U.S. backs Egypts assertions of no nuke development

1/11/2005 10:50:00 AM GMT

The United States has waded into the recent allegations of Egypt secretly developing nuclear weapons by categorically stating it does not believe that to be the case.

Despite the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) declaration of their findings that Egypt has been conducting secret experiments, Washington appears to be not overly worried.

"From what we've seen, it doesn't seem it's a weapons program but that doesn't mean there isn't more there," a senior U.S. administration official said. "We don't know of it. We don't have any reason to think there is [a program]."

So far, the U.S. has not seen enough 'evidence' to warrant the raising of the issue with Egypt, since IAEA diplomats stated last week that "Egypt tried to produce various components of uranium" without declaring it to the IAEA in accordance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

The recent claims made by the IAEA diplomats come a few months after the UN nuclear watchdog agency reported that plutonium particles had been discovered near an Egyptian nuclear facility.

The Egyptian government has denied it runs a secret nuclear weapons program, saying what programs they do have is mainly for medical and research purposes.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the U.S. official said that Washington was letting the IAEA handle the matter.

"We've let the [IAEA] run through its normal procedure. They haven't come up with anything super troubling," he said. "Particularly with all the sensitivity on Iran, we're just letting the [IAEA] play it out."

Of a more pressing matter to the U.S. is Iran who they believe, along with staunch ally Israel, is developing a secret nuclear weapons program. However, the IAEA has yet to declare that such a program does exist.

Due to the IAEA's non-declaration of a nuclear weapons development program on Iranian soil, the matter cannot be referred to the Security Council as the U.S. hopes.

Iran has continuously denied it has such a facility.

Last week, Tehran gave the UN agency permission to take environmental samples from a military site, which the U.S. believes clandestine nuclear tests are being conducted.