Moments after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued its report on Iran's nuclear weapons program, Iran went on the defensive, calling the finding a hoax devised by the United States.

In a message sent through state media outlet Press TV, Iran called the U.N. watchdog's report a U.S.-engineered new allegation against the Islamic Republic, for the purpose of striking fear into the heart of the world that Iran is on the course of producing nuclear weapons and that the world is on the brink of ruination.

Iran attacked IAEA Director General (DG) Yukiya Amano, accusing him of being an agent for the United States. Citing a Wikileaks cable from October 2010, Press TV said that Amano filed his report for the benefit of the U.S. officials who look over his shoulders.

Amano reminded [the U.S] ambassador [in Vienna] on several occasions that he would need to make concessions to the G-77 [the developing countries group], which correctly required him to be fair-minded and independent, but that he was solidly in the U.S. court on every key strategic decision, from high-level personnel appointments to the handling of Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program, the American diplomatic cable said.

However, Press TV decided not to publish other excerpts from the cable, including the section where the U.S. mission in Vienna says that Amano will remain politically neutral toward Iran.

[Amano] distinguished his approach on Iran from that of [his predecessor] ElBaradei; Amano sees the DG/IAEA as a neutral and impartial party to Iran's safeguards agreement rather than as 'an intermediary' and saw his primary role as implementing safeguards and UNSC [United Nations Security Council]/Board resolutions. He stressed that the IAEA could not replace the P5 [+] 1 political framework for dialogue with Iran, nor vice versa.

On Wednesday, the IAEA determined that Iran has worked to develop nuclear weapons, as well as tested weapons' parts, in the past and could still be doing it.

Iran has done work on the development of an indigenous design of a nuclear weapon including the testing of components, the report found.

Some activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device continued after 2003 and some may still be ongoing.

The IAEA also added that Iran has tested components of nuclear weapons and says that the information is both reliable and very worrisome.

The agency has serious concerns regarding [the] possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program, the report said, according to CNN.

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.

Still, Press TV claims in the article titled IAEA report thrives on laptop of lies, that when closely scrutinized one can see that the [nuclear weapons] claim soon begins to lose credibility.

Iranian political analyst Ismail Salami claims the evidence taken from abducted general Ali Reza Asgari was manipulated in a joint effort between Israel and the United States. Additionally, Salami says that information taken out of a laptop owned by an Iranian nuclear technician was also fabricated.

This new allegation is indeed based on the fiction of the laptop of death, Salami writes.

While the data from the laptop may have indeed been misleading, Iran has been holding their position since before the IAEA report was even published. Earlier this week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed that no matter what was found Iran had not been working on atomic warheads, and that a conclusive report could only be part of a Zionist plot to legitimize an attack on Iran.

Israel and the West, particularly the U.S., are afraid of the role and capabilities of Iran, and therefore are attempting to drum up international support for a military campaign against Iran, which is meant to deter Iran, Ahmadinejad said, according to the Tehran Times.

If American wants to confront the Iranian nation, it will certainly regret the Iranian nation's response, Ahmadinejad told the IRNA news agency in a separate interview.

They are saying that Iran is seeking the atomic bomb. But they should know... we do not need a bomb... Rather we will act thoughtfully and with logic. History has shown that anyone acting against the Iranian nation regrets it.

Iran's foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi also said before the report was published that the IAEA wouldn't find any damning evidence of a nuclear weapons program.

There is no serious proof that Iran is going to create a nuclear warhead, Salehi was quoted as saying by Agence France Presse during a visit to Armenia.

The West and the United States are exerting pressure on Iran without serious arguments and proof. We have repeatedly stated that we are not going to create nuclear weapons.

He also seconded Ahmadinejad's insistence that the report could have been fabricated.

I believe that these documents lack authenticity. But if they insist, they should go ahead and publish. Better to face danger once than be always in danger, Salehi later told reporters at a conference in Moscow.

We have said repeatedly that their documents are baseless. For example one can counterfeit money, but it remains counterfeit. These documents are like that.

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