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VIENNA - U.N. inspectors sifting through Iran's nuclear files have discovered drawings of high-tech equipment that can be used to make weapons-grade uranium - a new link to the black market headed by the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, the Associated Press and other media reported Thursday, quoting unnamed diplomats.
Beyond adding another piece to the puzzle of who provided what in the clandestine supply chain headed by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the revelations cast fresh doubt on Iran's commitment to dispelling suspicions it is trying to make atomic arms. But Iran insisted Thursday that it was cooperating.
The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the designs were of a P-2 centrifuge - more advanced than the P-1 model Iran has acknowledged using to enrich uranium for what is says are peaceful purposes. They said preliminary investigations by inspectors working for the International Atomic Energy Agency indicated they matched drawings of equipment found in Libya and supplied by Khan's network.
While highly enriched uranium is a key component of some nuclear warheads, less enriched uranium can be used to generate power, which is what Iran says it was interested in.
The diplomats said Iran did not volunteer the designs - despite pledging last year to replace nearly two decades of secrecy with full openness about all aspects of its nuclear activities. Instead, they said, IAEA inspectors had to dig for them.
The diplomats said Iran had not yet formally explained why the advanced centrifuge designs were not voluntarily handed over to the agency.
Still, the diplomats emphasized that - despite putting into question Iran's pledge to be fully open - the find did not advance suspicions that Tehran was trying to make nuclear weapons.
The United States and others accuse Iran of having nuclear weapons ambitions. Iran agreed to end nearly two decades of nuclear secrecy late last year but only under intense international pressure generated by the discovery of its enrichment program.
In Rome, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi denied Tehran has any nuclear weapons ambitions.