna offices. ``That is the dilemma we are facing.''

Iran hasn't been allowed to see all of the original documents, or have copies, containing allegations it's modifying missiles to carry nuclear warheads, Soltanieh said.

IAEA members have given inspectors intelligence on Iranian weapons efforts from multiple sources over different periods of time that is ``detailed in content and appears to be generally consistent,'' according to a May 26 agency report.

Further Sanctions

The U.S. and its allies are pressing for a fourth round of sanctions against the Persian Gulf country, which holds the world's second-biggest oil and natural gas reserves.

Foreign ministers from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany will meet Sept. 25 in New York during the General Assembly, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Frederic Desagneaux told reporters today. Diplomats from Germany and the permanent members, which include the U.S., Russia, China, France and the U.K., met Sept. 19 in Washington.

The diplomats ``reaffirmed their support for the double approach linking dialogue and sanctions,'' the ministry in Paris said. ``The six manifested their concern that Iran continues to refuse to conform to the resolutions of the Security Council and provide answers to the very precise questions that the IAEA has asked.''

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to address the UN General Assembly this week in New York.

Refused Access

Iran has refused to allow UN inspectors access to some military installations and officials included in the U.S. allegations of weapons development, the IAEA has said.

``The agency has not been able to make substantive progress on the alleged studies and associated questions relevant to possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program,'' ElBaradei said. ``It is in everyone's interest that we should reach full clarity as soon as possible.''

Iran accused the U.S. of intentionally creating a stalemate over the nuclear issue by withholding the documents.

``The U.S. has created a deadlock for the IAEA and the international community,'' Soltanieh said. If the evidence is authentic, ``they shouldn't be afraid of delivering a copy of the documents to Iran,'' he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Tirone in Vienna at jtirone@bloomberg.net.