IAEA’s ‘Soviet Nuclear Scientist’ Never Worked on Weapons

by Gareth Porter, November 10, 2011

From http://antiwar.com/

The report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) published by a Washington think tank Tuesday repeated the sensational claim previously reported by news media all over the world that a former Soviet nuclear weapons scientist had helped Iran construct a detonation system that could be used for a nuclear weapon.

But it turns out that the foreign expert, who is not named in the IAEA report [.pdf] but was identified in news reports as Vyacheslav Danilenko, is not a nuclear weapons scientist but one of the top specialists in the world in the production of nanodiamonds by explosives.

In fact, Danilenko, a Ukrainian, has worked solely on nanodiamonds from the beginning of his research career and is considered one of the pioneers in the development of nanodiamond technology, as published scientific papers confirm.

It now appears that the IAEA and David Albright, the director of the International Institute for Science and Security in Washington, who was the source of the news reports about Danilenko, never bothered to check the accuracy of the original claim by an unnamed “Member State” on which the IAEA based its assertion about his nuclear weapons background....

Danilenko clearly explained that the purpose of his work in Iran was to help the development of a nanodiamond industry in the country....

Careful examination of the “alleged studies” documents has revealed inconsistencies and other anomalies that give evidence of fraud.

But the IAEA, the United States and its allies in the IAEA continue to treat the documents as though there were no question about their authenticity.

The unnamed member state that informed the agency about Danilenko’s alleged experience as a Soviet nuclear weapons scientist is almost certainly Israel, which has been the source of virtually all the purported intelligence on Iranian work on nuclear weapons over the past decade.

Israel has made no secret of its determination to influence world opinion on the Iranian nuclear program by disseminating information to governments and news media, including purported Iran government documents.

Israeli Foreign Ministry and intelligence officials told journalists Douglas Frantz and Catherine Collins about the special unit of Mossad dedicated to that task at the very time the fraudulent documents were being produced....

In an interview in September 2008, Albright said Olli Heinonen, then deputy director for safeguards at the IAEA, had told him that a document from a member state had convinced him that the “alleged studies” documents were genuine. Albright said the state was “probably Israel.”

The Jerusalem Post‘s Yaakov Katz reported Wednesday that Israeli intelligence agencies had “provided critical information used in the report,” the purpose of which was to “push through a new regime of sanctions against Tehran.”

(Inter Press Service)

Read more by Gareth Porter

• Debunking the Iran ‘Terror Plot’ – November 4th, 2011
• ISAF Data: Night Raids Killed Over 1,500 Afghan Civilians – November 2nd, 2011
• UN Tally Excluded Most Afghan Civilian Deaths in Night Raids – October 25th, 2011
• US May Have Concealed Deterrent Aim of Iranian Plan – October 21st, 2011
• US Officials Peddle False Intel to Support Terror Plot Claims – October 17th, 2011

From http://antiwar.com/