Iran Denies Presence of Georgian Nuclear Experts

(Tbilisi, January 17, 2003. Civil Georgia) – Iranian Defence Minister Ali Shamkhani said on January 15 that nuclear experts from Georgia are not in Iran, as Georgian President Shevardnadze stated earlier.

“Georgian technicians are in Iran to maintain and repair Su-25 fighter jets, but there are no nuclear engineers or space specialists,” Iranian media sources report quoting Shamkhani.

Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said on January 13 that a number of Georgian scientists, including nuclear physicists and aircraft engineers, are working in Iran on private contracts.

Shevardnadze said that Georgia has informed the U.S. administration that some of the workers of the Sukhumi Institute of Physics and Technology are working in Iran.

He said that the issue should be solved in such a way so as “not to spoil relations with Iran, but also to satisfy the legitimate concerns of the Americans.”

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