SANTIAGO, Nov 18: Washington has information that Iran is seeking to adapt its missiles to carry nuclear warheads, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Wednesday.
"I have seen some information that would suggest that they've been actively working on delivery systems to deliver it," Powell told reporters travelling with him ahead of his arrival here to participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
"There is no doubt in my mind ... that they are interested in a nuclear weapon that have utility, meaning that this is something they would be able to deliver," said Powell.
"I'm talking of information that suggest they were working hard as to how you could put the two together."
In an deal with the European Union's three biggest powers - Britain, France and Germany - late on Sunday, Iran agreed to freeze uranium enrichment-related activities to ease fears its fuel cycle work could be diverted to make an atomic bomb.
The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN atomic watchdog, announced on Monday that Iran had pledged to suspend activities related to uranium enrichment by November 22 pending a longer-term accord comprising EU incentives.
The deal came just ahead of a November 25 IAEA examination of Iran's cooperation.
Powell reaffirmed Washington's cautious approach towards the issue. "I see that progress, however slow, is made," he said. "We have to be cautious until some verification work is done."
On November 9 Iranian Defence Minister Ali Shamkhani boasted that Iran was capable of mass-producing the Shahab-3, a ballistic missile capable of hitting Israel.
Iran has recently upgraded the Shahab-3 ballistic missile - believed to be based on a North Korean design - and some officials have said it now has a range of at least 2,000 kilometres (about 1,200 miles).
Powell was asked if he got the information from the National Council for Resistance in Iran, also known as the People's Mujahedeen.
"I've seen intelligence which would corroborate what this dissident group is saying, and it should be of concern to all parties," Powell said.
A senior NCRI member, Farid Soleimani told reporters in Vienna that the Iranian military was hiding an enrichment site in northeast Tehran, "run by Mohsen Fakhri-Zadeh, one of the regime's top nuclear scientists".-AFP
