Vienna: Iran has worked on developing an atomic bomb design and may still be conducting research relevant for such weapons, the UN nuclear watchdog said in its most detailed and hardest-hitting report on military dimensions to Tehran’s nuclear programme. The International Atomic Energy Agency document, which has been preceded by Israeli media speculation of military strikes against Iranian nuclear sites, detailed new evidence suggesting efforts to acquire a nuclear arms capability. “The agency has serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear programme,” the IAEA said in the report, obtained by Reuters on Tuesday, which included a 13-page annex with key technical descriptions of research. Citing “credible” information, the Vienna-based agency said the data “indicates that Iran has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device”. It added, “The information also indicates that prior to the end of 2003, these activities took place under a structured programme, and that some activities may still be ongoing.” The US and its allies are expected to seize on the report to press for more punitive sanctions on the major oil producer over its record of hiding sensitive nuclear activity and lack of full cooperation with UN inspectors. Russia expressed anger that the report was adding to tensions in the standoff between world powers and Tehran. “Russia is gravely disappointed and bewildered that the report is being turned into a source adding to the tensions over the problems connected to the Iranian nuclear programme,” the foreign ministry said. REUTERS IAEA chief US pawn, says Ahmadinejad Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday criticized the head of the UN’s nuclear agency as an American pawn in the run-up to its expected release of a document said to have documented Tehran’s nuclear weapons program. “If you think you can change the situation of the world through putting pressures on Iran, you are deadly wrong. The Iranian nation will not withdraw an iota,” Ahmadinejad said. Ahead of the release of the report, Ahmadinejad said that IAEA chief Yukiya Amano was simply repeating US allegations. “He delivers the papers that American officials hand on him.” AP