Editor’s Note: Part of the CNN Republican debate fact-checking series
When Rep. Michele Bachmann said that a report by the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency had described Iran as poised to join the world’s elite club of nuclear powers, during Thursday’s Republican candidates’ debate in Sioux City, Iowa, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas responded immediately that she was mistaken.
The statements:
“We have an IAEA report that just recently came out that said, literally, Iran is within just months of being able to obtain that weapon.” – Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minnesota
“There is no U.N. report that said that. It’s totally wrong what you just said. That is not true. They produced the information that led you to believe that, but they have no evidence.” – Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas
The facts: The IAEA Board of Governors released a 14-page report on November 8 that concluded that it had “serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program. After assessing carefully and critically the extensive information available to it, the agency finds the information to be, overall, credible. The information indicates that Iran has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device. The information also indicates that prior to the end of 2003, these activities took place under a structured program, and that some activities may still be ongoing.”
The verdict: False. The IAEA report does not say that Iran is within months of being able to obtain a nuclear weapon. So Bachmann is wrong. But the report does cite “credible” information that Iran may be developing nuclear weapons, so Paul’s blanket denial that “they have no evidence” may also be wrong, depending on whether he is referring to evidence that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon or evidence that such a weapon could be ready within months.
CNN’s Tom Watkins and Julie In contributed to this report.