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Updated: Wednesday, March 18, 2009
11:00GMT—7:00AM/EST
Washington, 18 March (IranVNC)—A senior Israeli defense official provided fresh intelligence to the United States regarding Iran’s nuclear facility in Arak, during a visit to Washington earlier this week, the Saudi newspaper Al-Watan reported on Wednesday.
During his official visit, Israel Defense Forces [IDF] chief, Gabi Ashkenazi, met with General James Jones, national security advisor to US President Barack Obama, and Dennis Ross, senior advisor to the Persian Gulf.
Unnamed US sources told the Saudi daily that Ashkenazi gave US officials new intelligence about the Arak facility, which is believed to contain a heavy water reactor.
Iran has barred inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] from visiting the site to verify that it is being designed for peaceful uses, reports Reuters. Tehran says that the facility will be used to produce isotopes for medical care and agriculture.
Heavy water can be used in certain nuclear reactors or for the production of plutonium, for use in a nuclear weapons program.
Western powers suspect that Iran may design the nuclear facility in Arak to acquire plutonium as another possible source of bomb-grade fuel, besides uranium from its Natanz uranium enrichment plant, which is under IAEA surveillance.
Last month, the IAEA reported that Iran had built a dome over the reactor, meaning that satellite imagery was no longer able to monitor further construction inside the site.
The Islamic Republic says its nuclear activities are entirely peaceful.
Sources: Al-Watan newspaper, Reuters
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