Iran working on key final component of nuclear bomb: Report

The documents,it says,have been seen by intelligence agencies from several western countries,including Britain.

According to intelligence sources,the weapons work was being carried out as recently as 2007 — specifically,the work on a neutron initiator — some four years after Iran was thought to have suspended its weapons programme.

Iran has long denied a military dimension to its nuclear programme,claiming its nuclear activities are solely focused on the production of energy for civilian use.

But,the technical document describes the use of a neutron source,uranium deuteride,which independent experts confirm has no possible civilian or military use other than in a nuke weapon,the report said.

Uranium deuteride is the material used in Pakistan’s bomb,from where Iran obtained its blueprint,the newspaper claimed.

“Although Iran might claim that this work is for civil purposes,there is no civil application. This is a very strong indicator of weapons work,” said David Albright,a physicist and president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington.

A source at International Atomic Energy Agency said that they had been passed to the UN’s nuclear watchdog.

Responding to the report,an Israeli government spokesperson said: “Israel is increasingly concerned about the state of the Iranian nuclear programme and the real intentions that may lie behind it.”