Thursday, November 17, 2011
UN seeks to send high-level mission to Iran
The United Nations nuclear watchdog wants to send a high-level mission to Iran to address mounting concerns the country may be seeking to design atomic bombs, its head said today.
An International Atomic Energy Agency report last week assessing that Iran has been conducting research and experiments geared to developing a nuclear weapons capability has stoked tensions in the Middle East and heightened Western pressure for harsher punitive sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
IAEA chief Yukiya Amano announced his proposal at a meeting of the Vienna-based agency's 35-nation governing board, where six major powers were expected to close ranks to increase diplomatic pressure on Tehran.
Amano said he had written to the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, earlier this month to suggest the visit, which would air issues raised by the hard-hitting IAEA report on Iran.
"Preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons is one of the IAEA's core responsibilities," the veteran Japanese diplomat told the closed-door meeting, according to a copy of his speech.
"Throughout the past three years, we have obtained additional information which gives us a fuller picture of Iran's nuclear program and increases our concerns about possible military dimensions," Amano said.
"The information indicates that Iran has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device," he said, in his toughest public statement so far on Iran's disputed nuclear program.
Iran denies that it is seeking atomic weapons, dismissing intelligence information in the IAEA report as fabricated, and accusing the U.N. watchdog of pro-Western bias.
Amano said he hoped a "suitable date" could be agreed soon for his team's visit to Iran, which permits IAEA inspections of declared nuclear sites but since 2008 has stonewalled an agency investigation into "alleged studies" applicable to atomic bombs.
An International Atomic Energy Agency report last week assessing that Iran has been conducting research and experiments geared to developing a nuclear weapons capability has stoked tensions in the Middle East and heightened Western pressure for harsher punitive sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
IAEA chief Yukiya Amano announced his proposal at a meeting of the Vienna-based agency's 35-nation governing board, where six major powers were expected to close ranks to increase diplomatic pressure on Tehran.
Amano said he had written to the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, earlier this month to suggest the visit, which would air issues raised by the hard-hitting IAEA report on Iran.
"Preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons is one of the IAEA's core responsibilities," the veteran Japanese diplomat told the closed-door meeting, according to a copy of his speech.
"Throughout the past three years, we have obtained additional information which gives us a fuller picture of Iran's nuclear program and increases our concerns about possible military dimensions," Amano said.
"The information indicates that Iran has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device," he said, in his toughest public statement so far on Iran's disputed nuclear program.
Iran denies that it is seeking atomic weapons, dismissing intelligence information in the IAEA report as fabricated, and accusing the U.N. watchdog of pro-Western bias.
Amano said he hoped a "suitable date" could be agreed soon for his team's visit to Iran, which permits IAEA inspections of declared nuclear sites but since 2008 has stonewalled an agency investigation into "alleged studies" applicable to atomic bombs.
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