A UNITED NATIONS report will confirm this week that Iran is expanding its nuclear program in defiance of the international community, bolstering calls for tougher sanctions amid the threat of an Israeli military strike.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN's nuclear watchdog, is expected to detail as early as today how Iran has installed hundreds of new centrifuges - which are used to enrich uranium - at two nuclear facilities. It is also expected to report a rise in production rates.
The agency is also likely to voice concern about the use of the Parchin military base, southeast of Tehran. Satellite images showed last week that a pink canvas had been placed over what analysts believe is ground that was used to conduct nuclear weapons-related experiments, shrouding the area from view.
IAEA inspectors allowed to visit Iran's nuclear compounds have been denied entry to Parchin. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Britain, the US Israel and their allies suspect that Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons.
"The level of anxiety regarding the Iranian threat is very high and is only becoming exacerbated by the fact that the nuclear program is moving forward," a senior Israeli diplomat told The Times.
"Is the clock of the nuclear program moving forward faster than the clock of the sanctions and the pressure? Yes," the diplomat said. "The sanctions aren't tough enough and need to go further."
The Times
