Military linked to Iran nuclear program. (Hat tip: piehole.)

THE International Atomic Energy Agency says it has evidence that suggests links between Iran’s ostensibly peaceful nuclear program and its military work on high explosives and missiles. [Ya think? —ed.]

The report refers to a secretive Iranian entity called the Green Salt Project, which focused on uranium processing, high explosives and a missile warhead design.

The combination suggests a “military-nuclear dimension”, the report said, that if true would undercut Iran’s claims that its nuclear program is solely aimed at producing electrical power.

The report will be debated by the 35 countries that make up the atomic watchdog’s board when they meet in emergency session in Vienna today to decide whether Iran should be reported to the United Nations Security Council for its nuclear activities.

The agency says it has repeatedly confronted Iran with the allegations, which Tehran has dismissed as “baseless”, adding that “it would provide further clarifications later”.

UN Cites Iranian Atomic Weapons Plan as Council Looms.

Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) — The United Nation’s nuclear watchdog found plans needed to build an atomic weapon in Iran, contradicting the country’s claims its nuclear program is peaceful, and bolstering chances the case will go to the Security Council.

The International Atomic Energy Agency found a “document for the casting of enriched and depleted uranium metal into hemispheres, related to the fabrication of nuclear weapons components,” read a four-page report obtained by Bloomberg News. The report will be presented to the IAEA’s 35-member board of governors at an emergency meeting tomorrow.

U.S. and European Union diplomats expressed “serious concern” in a five-page draft resolution referring Iran to the Security Council, where it faces economic sanctions. “The board lacks confidence” in Iranian intentions, the resolution said.