The International Atomic Energy Agency is set to release a report that accuses Iran of using foreign aid to get to fund its nuclear weapons capability. Israel's prime minister and president have already warned that they are taking this very seriously, even threatening military intervention. There is also talk of a preemptive strike by the Israelis to confront Iran's nuclear weapons.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (I.A.E.A.), an independent organization of weapons inspectors that reports to United Nations, has been preparing a summary of its findings over the past few years which asserts Iran's nuclear program has "possible military dimensions." Despite the continuing non-cooperation of Iran's government during inspections, the I.A.E.A.'s report includes evidence of devices used to trigger nuclear weapons and structures that could be used for testing such weapons. Russia and China are currently pressing the I.A.E.A.'s director, Yukia Amano, not to make the details of their findings public. Amano briefed members of the National Security Council 11 days ago, but the Obama administration has refused to comment at this time.

Iran announced yesterday it wouldn't comply with a demand by the United Nations' nuclear agency to stop work on a once-secret nuclear fuel enrichment plant, and said it would construct 10 more such nuclear plants.

The New York Times chief Washington correspondent, David Sanger, joins us to talk about the latest move by Iran in its nuclear manuevering, and how the international community might respond.

 

BBC Tehran correspondent Jon Leyne joins us to examine the most recent move in Iran's nuclear chess game. Iran yesterday said it would not comply with a demand by the International Atomic Energy Agency to stop work on a once-secret nuclear fuel enrichment plant, and escalated the confrontation by declaring it would construct 10 more such plants.

Marcus Mabry, international business editor for our partner, The New York Times, and Jonathan Marcus, diplomatic correspondent for our partner, the BBC, look at the week ahead, primarily at the violence in central Asia. They will also peek ahead at what's going to happen with Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Eastern Europe, and examine the latest on Afghanistan's election controversy and how that will affect the White House's decision on troop levels there. All that and how the latest bombings in Iran affect ongoing meetings about their nuclear program.

The U.S. and the United Nations now have to calibrate their reaction to North Korea's recent missile test, while also worrying about Iran's nuclear ambition and fears of proliferation on the subcontinent. The International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, is the international regulatory agency charged with monitoring the use and development of nuclear energy. But the agency is in the middle of electing a new general director. There are five candidates vying for the job and they are officially announcing their candidacies today. How much can the agency do?

Hans Blix knows something about those nuclear politics. He served as Director General of the IAEA from 1981 to 1997 before he was tapped to lead the U.N. committee that was eventually charged with searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. He joins The Takeaway to discuss North Korea and the new era of nuclear politics.