Iran's call to drop N-probe rejected: Tehran hid information: IAEA
VIENNA, March 8: The head of the UN atomic watchdog voiced "serious concern" on Monday at omissions in Iran's declarations about its nuclear activities and rejected a call from Tehran to drop investigations.
Mohammed ElBaradei singled out Tehran's failure last October to mention that it had designs for advanced centrifuges capable of producing highly enriched uranium for use in a nuclear reactor or, potentially, an atomic weapon.
"I am seriously concerned that Iran's October declaration did not include any reference to its possession of P2 centrifuge designs and related (research and development), which in my view was a setback to Iran's stated policy of transparency," he said.
He was addressing the board of governors of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as they began a closed-door meeting to consider how to proceed with Iran.
Iranian ambassador Pirooz Hosseini told reporters that Tehran was the victim of a "war of propaganda" and that Iranian officials had been misquoted by the media last year as saying the October dossier was complete.
"At the time...we were not obliged to announce everything," he said, in remarks contrasting with Iranian comments at the time. Iran says it is building a nuclear programme purely to generate electricity. Washington accuses Tehran of systematic deception and says it is bent on acquiring nuclear weapons.
Mr ElBaradei urged Tehran to ensure full transparency and help restore international confidence by "taking the initiative to provide all relevant information in full detail and in a prompt manner".
IRAN'S STAND: A senior Iranian official said on Sunday the IAEA should take Iran off its agenda and confirm its innocence. "The case concerning Iran's peaceful nuclear activities should be completely closed at the IAEA Board of Governors and removed from its agenda," Supreme National Security Council secretary Hassan Rohani said on state television. But ElBaradei said the board was not through with Iran and would remove the issue from its agenda only when all the agency's unresolved questions were answered. -Reuters
