LONDON: Nuclear inspectors have established a link between Iranian nuclear documents and the blueprint for a warhead bought by Libya on the black market.
A 15-page document setting out how to make enriched uranium hemispheres - the core of an atomic bomb - was found by the International Atomic Energy Agency last October among papers handed over by Iran.
Several diplomatic sources said the paper was only a general outline but was "similar" to the full blueprint for a Chinese-designed bomb sold to Libya by the Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.
Libya surrendered the weapons design to the US, Britain and the United Nations nuclear watchdog in January 2004, as part of its agreement to give up its weapons of mass destruction in return for rehabilitation in the West.
"The Libyans gave us two plastic bags marked with 'Good Looks' and the address and the name of a tailor in Pakistan. Inside them were the designs for nuclear weapons," one participant recalled. "It was bizarre. I still can't believe it."
Good Looks Fabrics and Tailors in Islamabad caters to members of Pakistani high society, including Khan. The business owner, Salahuddin Khan, said: "It was a great thing. I am thankful to God for the publicity."
Khan is hailed as the father of Pakistan's nuclear weapon. The question is whether Iran bought the same nuclear warhead blueprint as Libya. Iran says it did not ask for the document but it was provided free by Khan's nuclear black marketeers, along with the enrichment technology in 1987.
Talks at the United Nation Security Council on a response to Iran's nuclear program remained stalled as diplomats from Russia and China argued with representatives of the European Union and the US over how hard to press Iran to halt its efforts to start uranium enrichment.
Meanwhile, diplomats close to the nuclear watchdog in Vienna confirmed that Iran had assembled 164 centrifuges - enough to combine into what engineers call a cascade, which can be used to spin uranium hexafluoride gas into enriched uranium. Iran has yet to complete the crucial piping system needed to move uranium gas from one centrifuge to the next. Until the latter step is complete and the system is sealed, enrichment cannot begin.
Telegraph, London; Los Angeles Times
http://smh.com.au/news/world/iranian-paper...2703443048.html
A 15-page document setting out how to make enriched uranium hemispheres - the core of an atomic bomb - was found by the International Atomic Energy Agency last October among papers handed over by Iran.
Several diplomatic sources said the paper was only a general outline but was "similar" to the full blueprint for a Chinese-designed bomb sold to Libya by the Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.
Libya surrendered the weapons design to the US, Britain and the United Nations nuclear watchdog in January 2004, as part of its agreement to give up its weapons of mass destruction in return for rehabilitation in the West.
"The Libyans gave us two plastic bags marked with 'Good Looks' and the address and the name of a tailor in Pakistan. Inside them were the designs for nuclear weapons," one participant recalled. "It was bizarre. I still can't believe it."
Good Looks Fabrics and Tailors in Islamabad caters to members of Pakistani high society, including Khan. The business owner, Salahuddin Khan, said: "It was a great thing. I am thankful to God for the publicity."
Khan is hailed as the father of Pakistan's nuclear weapon. The question is whether Iran bought the same nuclear warhead blueprint as Libya. Iran says it did not ask for the document but it was provided free by Khan's nuclear black marketeers, along with the enrichment technology in 1987.
Talks at the United Nation Security Council on a response to Iran's nuclear program remained stalled as diplomats from Russia and China argued with representatives of the European Union and the US over how hard to press Iran to halt its efforts to start uranium enrichment.
Meanwhile, diplomats close to the nuclear watchdog in Vienna confirmed that Iran had assembled 164 centrifuges - enough to combine into what engineers call a cascade, which can be used to spin uranium hexafluoride gas into enriched uranium. Iran has yet to complete the crucial piping system needed to move uranium gas from one centrifuge to the next. Until the latter step is complete and the system is sealed, enrichment cannot begin.
Telegraph, London; Los Angeles Times
http://smh.com.au/news/world/iranian-paper...2703443048.html
