Is Iran Still Hiding Nuclear Activities?

June 18, 2004 -- The International Atomic Energy Agency passed a strongly worded resolution today, saying it "deplores" Iran's lack of cooperation with the U.N. agency's inspectors.

Citing Wednesday's exclusive ABC News report on the destruction of the Lavizon Shiyan site in Tehran, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradai said he hopes inspectors will be able to visit the site before the agency's next board meeting, in September.

Meanwhile, U.S. delegate Ken Brill accused Iran of taking the "wrecking ball and bulldozer" to the site "to deal with some particularly incriminating facts."

The resolution, adopted at the 35-nation board's meeting in Vienna, Austria, "deplores" that "Iran's cooperation has not been as full,timely and proactive as it should have been."

Iran, which maintains its nuclear program is for energy purposes only, reacted angrily to the resolution. Iranian delegate AmirZamaninia told the meeting Tehran was reviewing its "voluntary confidence-building measures," a suggestion that Iran mightreconsider its suspension of its uranium enrichment activities.

Undersecretary of State John Bolton said he was happy with the resolution, even though it does not sanction Iran or set a deadline for it to complain. Bolton said he expects that unless Iran's behavior changes, the matter will be referred to U.N. Security Council for sanctions by September.

The news comes on the heels of fresh evidence showing that Iran continues to conceal elements of its nuclear capability from international inspectors.

Concealing Nuclear Activity?

On Wednesday, ABC News reported that the IAEA had received information recently regarding concealment activity at an alleged nuclear site in a neighborhood of Tehran known as Lavizan Shiyanrned.

Commercial satellite imagery of the site, first taken in the summer of 2003 and again in March 2004, shows that several buildings and laboratories, located in a secured area adjacent to a military complex, were razed and the top soil removed.