Iran Acknowledges Foreign Assistance in Building Nuclear Facilities for the First Time

On August 27, the Washington Post reported that Iran has for the first time admitted to constructing its nuclear facilities with foreign assistance. Although Iran has not disclosed the source of this foreign help in building its clandestine nuclear facilities south of Tehran, information obtained by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) indicates that Pakistani companies played a major role in supplying key components and technology to the Islamic Republic. Pakistan denies having provided blueprints to Iran and North Korea. The IAEA report also mentions that Iran, which initially did not allow inspectors to examine the 'Electric Goods' company, granted permission only after it had cleaned up traces of plutonium, although inspectors were able to find evidence of it through sampling. This time, Iran provided another justification, claiming that traces of nuclear materials were already present on equipment that the country had purchased from abroad. It is said that the devices purchased for enriching uranium to the quality necessary for use in nuclear weapons are of the same type that Pakistan used in the 1970s to produce its own weapons. A European diplomat stated, 'In the past, Iran always referred to its nuclear activities as a national and domestic effort and took pride in it. Now they say they have done this with significant help from abroad.'