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US: Iran still a concern
22/02/2008 20:57 - (SA)
Vienna - Iran's disputed nuclear drive was still a source of "serious concern", the US ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Friday after UN watchdog issued its latest report.
The report by IAEA director general Mohammed el-Baradei showed that "Iran's nuclear file remains open ... and is a source of continued serious international concern," US envoy Gregory Schulte said.
The report found that Iran had not suspended its uranium enrichment and other proliferation-sensitive activities, as demanded by the UN Security Council.
Nor had it offered an explanation for activities believed to be relevant to nuclear weapon research and development. It had also not allowed IAEA inspectors to verify that those activities had been halted.
"Rather than complying with the UN and IAEA suspension requirements ... Iran is testing a new generation of uranium enrichment centrifuges, thereby deepening its violation of international obligations and broadening its defiance of the international concerns," Schulte complained.
"After five years of evasion and after promising to cooperate fully with the IAEA 'work plan,' Iran's leaders have lost another opportunity to fully disclose their nuclear activities and to start to regain international confidence," he said.
- AFP
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