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The Sunday Telegraph
By Philip Sherwell in Washington
 Iran has secretly
extended the uranium enrichment plant at the centre of the international
controversy over its resumption of banned nuclear research earlier this
month, satellite imagery has revealed.
Seven buildings have been erected around the concealed centrifuges which
Western governments fear will be used to manufacture weapons-grade uranium
at the Natanz site, 200 miles south of Teheran.
The discovery has heightened fears that Iran is stepping up
the pace of its suspected weapons programme, in breach of international
agreements, since it removed International Atomic Energy Authority seals on
nuclear equipment at the site 10 days ago.
Western intelligence agencies are focusing on alarming similarities in
satellite imagery of Iran's nuclear
sites, which the regime claims are for civilian purposes, and atomic
facilities in Pakistan used to make
the raw materials for nuclear weapons, as they try to identify the purpose
of the Natanz construction spree.
The building work took place unannounced during a 16-month pause in
research and development at the site, while Iran engaged the
West in protracted talks over its professed desire to develop nuclear
power. The existence of the Natanz site was kept
secret until it was exposed by an Iranian opposition group in 2002. Iran started to
move funds out of the European banks on Friday to avoid possible financial
sanctions after its scientists resumed work. The showdown has contributed
to soaring world oil prices and a slump on Wall Street stock markets.
The Sunday Telegraph has seen recent United States intelligence
analysis of satellite photographs of nuclear sites in Iran and Pakistan that
strengthens fears that the Islamic regime is secretly developing atomic
weapons under the guise of a supposedly peaceful power programme. "Iran's facilities
are scaled exactly like another state's facilities that were designed to
produce fissile material for nuclear weapons," the US report
concluded, using the phrase "another state" to refer to Pakistan for diplomatic
reasons.
The intelligence briefing also studies Iran's heavy water
plant and reactor at Araq and its ballistic
missile programme and compares them with Pakistan's facilities. The
world learnt that Islamabad had built
nuclear weapons only when it conducted first tests in 1998.
John Pike, the director of GlobalSecurity.org, an independent Washington defence
research consultancy that specialises in analysing satellite images, told
this newspaper: "These pictures indicate that Iran is replicating
every major step that Pakistan took in its
atomic bomb programme."
Both US intelligence
and Mr Pike's independent analysis highlight the Araq
site, where Iran claims it is
processing heavy water for a medical isotope programme. It bears a striking
resemblance to Pakistan's site at Khushab.
Heavy water production reactors can be designed to covert uranium into
weapons-grade plutonium without the need for further enrichment. Pakistan, India, Israel North
Korea, Russia and the US are all
believed to have used them for this purpose.
The US intelligence
assessment concludes that Iran could produce
enough plutonium each year at Araq for up to
three nuclear bombs.
In other parallels, Iran's scientists
are conducting their latest round of research using Pakistani-designed
centrifuges at Natanz. The two countries are also
both developing similar ballistic missiles, able to carry nuclear warheads.
Evidence of new building at Natanz has further
fuelled concerns about Iran's intentions. "It
is surprising to see how much construction work has taken place," said
Mr Pike. "The Iranians have been very busy even while the seals were
in place."
The Iranians kept the existence of the Natanz and
Araq sites secret until 2002 when IAEA inspectors
confirmed opposition claims that Iran had been
conducting a nuclear programme for 18 years. Teheran is widely believed to
have received help during this time from A Q Khan, the maverick scientist
who developed Pakistan's bomb and
sold his know-how to rogue states around the world. The two countries have
denied any official co-operation.
The US intelligence
report that draws the parallels between the Iranian and Pakistani sites
also concludes that while Iran's uranium
reserves are not enough for its claimed goal of nuclear energy
independence, they are large enough for atomic bomb production.
British, French and German diplomats from the so-called EU3 negotiating
team, backed by Washington, are this
weekend discussing with Russian and Chinese counterparts the contents of a
draft resolution on Iran before an
emergency IAEA meeting next month. Russia and China are unwilling
to back early calls for sanctions.
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