By Associated Press,
MOSCOW — A Russian scientist accused of helping Iran develop technology necessary to build a nuclear weapon has denied assisting its nuclear program, a Russian newspaper reported Thursday.
A report released this week by the U.N. nuclear agency said a “foreign expert” had assisted Iran with developing an advanced detonator essential for triggering a nuclear chain reaction. The Washington Post identified him as Vyacheslav Danilenko, a scientist who had worked on the Soviet nuclear program.
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( Sergey Ponomarev / Associated Press ) - Ali Baghiri, Deputy secretary General of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council speaks at a news conference in Moscow, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011. Russian and Iranian officials have discussed building more reactors in the past, but the latest Russia’s nuclear chief Sergei Kiriyenko statement comes amid Western calls for sanctions on Tehran over a U.N. nuclear watchdog report detailing suspected atomic weapons-related advances.
The newspaper Kommersant reported that it had spoken to the 76-year-old Danilenko, and quoted him as saying: “I am not a nuclear scientist and I am not the founder of the Iranian nuclear program.”
