Tehran hits back after US barrage of nuclear claims

Iran reacted angrily yesterday to accusations from the United States that it is accelerating its efforts to make nuclear weapons, accusations that are increasing international tensions as Washington gears up for war against Iraq and faces near-daily provocations from North Korea over its own nuclear programme.

The Tehran government, reacting to a seemingly co-ordinated barrage of official statements and US media stories over the weekend, said the Bush administration was spreading hatred and instability through "illogical" policies and the distortion of facts.

The timing of the US reports seemed strange, opening a new assault on the third of three countries – Iraq, North Korea and Iran – that President Bush calls the "axis of evil" when he appears to have his hands full with the other two. But it was also unclear whether the US was twisting findings by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as Iran alleged, or if there is genuine cause for alarm about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

At the heart of the controversy is a visit to Iran last month by the IAEA chief, Mohamed al-Baradei. Officially, Mr Baradei welcomed signs of greater willingness by Iran to co-operate with IAEA inspections and urged the government to grant inspectors freer access to nuclear sites.

Unofficially, according to the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell and others, the IAEA was surprised by Iran's progress towards producing enriched uranium at the Natanz plant in central Iran. Enriched uranium can be used either as fuel for energy production or as an ingredient in nuclear weapons.

"We have seen this week that Iran has got a more aggressive nuclear programme than the IAEA thought it had," Mr Powell said on a television talk show. "It shows you how a determined nation that has the intent to develop a nuclear weapon can keep that development process secret from inspectors and outsiders, if they really are determined to do it, and we know that Saddam Hussein has not lost his intent."

His words coincided with similar sentiments expressed by Condoleezza Rice, the National Security Adviser, and with articles on Iran's nuclear programme, sourced to unnamed US officials, in Time magazine and The Washington Post.

The US focus on Iran might have been a way of bolstering the Bush administration's case for war against Iraq – switching the debate from one country without a demonstrable nuclear weapons programme (Iraq) to one that might be a little closer (Iran). It might also have served as a warning to Iran, which will have strategic interests in a post-Saddam Iraq.

"We believe that the US is sabotaging the close and constructive co-operation between Iran and IAEA," Hamid Reza Asefi, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said. "The illogical policies of US officials have increased insecurity, instability, pessimism, and hatred throughout the world."