Bulgarian border authorities Wednesday halted a lorry carrying radioactive material to Iran at its frontier with Romania, the country's nuclear supervision agency said. The lorry was registered in Turkey and had been hired by a British company, the agency said.
It was "destined for Istanbul and Tehran," a senior agency official told Turkish radio. It did not have the necessary authorisation and was carrying caesium among other radioactive materials. "In our view these materials could be used for industrial purposes," the official said. The radiation measured in the lorry's cab was 200 times higher than that occurring naturally.
But the vehicle had been isolated and "represented no danger to the population". An inquiry has been opened. Western countries suspect Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under cover of a civil nuclear programme.