Say, who actually owns Bushehr, Natanz and those P-1 and 2 centrifuges?

Gertz:

Firm owned by elite IRGC involved in Iran's civilian nuclear program

LONDON -- Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps owns a company said to be active in Iran's nuclear program.

In a development that has alarmed nuclear investigators, the International Atomic Energy Agency has identified an IRGC company that was participating in Iran's ostensibly civilian nuclear program. IRGC, an elite military of more than 125,000 troops, has been overseeing the country's strategic programs, including the ballistic missile project.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has identified an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps company that was participating in Iran's ostensibly civilian nuclear program. AP

The IRGC company was identified as Kimia Maadan.

Kimia was said to join other companies and agencies owned by the military -- including the Physics Research Center, Institute of Applied Physics, Educational Research Institute and Defense Industries Organization -- that supported Iran's nuclear program.

"...The role of military related institutes, such as the Physics Research Center, the Institute of Applied Physics and the Education Research Institute -- and their staff -- needs to be better understood, also in view of the fact that substantial parts of the centrifuge components were manufactured in the workshops of the Defense Industries Organization," the agency said. "The agency also needs to understand fully the reasons for the involvement of military related institutions in procurement for the nuclear program."

Kimia, once described by Iran as a private company, was established in 2000 to help mine uranium. The company has been managed by IRGC Brig. Gen. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, identified as a nuclear weapons designer.

Teheran has told IAEA that Kimia ended operations in 2003. But the agency has determined that the company remained a key player in Iran's nuclear project.

An IAEA report asserted that Iran has been conducting activities that cast doubts on Teheran's declaration that its nuclear program was civilian. The report, dated May 26, cited Teheran's effort to design a missile re-entry vehicle and construct a uranium conversion facility.

The uranium conversion facility was meant to transform uranium dioxide to UF4, or Green Salt. The process has been regarded as vital in the production of uranium metal for weapons cores.

"The agency understands that Iran may have additional information, in particular on high explosives testing and missile related activities, which could shed more light on the nature of the alleged activities," IAEA director-general Mohammed El Baradei said.

Iran has focused on enhancing its Shihab-3 ballistic missile, with a range of more than 2,000 kilometers. IAEA said the Shihab-3 was modified to ensure detonation at a point 650 meters above its target, a capability required for nuclear warheads.

"This information, which was provided to the agency by several member states, appears to have been derived from multiple sources over different periods of time, is detailed in content, and appears to be generally consistent," the report, released on June 2, said. "The agency received much of this information only in electronic form and was not authorized to provide copies to Iran."

The agency said Iran, who has dismissed the latest information as a fabrication, has developed and tested exploding bridgewire detonators. The report also cited high explosives testing, another requirement for nuclear weapons.

"A second aspect," the report said, "concerns the development and testing of high voltage detonator firing equipment and exploding bridgewire [EBW] detonators including, inter alia, the simultaneous firing of multiple EBW detonators; an underground testing arrangement and the testing of at least one full scale hemispherical, converging, explosively driven shock system that could be applicable to an implosion-type nuclear device. A third aspect of the studies concerns development work alleged to have been performed to redesign the inner cone of the Shihab-3 missile re-entry vehicle to accommodate a nuclear warhead."

Iran has acknowledged simultaneous testing with two to three EBW detonators with a time precision of about one microsecond, the agency said. Teheran, however, maintained that the tests were intended for civil and conventional military applications.

"It should be noted that the agency currently has no information -- apart from the uranium metal document -- on the actual design or manufacture by Iran of nuclear material components of a nuclear weapon or of certain other key components, such as initiators, or on related nuclear physics studies," the report said. "As regards the uranium metal document found in Iran, Pakistan has confirmed, in response to the agency's request that an identical document exists in Pakistan."

Very nice when fitted with the previous post