Iran should clarify outstanding nuclear issues : IAEA

Πηγή: newkerala
By IANS
Nov 18 2011

Vienna (Austria), Nov 18 : Iran should clarify outstanding issues concerning some aspects of the country's nuclear programme suspected of involving nuclear weapon-related technologies, said Yukiya Amano, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

"I ask Iran to engage substantively with the Agency (IAEA) without delay and provide the requested clarifications regarding possible military dimensions to its nuclear programme," Xinhua quoted Amano as stating in his introductory statement during a meeting of the IAEA board of governors Thursday.

The IAEA chief said he had written to Iran's vice-president and chief of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, Fereidoun Abbasi, proposing to send a high-level team to the country to clarify the issues outlined in IAEA's recent report on the Iranian nuclear issue.

Iran has carried out activities relevant to the development of a "nuclear explosive device", Amano said in the restricted report circulated to the board earlier this month.

Amano also said that throughout the past three years, the IAEA has obtained "additional information which gives us a fuller picture of Iran's nuclear programme and increase our concerns about possible military dimensions".

Although Amano's report suggested that some suspected nuclear activities "may still (be) ongoing", the paper stopped short of reaching a clear-cut conclusion on whether Iran was attempting to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran has rejected the allegation in the report, accusing the US of using the IAEA as a tool to pressure Iran over its "peaceful" nuclear programme.