Now, I bet the environmentalists will get upset over this....

Iran decides to cut down some trees.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have taken the extraordinary step of cutting down thousands of trees in Teheran to prevent United Nations inspectors from finding traces of enriched uranium from a top-secret nuclear plant.

News of last month's cleansing operation comes as the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-member board meets in Vienna today to decide whether Iran should be reported to the United Nations Security Council for failing to comply with its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

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.

At today's meeting Dr Mohamed ElBaradei, the IAEA head, is expected to deliver a scathing report on Iran's nuclear programme, which Teheran insists is aimed solely at developing an indigenous nuclear power industry.

But Dr ElBaradei will inform the board that he is not in a position to assert that the nuclear programme is "entirely peaceful", and blames Teheran for its lack of "transparency" over its nuclear programme. His report will add to the suspicions of western governments that Iran has a clandestine programme to develop nuclear weapons.