Post date: Feb 22, 2012 10:34:19 AM
VIENNA, AUSTRIA (FEBRUARY 22, 2012) ( REUTERS) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday (February 22) it had failed to secure an agreement with Iran during two days of talks over disputed atomic activities and that the Islamic Republic had rejected a request to visit a key military site.
U.N. nuclear watchdog says it has failed to secure an agreement with Iran during two days of talks over disputed atomic activities and that the Islamic Republic rejected a request to visit a key military site.
In the second such trip in less than a month, a senior team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had travelled to Tehran to press Iranian officials to start addressing mounting concerns that the Islamic Republic may be seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
"Good morning. We had two full days of discussions in Tehran. We tried to reach agreement on a way forward to resolve all the outstanding issues, and in particularly we discussed the possible military dimension of Iran's nuclear programme. We also were trying to get access to a site that is relevant for our investigations," the head of the IAEA team, Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts told reporters on arrival in Vienna.
"We approached this trip in a constructive spirit, unfortunately we could not get an agreement on either of them so we could not get access and we could not finalise a way forward," he added.
"We will now report to the director general (of the IAEA) and later to the Board of Governors which is going to meet the beginning of March, and we will have to see what are the next steps," Nackaerts said.
The outcome seems likely to add to already soaring tension between Iran and Western powers, which have ratcheted up sanctions on the major oil producer in recent months.
The five-member IAEA team led by Nackaerts was seeking answers from Iran about intelligence suggesting its declared civilian programme is a facade for a weapons programme.
Overnight the Agency issued a written statement saying: "During both the first and second round of discussions, the agency team requested access to the military site at Parchin. Iran did not grant permission for this visit to take place".
The IAEA named Parchin in a detailed report in November that lent independent weight to Western fears that Iran was working to develop an atomic bomb, an allegation Iranian officials reject.
Earlier, Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, told the country's ISNA news agency that Tehran expected to hold more talks with the U.N. agency, whose task it is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in the world. But IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano's spokeswoman made clear no further meetings were planned.
Iran rejects accusations that its nuclear programme is a covert bid to develop a nuclear weapons capability, saying it is seeking to produce only electricity.
But its refusal to curb sensitive atomic activities which can have both civilian and military purposes, and its track record of years of nuclear secrecy has drawn increasingly tough U.N. and separate U.S. and European punitive measures.
The United States and Israel have not ruled out using force against Iran if they conclude diplomacy and sanctions will not stop it from developing a nuclear bomb.
Last year's IAEA report suggesting Iran had pursued military nuclear technology helped precipitate the latest rounds of European Union and U.S. sanctions, which are causing economic hardship in Iran ahead of a parliamentary election in March.
One key finding was information that Iran had built a large containment chamber at Parchin southeast of Tehran in which to conduct high-explosives tests, which the U.N. agency said were "strong indicators of possible weapon development".
In retaliation for oil sanctions, Iran, the world's fifth-largest crude exporter, has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, conduit for a third of the world's seaborne oil, while the United States signalled it would use force to keep it open.