Israel is accusing the U.N. nuclear weapons watchdog of holding back
incriminating evidence of Iran's drive to obtain nuclear weapons, the
Haaretz newspaper reported on Wednesday.
It cited unnamed Israeli officials as saying the
International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, was refraining from
publishing data obtained in recent months that indicates Iran is
pursing information about weaponisation efforts and a military nuclear
program.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, who is to vacate his post in
December, has said the U.N. watchdog does not have any evidence
suggesting Iran is developing a nuclear weapons program.
But Haaretz cited officials as saying the new evidence was
presented to the IAEA in a classified annex written by its inspectors
and said to have been signed by the head of the inspection team in
Iran.
The document was not included in the final report, it said.
U.K., French, German and U.S. senior officials have recently
pressured ElBaradei to publish the information, the newspaper said.
Israel has often criticized ElBaradei in the past, accusing
him of being lax towards Iran, and asked in 2007 that he be fired.
A government spokesman declined to comment on the report.
Widely considered to be the Middle East's sole if undeclared
nuclear armed power, Israel, along with Washington suspects Iran of
trying to develop atomic weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear
program, a charge Tehran denies.
Israel considers the Islamic republic to be its main foe due
to repeated statements by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for the
Jewish state to be "wiped off the map."