We have never said Iran has nuclear weapon programs: Amano

Tehran Times: We have never said Iran has nuclear weapon programs: Amano

Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has said the UN watchdog has “never said that Iran has nuclear weapon programs.”


“We have chosen our words very carefully and we have never said that Iran has nuclear weapon programs,” Amano told Reuters in his office in Vienna on Tuesday.

However, Amano said his agency has expressed “concern over some activities” in Iran.

The UN nuclear chief also said cyber attacks such as the Stuxnet computer worm could harm nuclear sites but Russia and Iran are paying “enough attention” to prevent any possible accident at Iran's Bushehr reactor.

He said the UN watchdog was watching developments and gathering information about Stuxnet with interest.

Russia has urged NATO to investigate last year's Stuxnet attack on the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear plant in Iran.

“Stuxnet, or cyber attack as a whole, could be quite detrimental to the safety of nuclear facilities and operations,” Amano, a soft-spoken veteran Japanese diplomat, said in an interview in his 28th-floor office in Vienna.

He acknowledged the IAEA had only limited knowledge about the computer worm, which some experts have described as a first-of-its-kind guided cyber missile.

He noted that Bushehr, which Iran says will start operating soon, had been built by Russia and would be operated by Iran.

“I think they are giving enough attention to prevent possible accidents caused by cyber attacks,” Amano said.

For now, the IAEA was not calling for any delay in the reactor's start-up of operations, he said. “Countries concerned are giving considerable attention to this issue.”

But Amano also said the IAEA was interested in holding a meeting of experts to discuss the issue of cyber attacks.