Pressure has increased on Iran following the IAEA’s report suggesting that Tehran may have been undertaking activities to develop a nuclear warhead.The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) found evidence that the Islamic Republic has carried out activities specific to the creation of an operational nuclear device. According to the Ma’an News Agency these activities included computer modelling of a nuclear warhead, testing explosives in a large chamber at the Parchin military base near Tehran and studying how to arm a Shahab-3 medium-range missile with an atomic warhead.
The report doesn’t go as far to say that Iran is developing a nuclear bomb.
A story in British newspaper, The Guardian, said a nuclear-armed Iran could set off a nuclear arms race among rival states, including Saudi Arabia, and directly threaten Israel. The west is seeking to use the report as leverage to possibly toughen sanctions on Iran, but Israel and others have said military options have not been ruled out. Israeli President Shimon Peres mentioned over the weekend that a strike against Iran was becoming more likely.
Iran has hit back at the report, with their President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stating: “We will not budge an iota from the path we are committed to,” and adding, ‘The Iranian nation is wise. It won’t build two bombs against 20,000 (nuclear) bombs you have,’ he said, in comments apparently directed at the west and others.
