UN/IRAN: The head of the UN atomic watchdog voiced "serious concern" yesterday at omissions in Iran's declarations about its nuclear activities, and rejected a call from Tehran to drop investigations.
Mr Mohamed 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 Mr Pirooz Hosseini told reporters 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.