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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| IAEA demands Iran nuclear access to Parchin site | IAEA demands Iran nuclear access to Parchin site |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The chief of the United Nations nuclear watchdog has called for access to Iran's Parchin military site "without further delay" and without waiting for negotiations to make progress. | The chief of the United Nations nuclear watchdog has called for access to Iran's Parchin military site "without further delay" and without waiting for negotiations to make progress. |
| The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has long suspected nuclear weapons research is taking place at the site, just outside Tehran. | The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has long suspected nuclear weapons research is taking place at the site, just outside Tehran. |
| It has not had access to the military complex since 2005. | It has not had access to the military complex since 2005. |
| Tehran says it is refining uranium only for peaceful energy purposes. | Tehran says it is refining uranium only for peaceful energy purposes. |
| Suspicions | Suspicions |
| Director general Yukiya Amano made the comments in a speech to the IAEA's governing board. | Director general Yukiya Amano made the comments in a speech to the IAEA's governing board. |
| "Providing access to the Parchin site would be a positive step which would help to demonstrate Iran's willingness to engage with the agency on the substance of our concerns," he said. | "Providing access to the Parchin site would be a positive step which would help to demonstrate Iran's willingness to engage with the agency on the substance of our concerns," he said. |
| Access should be granted without waiting for further talks, Mr Amano added. | Access should be granted without waiting for further talks, Mr Amano added. |
| The IAEA suspects Iran could have carried out experiments with explosives capable of triggering a nuclear weapon at Parchin. | The IAEA suspects Iran could have carried out experiments with explosives capable of triggering a nuclear weapon at Parchin. |
| The UN agency has been trying to encourage Iran to cooperate with its investigations into suspected nuclear weapons research for more than a year, but Mr Amano admitted he was "unable to report any progress". | |
| Last month he sent a delegation to Tehran in the latest of a series of talks to negotiate a possible resumption of site visits, but the head of Iran's atomic energy programme Fereydun Abbasi-Davani said visits to Parchin or any other site were "not on the agenda". | |
| Little progress | |
| Mr Amano said he remained committed to negotiations, but warned they must proceed with "a sense of urgency and a focus on achieving concrete results". | |
| Iran is also continuing separate talks with the five members of the UN Security Council - the UK, US, France, Russia and China - as well as Germany. | |
| The last round was held in Kazakhstan last week. They were described as "useful" by a Western diplomat, but there appears to have been little progress on the central issue of Iran's uranium enrichment programme. | |
| Earlier in February Iran also said it was installing upgraded uranium enrichment centrifuges at a separate research site - a move the US described as "an escalation". | |
| Iran denies that it is trying to develop nuclear weapons, arguing that it is entitled to develop a civilian nuclear energy generation programme under the international nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, of which it is a signatory. | |
| Last week it announced it had found large new uranium deposits, trebling the size of its uranium supply, and was planning to expand its nuclear power programme. |