VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran faced Western pressure on Wednesday to speed up its promised cooperation with a long-stalled U.N. nuclear watchdog investigation into suspected atomic bomb research by Tehran, something the Islamic state denies.
The European Union - which groups three of the six powers seeking to negotiate a settlement to a decade-old dispute with Iran over its nuclear programme - noted that "some" progress had been made in separate talks between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
But, the 28-nation EU added in a statement to a quarterly meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation governing board, "We call on Iran to provide all the relevant information to the agency, to address fully the substance of all of the agency's concerns and to accelerate its cooperation with the agency."
Canada's ambassador to the Vienna-based IAEA put it more bluntly, saying Iran was using a kind of "salami-sliced, piece-by-piece approach" in its dealings with the U.N. watchdog.
"We are definitely of the view that Iran is moving too slowly to address these long-standing questions. They do need to move faster," Mark Bailey told Reuters.
For several years, the IAEA has been investigating suspicions that Iran may have coordinated efforts to process uranium, test explosives and revamp a ballistic missile cone in a way suitable for a nuclear warhead. Iran says the allegations are false but has offered to help clarify them.
Tehran says its uranium enrichment programme is a peaceful energy project whereas the West fears it is covertly oriented to developing a nuclear weapons capability. Western diplomats have long accused Tehran of stonewalling the IAEA's investigation.
After years of increasing tension with the West - and fears of a new Middle East war breaking out - last June's election of the pragmatist Hassan Rouhani as Iranian president paved the way for a dramatic thaw in relations. However, the sides remain far apart on what a long-term nuclear agreement should look like.
U.S. officials say it is vital for Iran to resolve the IAEA's questions if the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia are to reach a long-term accord with Iran that would set a verifiable framework for its nuclear activity and end punitive international sanctions imposed on Tehran.
IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said earlier this week that Iran had begun to engage substantively with the U.N. agency's investigation, but that more was needed to fully address his concerns.
U.S. SEES "FIRST STEP" BY IRAN
The U.S. ambassador to the IAEA said a resolution of the issues related to what the U.N. agency calls the possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear programme was "critical".
"We urge Iran to build on and further intensify its engagement with the agency in an effort to resolve all outstanding issues," Joseph Macmanus told the IAEA board.
The two sets of talks are separate but complementary as both focus on suspicions that Iran may have secretly sought the means and expertise to assemble nuclear weapons.
"Only with Iran's complete cooperation ... would the agency be in a position to reach a conclusion regarding whether Iran's nuclear program is exclusively peaceful," Macmanus said.
The IAEA investigation focuses most notably on whether Iran has worked on designing a nuclear warhead, which it denies having done.
Last month, Iran gave the U.N. watchdog information it had requested about one of the issues covered by the IAEA's inquiry. Exploding Bridge Wire (EBW) detonators can be used, among other things, to set off an atomic explosive device. Iran also agreed to address two other areas of the investigation by Aug. 25.
Western capitals, aware of past failures to get Iran to cooperate with the IAEA, have welcomed Iran's increased readiness to engage but are likely to remain sceptical until it has fully addressed all allegations of illicit atomic work.
"Such engagement is welcome – if long overdue," Macmanus said about Iran's provision of EBW information to the IAEA. "We stress it is only a first step and that the agency is now analysing the information provided by Iran."
(Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Culled from Yahoo Politics UK.
No comments:
Post a Comment