International Atomic Energy Agency director Mohamad ElBaradei has begun circulating to the agency's 35-member policymaking board of governors the latest report on Iran's nuclear program, documenting continuing IAEA concerns Iran is currently pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

Iran reacted defiantly.

Addressing Iran's Assembly of Experts, the nation's top cleric, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei yesterday gave a clear endorsement to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by praising him for making progress with Iran's nuclear program.

Khamenei's public support of Ahmadinejad came on the eve of the nation's planned March parliamentary elections, sending a signal that Ahmadinejad continues to enjoy the blessing of Iran's religious leadership.

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The IAEA report issued last Friday directly contradicts a Dec. 2007 National Intelligence Estimate report claiming Iran had stopped its nuclear weapons program in 2003.

According to the IAEA, Iran has failed to clarify whether or not alleged nuclear weaponization studies currently are being conducted or have been conducted in the recent past.

Also unclear, according to the IAEA report, is the exact scope and nature of Iran's enrichment program.

On Sunday, Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tehran will not halt its uranium enrichment activities while affirming that the policy of UN sanctions being pursued by the United States is "doomed to fail."

At the same time, Russia now has completed delivering the enriched uranium needed by Iran to activate the Russian-built nuclear power plant in Iran's southern port city of Bushehr.

According to the Associated Press, on Jan. 28, Irina Yesipova, a spokeswoman for Russia’s state Atomstroiexport company in charge of building Iran's nuclear plant, said the eighth and final shipment of 9.5 tons of uranium fuel had been delivered to Iran overnight.

Russia has delivered more than 132 tons of uranium fuel to Iran since Dec. 17.

The Israel Foreign Affairs Ministry's response to the IAEA report charged "The IAEA report concludes that Iran is involved in activities key to the development of a nuclear weapons program."

"The report reiterates and validates the concerns voiced by Israel and the international community that Iran continues to strive for a nuclear weapon," said the written statement issued by Israel's Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Israel News reported Foreign Affairs Minister Tzipi Livni has instructed Israeli embassies around the world to continue making the case for tightening sanctions against Iran.

On Monday, the Bush administration pressed for a prompt vote on a new set of sanctions against Iran.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported the U.S. Treasury Department has begun gathering evidence to demonstrate that the central bank of Iran, known as Bank Markazi, is helping other Iranian institutions elude U.S. economic sanctions by handling dollar transactions for blacklisted companies.

Ever defiant, Ahmadinejad told a national Iranian television audience "If they want to continue with that path of sanctions, we will not be harmed. They can issue resolutions for 100 years."

In the televised address, Ahmadinejad called on the U.S. to "apologize and pay compensation for their mistakes" in imposing sanctions in the first place.

Iran continues to insist their nuclear program is dedicated exclusively to peaceful purposes, not toward building weapons.

 

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