IRAN: The United Nations nuclear watchdog agency has accused Iran of failing to comply with its nuclear safeguards agreement, according to a confidential report obtained by Reuters yesterday.
But the report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), ahead of a meeting of the agency's board of governors, said Iran was taking steps to rectify the situation. The report, to be presented by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei to the governors on June 16th, will be closely read by the United States, which accuses Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the guise of building electricity-generating reactors.
Hawks in President Bush's administration have recently hardened rhetoric against Iran since the US-led war on Iraq, raising the spectre of US military action.
Washington, which last year named Iran as part of an "axis of evil" with Iraq and North Korea, denies any plan to attack the country.
"Iran has failed to meet its obligations under its safeguards agreement with respect to the reporting of nuclear material, the subsequent processing and use of that material and the declaration of facilities where that material was stored and processed," the report read.
It was unclear what the nuclear material was and how exactly it was processed. The IAEA declined to comment on the quote.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi defended Tehran's record. "We have answers for all the points mentioned in this news. We have done nothing which violates our commitments," the spokesman said.
The report said Iran imported 1.8 tonnes of natural uranium in 1991 but did not declare the import or facilities for handling it until this year. - (Reuters)