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Iran appears to meet UN nuclear deadline -Diplomats
Vienna, Oct 31: Iran appears to have met today deadline to give U.N. experts answers to questions about its nuclear programme, though U.N. officials have yet to verify if the answers are true and complete, diplomats said.
Vienna, Oct 31: Iran appears to have met today deadline to
give U.N. experts answers to questions about its nuclear programme,
though U.N. officials have yet to verify if the answers are true and
complete, diplomats said.
In a toughly-worded September 12 resolution backed by the United
States, The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) governing
board had set an October 31 deadline for Iran to come clean about
its nuclear programme, which Washington alleges is a front for
building an atomic bomb.
On October 23, Iran gave the IAEA a declaration that it described as a complete and accurate history of its nuclear programme, which Tehran insists is peaceful.
IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said the declaration responded to concerns raised by the IAEA and contained ''a great deal of information addressing key areas of Iran's past nuclear programme which IAEA inspectors had raised questions about''.
''Whether it provides all the answers has yet to be verified,'' Fleming said.
In an interview in Thursday's edition of the French daily Le Monde, IAEA chief Mohamed Elbaradei was typically neutral. ''All their installations must be declared,'' Elbaradei said. ''They say that their declaration is complete and exact. I hope it's the case.''
A Vienna-based western diplomat closely following the IAEA inspections in Iran told reporters that he expected Iran had complied with the September 12 resolution to the extent that it ''at least gave some kind of answer'' to all the questions raised.
''There has been some cooperation by Iran,'' he said. These questions included a full picture of Tehran's uranium enrichment program, nuclear import and export lists and other information.
But the western diplomat said if Iran's declaration did not address the question of what the relationship is between Iran's military and what Tehran says is a peaceful nuclear program, this would be a ''glaring omission''.
Still, the diplomat said no one would likely be accusing Iran of not having met the October 31 deadline to answer the IAEA's previously unanswered questions.
''The question now is, is it true,'' he said. The IAEA has been keen to have details about the origin of uranium enrichment centrifuge parts, which Iran says it bought on the black market and blames for contaminating two Iranian sites where the IAEA found traces of bomb-grade uranium.
However, Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Akbar Salehi indicated this information was not in the declaration, as these parts were purchased on the black market in the 1980s through ''intermediaries'' who are no longer traceable.
Iran is allowing U.N. Inspectors to examine thousands of imported uranium enrichment machinery parts to determine the origin of the traces of weapons-grade uranium found earlier this year, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday. Bureau Report
On October 23, Iran gave the IAEA a declaration that it described as a complete and accurate history of its nuclear programme, which Tehran insists is peaceful.
IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said the declaration responded to concerns raised by the IAEA and contained ''a great deal of information addressing key areas of Iran's past nuclear programme which IAEA inspectors had raised questions about''.
''Whether it provides all the answers has yet to be verified,'' Fleming said.
In an interview in Thursday's edition of the French daily Le Monde, IAEA chief Mohamed Elbaradei was typically neutral. ''All their installations must be declared,'' Elbaradei said. ''They say that their declaration is complete and exact. I hope it's the case.''
A Vienna-based western diplomat closely following the IAEA inspections in Iran told reporters that he expected Iran had complied with the September 12 resolution to the extent that it ''at least gave some kind of answer'' to all the questions raised.
''There has been some cooperation by Iran,'' he said. These questions included a full picture of Tehran's uranium enrichment program, nuclear import and export lists and other information.
But the western diplomat said if Iran's declaration did not address the question of what the relationship is between Iran's military and what Tehran says is a peaceful nuclear program, this would be a ''glaring omission''.
Still, the diplomat said no one would likely be accusing Iran of not having met the October 31 deadline to answer the IAEA's previously unanswered questions.
''The question now is, is it true,'' he said. The IAEA has been keen to have details about the origin of uranium enrichment centrifuge parts, which Iran says it bought on the black market and blames for contaminating two Iranian sites where the IAEA found traces of bomb-grade uranium.
However, Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Akbar Salehi indicated this information was not in the declaration, as these parts were purchased on the black market in the 1980s through ''intermediaries'' who are no longer traceable.
Iran is allowing U.N. Inspectors to examine thousands of imported uranium enrichment machinery parts to determine the origin of the traces of weapons-grade uranium found earlier this year, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday. Bureau Report