Report: Iran aims to smuggle uranium

VIENNA (AP) — Iran is close to clinching a deal to clandestinely import 1,350 tons of purified uranium ore from Kazakhstan, according to an intelligence report obtained by The Associated Press. Diplomats said the assessment was heightening international concern about Tehran’s nuclear activities.

Such a deal would be significant because, according to an independent research group, Tehran appears to be running out of the material, which it needs to feed its uranium-enrichment program.

The report was drawn up by a member nation of the International Atomic Energy Agency and provided Tuesday to the AP on condition that the country not be identified because of the confidential nature of the information.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said, “the transfer of any uranium yellowcake ... to Iran would constitute a clear violation of UNSC sanctions.”

“We have been engaged with many of our international nonproliferation partners on Iran’s illicit efforts to acquire new supplies of uranium over the past several years,” he said.

A senior U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was talking about confidential information said Washington was aware of the intelligence report, but he declined to discuss specifics.

“We are not going to discuss our private consultations with other governments on such matters but, suffice to say, we have been engaged with Kazakhstan and many of our other international nonproliferation partners on this subject in particular over the past several years,” he told the AP. “We will continue to have those discussions.”

In New York, Burkina Faso’s U.N. Ambassador Michel Kafando, a co-chairman of the Security Council’s Iran sanctions committee, referred questions Tuesday about a potential deal between Iran and Kazakhstan to his sanctions adviser, Zongo Saidou. Speaking in New York, Saidou told the AP that, as far as he knew, none of the U.N.’s member nations has alerted the committee about any such allegations.

“We don’t have any official information yet regarding this kind of exchange between the two countries,” Saidou said. “I don’t have any information; I don’t have any proof.”

A senior U.N. official said the Vienna-based IAEA was aware of the assessment but could not yet draw conclusions. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing confidential information. A Western diplomat from a member of the IAEA’s 35-nation board said the report was causing concern among countries that have seen it and was generating intelligence chatter.

The diplomat also requested anonymity because he was barred from publicly discussing intelligence information.

Meanwhile, Iranian security forces intensified their crackdown on anti-government supporters Tuesday, arresting relatives of the country’s Nobel laureate and the main opposition leader, and limiting the movement of another top opposition leader.

Iran also accused the U.S. and Britain of fomenting the recent violence, threatening to “slap” Britain in the face as it summoned the British ambassador to an urgent meeting. Clashes on Sunday left at least eight people dead in a confrontation that has become an increasingly bitter and violent.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shrugged off Sunday’s protests as “a play ordered by Zionists and Americans” and criticized Barack Obama and Britain for reporedly supporting the protesters.

Government supporters had rallies in at least three cities Tuesday, many protesting the opposition and its leaders.

The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.