France/Iran - nuclear bombs

France accuses UN of hiding Iran nuclear information

Article published on the 2009-09-03 Latest update 2009-09-03 17:17 TU

Bernard Kouchner, French Foreign Minister.
(Photo: Reuters)

The United Nations watchdog is withholding crucial information about whether Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb, says French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. Israel also accuses the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of masking information in a report published last week about Iran’s nuclear intentions.

This is the first time France has been explicitly critical about the author of the report, the Egyptian director general of the IAEA Mohamed ElBaradei. ElBaradei has previously described talk of an Iranian nuclear bomb as “hyped.”

Kouchner says that “not a single question has been answered” about suspicions Iran is trying to build a warhead, and that crucial evidence is buried in unpublished annexes.

“Why doesn’t he provide us with the annexes of his report?” he asks.

The Israeli foreign ministry called for ElBaradei to be sacked in 2007, and said the recent report was notable for the information not included in it.

France, along with Britain, China, Russia and Germany are pressing the United Nations to impose tougher sanctions on Iran, and also call for the country to join face-to-face nuclear discussions before a UN meeting in September.