Iranian president asks IAEA to report on U.S. atomic weapons

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Tuesday to issue a report on the atomic arsenals and warheads of the United States, the local Fars news agency reported. The IAEA should release reports on the U.S. atomic bombs concealed in 1,000 of its military bases, Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying. IAEA is better to report on the U.S. atomic weapons instead of releasing unreal reports on the civilian nuclear programs of independent countries like Iran, said Ahmadinejad. IAEA is a tool at the hands of a number of countries to control the world, he said. He added that "unfortunately" the IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano today violates the agency's rules by repeating the words of the United States, according to Fars. IAEA, the United Nations nuclear supervision agency, is expected release its report on Iran's nuclear program. The report is likely to hint at Iran's engagement in nuclear weapons work despite UN sanctions. The IAEA director general has said at the UN General Assembly that while it was too early to make conclusions just yet, the report might exacerbate the Middle East tensions. Amano urged Iran to cooperate with IAEA to prove that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. A senior member of Iran's Assembly of Experts, Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami said Monday that the United States was using IAEA as a tool against Iran. "The United States is using international organizations, including IAEA, as tools" to pressure Iran over its nuclear program, Khatami said. The White House said Monday that the Iran nuclear report to be released soon by the UN nuclear watch dog would echo the U.S. concerns on the nuclear program of the Islamist state, while reiterating that its current effort was focused on diplomacy. Recent tensions between Iran and the West over Iran's sensitive nuclear program has raised concerns that the United States and Israel may consider a possible military strike on Iran's nuclear sites. Tehran insists on the "peaceful" aspect of its nuclear program, but the United States and its western allies worry that Iran would use the uranium enrichment to make nuclear weapons.