Iran hands over sensitive files

Iran handed over sensitive documents to UN nuclear inspectors and allowed them to question a senior official about activities that could fuel atomic weapons -- concessions that may thwart US efforts to bring Tehran before the Security Council, diplomats and officials say. At issue is how much centrifuge-related technology Iran received from the nuclear black market starting in the 1980s and where that equipment is.

There are suspicions that part of the technology, which can enrich uranium either to low-grade fuel or the fissile core for nuclear warheads, has not been declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency and has been used by the military to make bombs.

The IAEA hoped Iran's decision to cooperate with inspectors over the enrichment program would help the probe into those suspicions, the diplomats and officials told reporters on condition of anonymity because the information was confidential.

A US official familiar with the issue said Iran was making "important concessions" in handing over the documents and allowing the interview after nearly two years of stalling. But Tehran still had not met other demands, including giving access to military sites identified by Washington as possibly being used for weapons-related experiments, the official said.

For the Americans, Iran's cooperation is a mixed blessing. It blunts the US effort to have the Islamic republic referred to the Security Council as soon as next month by weakening the argument that Iran was not cooperating with the IAEA inquiry. The Security Council could impose sanctions if it determines that Iran violated the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, although that is unlikely because veto-wielding China and Russia oppose referral.

That effort seemed on track several weeks ago. The IAEA board last month declared Iran in violation of the nuclear arms-control treaty, opening the way to Security Council referral when the 35-nation board meets Nov. 24. But the chances of referral started foundering even before Iran agreed last week to provide documents and access to the IAEA official.

The diplomats and officials said Beijing and Moscow still oppose referral. Also, the addition of anti-American nations like Cuba, Belarus and Syria to the IAEA board hurts US efforts. One diplomat accredited to the agency said both Washington and London, a key supporter of Security Council involvement, were reassessing their positions.

"They're now saying that if Iran does not engage in any further 'provocation' the issue will not go to" the Security Council, the diplomat said.

The US official suggested that Washington and its allies may even tolerate Iran's continued uranium conversion -- a precursor to enrichment -- even though that conversion precipitated the IAEA board vote. The resumption of conversion scuttled talks between Iran and France, Britain and Germany on reducing suspicions about Tehran's nuclear ambitions and led the European nations to support the US push for Security Council action.

The US and its allies suspect Tehran's nuclear activities -- undetected for nearly two decades before 2002 -- is a front for weapons ambitions. Iran says it is interested only in generating electricity.