Syrian official plays down new find of uranium traces by UN nuclear agency

September 26th, 2009 Official: Iran not helping Venezuela find uraniumPORLAMAR, Venezuela — Venezuela's science and technology minister denied on Saturday that Iran is helping Venezuela seek uranium, saying the South American country is only working with Russia to detect deposits of the radioactive metal. Minister Jesse Chacon said that Venezuela, which has vast deposits of various minerals and precious stones including gold, diamonds and nickel, is also seeking deposits of other natural resources and is taking aerial photos to determine what it intends to exploit.

September 25th, 2009 VIENNA - Iran has told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) it is constructing a second, so far unknown uranium-enrichment facility, diplomats in Vienna said Friday. Until now the international community was only aware of the operating enrichment plant in Natanz, which some countries fear could one day be used to make material for nuclear arms.

July 16th, 2009 News agency: Iranian nuke chief resignsTEHRAN, Iran — The head of Iran's nuclear agency has resigned, an Iranian news agency reported Thursday, a move that may have been connected to the country's postelection turmoil. Gholam Reza Aghazadeh gave no reason for his resignation, according the semi-official ISNA news agency.

July 12th, 2009 DAMASCUS - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, speaking to reporters from Damascus Sunday, admitted that France and Syria were "not in full agreement" on Iran's nuclear programme. "We are not in full agreement on how to handle the Iranian nuclear file, but it was very useful to listen to the Syrian point of view on this matter," Kouchner said after meeting his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moallem and President Bashar al-Assad.

June 18th, 2009 Israel accuses IAEA chief of bias on SyriaVIENNA — Israel accused the head of the U.N. atomic agency of political bias in its probe of Syria Thursday, provoking a bitter response by the agency chief.

June 18th, 2009 VIENNA - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei lashed out at Israel Thursday over its lack of cooperation in uncovering the truth about an alleged nuclear reactor in Syria. Israel bombed the suspected al-Kibar nuclear site in 2007 without first informing the IAEA.

June 15th, 2009 VIENNA - Diplomats gathered in Vienna Monday for a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the stalemate with Iran over its nuclear programme - just days after Iran's hard-line president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected. Iran has ignored recent UN Security Council resolutions intended to get the country to halt its controversial uranium enrichment programme.

June 6th, 2009 Correction: Nuclear Agency-Syria-Iran storyVIENNA — In a June 5 story about the International Atomic Energy Agency probe of the nuclear programs of Syria and Iran, The Associated Press erroneously cited the Institute for Science and International Security as saying Iran could make two nuclear weapons within eight months at its present rate of uranium enrichment. ISIS said that within eight months Iran could produce enough material to turn into weapons-grade uranium for two such weapons, not make two.

June 5th, 2009 UN: New uranium traces found in SyriaVIENNA — The U.N nuclear agency on Friday reported its second unexplained find of uranium particles at a Syrian nuclear site, in a probe launched by suspicions that a remote desert site hit by Israeli warplanes was a nearly finished plutonium producing reactor. In a separate report, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran continued to expand its uranium enrichment program despite three sets of U.N.

May 7th, 2009 VIENNA - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has detected particles of highly enriched uranium at a nuclear research site in Egypt, according to a report Wednesday. The traces were found in 2007 and 2008 in samples taken at the Inshas research reactor, said the agency in its annual report on its nuclear inspection activities.

May 6th, 2009 IAEA: weapons grade uranium traces found in EgyptVIENNA — U.N. nuclear inspectors have found traces of highly enriched uranium in Egypt, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.

April 22nd, 2009 Iran wants 'constructive' talks on nuclear programTEHRAN, Iran — Iran welcomes a "constructive" dialogue with world powers over its nuclear program — but insisted that it won't halt its uranium enrichment activities, the official IRNA news agency reported Wednesday. The report was in response to an invitation from the U.S., Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia for a new round of nuclear talks.

April 1st, 2009 HYDERABAD - India has started benefiting from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) clearance for supply of nuclear fuel with the first consignment of 60 tonnes of uranium from France landing at the Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) here. This first shipment is part of the 300 tonnes of uranium ore concentrate which French nuclear supplier AREVA NC has agreed to supply to India under bilateral cooperation for supplying reactors and fuel following clearance from the NSG, NFC officials said here Wednesday.

January 20th, 2009 VIENNA - Arabic states have filed charges with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that the weapons Israel used in its recent offensive in the Gaza Strip contained partially-enriched uranium, an official said Tuesday evening. A letter containing the complaint was received by the IAEA Monday, an official of the UN nuclear watchdog in Vienna said.

January 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - France-based Areva will deliver 300 tonnes of uranium to India, the first consignment of foreign nuclear fuel to reach the country in nearly 34 years, a top French government official said here Saturday. 'This is a very important symbolic gesture and we are happy that France will be the first country to give fuel to India in 34 years,' said Jean-David Levitte, diplomatic adviser to the French president.