IRAN NUKE PROGRAM Discovery increases concerns

Iran insists its nuclear aims are for energy only.
VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Iran is trying to make or buy a gas that could be used in an atomic weapons program, increasing suspicions of its nuclear ambitions, diplomats said today.
The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, identified the substance as deuterium gas, which can be used to generate electricity in a nuclear reactor but also to boost the power of a nuclear explosion. One diplomat said Iranian agents were trying to buy the gas on the Russian market and had plans to manufacture it domestically.
They cited an intelligence report being circulated among diplomats familiar with Iran's nuclear dossier and with attempts by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency to establish whether the Islamic republic has a nuclear weapons program.
Iran insists its nuclear agenda is peaceful and for energy production.
Beyond increasing the punch of nuclear warheads, the gas also is a key component for heavy water nuclear reactors. Iran is building a heavy water facility, which it says will be used to generate electricity.
One of the diplomats said the country was likely looking for the substance "to get the reactor going."
Still, the reactor is one of dozens of Iranian projects that have raised questions about its nuclear aims.
Heavy water can be used to make plutonium. Either plutonium or highly enriched uranium are used to make nuclear warheads. Evidence gathered by the IAEA suggests Iran may have tried to produce enriched uranium, something Tehran denies.
Concerns
In Germany, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer expressed "great concern" over recent IAEA reports that Tehran -- angry over international perusal of its nuclear program -- broke seals placed on enrichment equipment.
Under international pressure last year, Iran agreed in a deal reached with Britain, France and Germany to stop enriching uranium and making centrifuges.
"The news reaching us from the IAEA gives cause for great concern over whether the leadership in Iran ... is not making a miscalculation," Fischer said in an interview with n-tv television.