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NUKEWARS
Iran rejects IAEA report on nuclear work
by Staff Writers
Tehran (AFP) May 25, 2011


US author subpoenaed in CIA-Iran leak case
Washington (AFP) May 25, 2011 - The author of a book about the CIA has been subpoenaed to testify at the trial of a former agent accused of leaking information about US efforts to sabotage the Iranian nuclear program.

James Risen, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter with The New York Times, was served with a subpoena on Monday ordering him to testify at the trial of former Central Intelligence Agency operations officer Jeffrey Sterling.

Sterling is suspected of providing classified information to Risen about an attempt by the CIA in 2000 to disrupt Iran's nuclear program.

Risen's 2006 book, "State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration," details the failed effort.

The subpoena orders Risen to appear in court in Virginia on September 12 to testify in the case against Sperling, who was indicted in December 2010 for unauthorized disclosure of national defense information and other charges.

Risen told The New York Times he would ask a judge to quash the subpoena.

"I am going to fight this subpoena," he said. "I will always protect my sources, and I think this is a fight about the First Amendment and the freedom of the press."

In its motion seeking Risen's appearance in court, the Justice Department said the First Amendment should not shield him from testifying.

"There exists neither a First Amendment nor a common law reporter's privilege that shields a reporter from this obligation to testify, even if the reporter's testimony reveals confidential sources and information," it said.

"Moreover, the government is unaware of any case in which a court has excluded from a jury's consideration the testimony of a reporter who personally witnessed a crime, let alone crimes like the ones charged here that are alleged to have endangered the nation's security," it added.

If the judge does not quash the subpoena, Risen could potentially be held in contempt of court. A New York Times reporter was jailed for nearly three months in 2005 for refusing to testify in another leak case.

Iran on Wednesday dismissed as unfounded a UN nuclear agency new report on the possible military aspect of Tehran's atomic drive, saying the body was deviating from the rules under Western influence.

"Unfortunately the (International Atomic Energy) Agency is deviating from the rules under the influence of certain countries," ISNA news agency quoted Iran's atomic chief Fereydoon Abbasi Davani as saying after a cabinet meeting.

Davani urged the agency to normalise Iran's dossier, arguing that Tehran's nuclear activities should not be discussed by Security Council members.

The IAEA said on Tuesday that it was assessing new information on "possible undisclosed" military dimensions to the Islamic republic's nuclear activities, elevating concerns about the true nature of Tehran's atomic ambitions.

In a restricted new report, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, the agency said there were indications that the alleged work in Iran "may have continued beyond 2004."

A senior international official familiar with the IAEA investigation said the work may even have continued "until rather recently", including in 2010.

Davani rejected the claims, saying "such evidence are always produced by some Western countries to (influence) international bodies, including the agency, to push them into making wrong decisions," Mehr news agency reported.

"With the advancement of technology, forging documents happens with ease today. They can easily forge documents against the peaceful nuclear activities of our country," Mehr quoted him as saying.

He advised western countries to "stop and change their behaviour" toward Iran.

Earlier Iran's envoy to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh said the new report was "based on unfounded allegations and speculation regarding some activities with supposed military objectives."

"The agency's scientific and professional reputation will without a doubt be damaged for dealing with these accusations, failing to provide solid evidence, and seeking political objectives," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.

Many Western countries fear Iran is seeking to acquire a nuclear military capacity under the guise of its civilian atomic programme, a charge Tehran has repeatedly denied.

The UN Security Council has condemned Iran's atomic activities in six resolutions, including four sets of economic and political sanctions, despite continuing inspections of Iranian installations by the IAEA.

The main target of the sanctions is Iran's uranium enrichment programme, which can produce either fuel for a nuclear reactor or the fissile material for an atomic warhead.

The IAEA report also said the Islamic republic has continued to amass more low-enriched uranium in defiance of multiple rounds of UN sanctions.

Soltanieh said the report confirmed that Iran was "successfully" pushing forward with its enrichment work.

"It has been clearly noted in the report that our nuclear activities, including enrichment, are being conducted successfully under supervision of the agency," IRNA quoted him as saying.

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