IAEA sees demolition at Iran military site the UN wants to visit

Satellite images indicate that buildings are being demolished and soil removed at Parchin, an Iranian military site the UN nuclear watchdog wants to visit, its chief said.

The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) posted the pictures on its website hours after the IAEA showed diplomats at a closed-door briefing similar images that Western envoys said indicated a clean-up at Parchin.

"The satellite imagery indicates that these activities include the use of water, demolishing of buildings, removing fences and moving soil," Yukiya Amano told a news conference.

"These are some of the activities that we have observed through satellite imagery," he said, expressing concern that they could hamper the agency's efforts to find out what has been going on at the site, if and when it gains access.

Western diplomats say the buildings that appear to have been razed recently are small side buildings near the main structure that is of interest to the IAEA.