|
VIENNA – The U.N. nuclear agency chief on Monday announced new talks withIran and urged it to sign a deal that would relaunch hislong-stalled probe into suspicions that Tehran worked secretly onatomic arms. For the first time, International Atomic Energy Agency head YukiyaAmano also said that Iran had demolished buildings and carried outother activities at a military facility that his agency believeswas a site for such work. Diplomats and officials accredited to the IAEA had spoken ofsimilar work previously, describing it as an apparent attempt toclear the site of evidence of clandestine weapons-related work butconfirmation by Amano lent weight to the suspicions. Amano did not specify the focus of upcoming talks on Friday betweenofficials from his agency and a senior Iranian envoy. But in thecontext of his remarks it was clear that IAEA negotiators wouldpress Iranian officials to finalize an agreement on restarting hisagency's investigation after a more than four-year pause. Iran strenuously denies any interest in developing nuclear weapons,insisting that all of its atomic activities are under IAEA purviewand meant purely to power reactors and for medical research. But its critics note that the Islamic Republic refuses to stopenriching uranium, which can be turned from nuclear fuel into thefissile core of warheads, despite offers of reactor fuel fromabroad and increasingly tough international sanctions. In meetings with agency officials, Tehran also has stonewalledrepeated IAEA requests for a resumption of its probe, dismissingintelligence cited by the agency of secret weapons work asfabricated by the United States and its allies and declaring theissue closed. At stake in IAEA and other international efforts to engage theIslamic Republic is the threat an Iran armed with nuclear weaponscould pose to its neighbors. The U.S. and Israel have indicatedreadiness to attack Iran if diplomacy and sanctions fail to curbits alleged nuclear program. Both suspect that Iran is aiming tobuild nuclear weapons, and Israel believes it would be a primetarget. Amano suggested his agency is not seeing everything it would liketo, in opening comments to a meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation board. "Iran is not providing the necessary cooperation to enable theagency to provide credible assurance about the absence ofundeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran, and thereforeto conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peacefulactivities," he said. Amano went to Tehran two weeks ago to try to wrap up a deal onrestarting his probe and expressed confidence on his return thatagreement was near, citing a senior Iranian official as telling himso. He invoked that promise in his comments to the IAEA's 35-nationgoverning board on Monday, telling them: "I was assured thatagreement ... would be expedited." Urging Iran to sign and implement the deal as soon as possible, healso appealed for quick access to a site at Iran's Parchin militarysite southeast of Tehran that the IAEA suspects is being cleansedof evidence of secret nuclear weapons-related testing. The IAEA last week showed board member nations satellite images itsaid buttressed such suspicions. Diplomats at the closed meetingsaid the photos showed at least two buildings there razed and waterstreaming out of another structure suspected of hiding a metalchamber allegedly used to test explosives that could be used to setoff a nuclear charge. Commercial satellite images published subsequently by theWashington-based Institute for Science and International Securityshowed two buildings visible on earlier photos no longer standing. "There are visible tracks made by heavy machinery used in thedemolition process," said a commentary by the think tankaccompanying the photos. "Heavy machinery tracks and extensiveevidence of earth displacement is also visible throughout theinterior as well as the exterior of the site's perimeter." Amano told reporters the satellite images he has seen indicate "theuse of water, demolishing buildings, removing fences and movingsoil" — his first public confirmation of what others say thephotos show. He suggested — without specifically saying so— that he feared the site was being cleansed ahead of anyIAEA inspection. "We have the general concern that these activities may hamper ourfuture verification activities," at the site, he said. "Informationthat we have indicates that activities may have been undertakenrelated to the development of nuclear explosive devices and ...having access is very important to clarify this issue." Separate from IAEA attempts to relaunch its probe, six world powers— the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France andGermany — are attempting to persuade Tehran to stop enrichinguranium to a level that can be turned into warhead material morequickly than its low-enriched main stockpile. Their next meeting isin Moscow starting June 17. Because all enriched uranium can be further processed toweapons-grade material, Iran's nuclear secrecy — and itsdecision last year to start enrichment at a level closer toweapons-grade uranium at an underground bunker it says is safe fromattack — has fed worries that it could quickly "break out" aweapons program. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Oxygen Facial Machine Manufacturer , Diode Laser Hair Removal Machines Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Elight IPL RF.
Related Articles -
Oxygen Facial Machine Manufacturer, Diode Laser Hair Removal Machines Manufacturer,
| 
