IAEA Access to Iran Military Complex a Priority

Iran granting access to its military complex of Parchin remains a “matter of priority” for nuclear inspectors, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano said.

“Satellite imagery indicates that they are undertaking quite important activities” at Parchin, Amano told reporters in Budapest today after meeting Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi. “ In the past we did not see such active activities.”

Western powers contend Iran is hiding a nuclear-weapons program, and the U.S. and Israel have declined to rule out the possibility of military strikes against atomic installations. Iran insists its nuclear work is peaceful.

The IAEA has said Iran has failed to provide “credible assurances” about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities -- necessary to conclude its program is exclusively peaceful. In November, the Vienna-based United Nations organization reported that Parchin may have been the site of experiments on a trigger for a nuclear weapon.

Iran and world powers failed to reach a breakthrough in the nuclear row during two days of talks in Moscow that ended yesterday. A central issue in the negotiations is whether Iran will stop producing 20 percent enriched uranium, a level of purity a step short of bomb grade, and move current stockpiles out of the country to show that it isn’t seeking the capability to produce nuclear weapons.

To contact the reporter on this story: Zoltan Simon in Budapest at [email protected]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Zoltan Simon at [email protected]