Iranian nuke memo puzzles intel agencies

TEHRAN, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. and European intelligence officers say contents of a memo could indicate Iranian scientists are planning tests to perfect a nuclear weapon -- or not.

Intelligence officials said they haven't authenticated the two-page document, written in Persian, which outlines the next steps of the complicated scientific process to detonate a nuclear weapon, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

Even if the paper is found to be genuine, officials said it still was unclear whether it sheds new light on the level of Iran's weapons research. The memo was published Sunday on The Times of London's Web site.

Among other things, the document describes how to measure the output of a neutron initiator, a device with no other purpose except to trigger a nuclear explosion, the New York newspaper said.

The CIA hasn't said whether it believes the document is real and European intelligence agencies are equally cautious, officials said.

"Some people think this is the smoking gun," a European official told the Times Tuesday, "and others say it will be very hard to prove if it's authentic."

The Times of London reported the memo showed that Iran "is working on testing a key final component of a nuclear bomb."

"It's very troubling -- if real," said Thomas Cochran, a senior scientist in the nuclear program of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a group in Washington that tracks atomic arsenals.