Iran chops down 7,000 trees

So inspectors wouldn't find traces of enriched uranium.

According to western intelligence sources, more than 7,000 trees which may have contained incriminating nuclear traces have been lost in a popular parkland area in the city near the Lavizan atomic research centre.

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One of the IAEA's key concerns has been the government's conduct over the Lavizan complex. The IAEA only became aware of its existence after Iranian exiles provided details of its location at a military base in Teheran in 2003.

Iran was accused of using the facility to conduct research into nuclear enrichment, and Israeli military officials claimed that the prototypes of four nuclear warheads were also stored at the site.

Western intelligence officials believe the site was deliberately situated in a major population area to make it more difficult for the United States and Israel, which are determined to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons, from carrying out pre-emptive air strikes.

The Iranians responded to the exiles' disclosure by razing the complex in 2004 before IAEA inspectors could conduct a full investigation.

To ensure that no incriminating traces of nuclear activity were found, they even ploughed the site and removed six inches of topsoil.

But they just want to conduct nuclear research for peaceful purposes. Why must the IAEA torture them so?