A huge shipment of uranium 238 bound for the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas was intercepted on October 22, 2005, by customs officials in Tanzania making a routine check, the officer told the newspaper.

The British weekly also cited a United Nations report, due to be considered by the Security Council, which said there was "no doubt" that a large shipment of uranium 238 was transported from the Lubumbashi mines in the DR Congo.

The customs official said the uranium shipment was found hidden in a consignment of coltan, a rare mineral, which was destined for smelting in Kazakhstan after being transported through Bandar Abbas.

"There were several containers due to be shipped and they were all routinely scanned with a Geiger counter," he said.

"This one was very radioactive. When we opened the container it was full of drums of coltan. Each drum contains about 50 kilogrammes (110 pounds) of ore. When the first and second rows were removed the ones after that were found to be drums of uranium," he said.

"The container was put in a secure part of the port and it was later taken away, by the Americans, I think, or at least with their help. We have all been told not to talk to anyone about this."

The Sunday Times also quoted a source with access to security service assessments as saying that there was "great concern" about Iranian sleeper cells in Britain conducting reconnaissance at nuclear power plants in preparation for a possible attack.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said Sunday his country would not suspend uranium enrichment, in a clear rejection of a UN resolution calling for a freeze of the sensitive nuclear work.

Iran insists it wants to enrich uranium only to make reactor fuel for power stations but the United States and other countries suspect Tehran wants the capacity to make weapons-grade uranium.

The UN resolution requires Iran to halt uranium enrichment and other sensitive nuclear fuel work by August 31 or face the prospect of sanctions.

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