VIENNA — Iran temporarily stopped enriching uranium earlier this month for unspecified reasons, the U.N. nuclear agency said Tuesday.
The finding is contained in a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency for the U.N. Security Council and the 35 IAEA board member nations. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the restricted report.
Diplomats first told the AP of a temporary shutdown of Iran’s enrichment program on Monday. They also said they did not know why the thousands of centrifuges stopped turning out material that Iran says it needs to fuel a future network of nuclear reactors.
Speculation has focused on the Stuxnet worm, which cyber experts have identified as configured to damage centrifuges.
Iran on Tuesday denied that Stuxnet had caused any damage.
Iran’s refusal to stop enriching and accept offers of nuclear fuel from abroad has caused concern because enriched uranium can also arm nuclear warheads. Tehran is under four sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions for refusing to stop enriching.