WASHINGTON. Dec 11: The United States has information that scientists from former Soviet Republics have gone to Iran. Iraq and North Korea and there are suspicions they may be helping develop nuclear and other arms, a senior administration official said Friday, reports Reuter.

There are reports of people leaving and going to these countries.- said Undersecretary of 'State Lynn Davis, referring to intelligence reports about the activities of scientists in Russia. Ukraine and other ex-Soviet Republics with nuclear weapons.

Now. precisely what

they're doing and how Important they are to these efforts. It's hard to have an understanding because we don't have very good intelligence in these countries.* she told a seminar sponsored by the center for war. peace and the news media. associated with New York University.

Citing the example of Iran, she added, however, that "we have suspicions (about the role of the former Soviet scientists) because we have suspicions about what Iran is doing on a variety of different kinds of developments with respect to weapons of mass destruction

Davis, the administration's pointman on non-proliferation

issues, was unable to provide any details on the issue, such as the number of scientists who may have migrated.

"It's vcVy difficult to docu tnent." she said.

The United States ahd many other countries have been concerned about a potential seepage of nuclear-related brain-power and technology from the. republics after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

On the secret transfer of technology to other countries from the ex-Soviet states, she said: "We hear reports of the flow of nuclear materials and we follow up on those but we have no specific confirmation of that at this point In time."