The UN atomic watchdog pressed Iran on Monday to disprove allegations of past nuclear weapons work, saying Tehran should not be concerned about divulging sensitive information because its confidential.
Iran cannot simply dismiss all the charges as "fabricated," the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, told a meeting of the body's 35-member board. Tehran must "clarify the extent to which the documentation is factually correct and where, as it asserts, such information may have been fabricated or relates to non-nuclear purposes," ElBaradei said on the first day of a week-long board meeting.
Neither could the Islamic republic hide behind the argument that in order to respond to the accusations, it would have to divulge information pertinent to its national security, the IAEA chief said.
The nuclear watchdog was not seeking to "pry" into Iran's conventional or missile-related military activities, he said.
"We need, however, to make use of all relevant information to be able to confirm that no nuclear material is being used for nuclear weapons purposes," ElBaradei said.
"I am confident that arrangements can be developed which enable the agency to do its work while ensuring that Iran's legitimate right to protect the confidentiality of sensitive information and activities is respected," he said.
After six years of intensive investigation, the IAEA still has not been able to determine whether the activities are entirely peaceful, as Iran claims.
The main hurdle is the "alleged studies", referring to documentation found on a laptop in Iran which suggest Tehran may have been trying to develop a nuclear warhead, convert uranium and test high explosives and a missile re-entry vehicle.
Iran has consistently dismissed the allegations as "baseless" and the documentation used to back them up as "fabricated".
But the IAEA insists the onus is on Iran to disprove the allegations.
Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, complained that Iran had not been allowed to see any of the documentation supposedly backing up the allegations.
"How come we can question a country without giving authentic documents? A member state is accused by another member state, but that member state has not given any documents or evidence," he told reporters. Another major concern remains Iran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, a process which can be used to make the fissile material for a nuclear bomb, ElBaradei said.
Instead, Iran had installed additional cascades of uranium-enriching centrifuges, bringing the number up and running to close to 4,000, and was testing more advanced centrifuges as well.
So far, Iran's enrichment plant in Natanz has produced a total of 480 kilogrammes (1,058 pounds) of low-enriched uranium or LEU, it said.
It would need 1,700 kilogrammes to convert into high-enriched uranium (HEU) for use in an atom bomb, a UN official said.
On the matter of Syria, which the United States alleges had been building a secret nuclear facility until it was destroyed in a bombing raid by Israel last year, ElBaradei said the IAEA was still in the process of analysing and evaluating samples taken during a visit to Al-Kibar in a remote desert area of northeastern Syria on the Euphrates River.
"Samples taken from the site are still being analysed and evaluated by the agency, but so far we have found no indication of any nuclear material," he said.
Turning to North Korea, the director general revealed that Pyonyang had asked the IAEA to remove seals and surveillance equipment from its Yongbyon nuclear plant. North Korea said last week that it was working to restart its atomic reactor at Yongbyon and no longer wanted US concessions promised under a landmark deal in June in return for its denuclearisation.
The hardline communist regime stopped work to disable its Yongbyon complex last month and said last Friday that it was working to restart the plutonium-producing reactor.
IAEA inspectors "have observed ... that some equipment previously removed by the DPRK during the disablement process has been brought back," ElBaradei said.
Nevertheless, "this has not changed the shutdown status of the nuclear facilities at Yongbyon," he added.
Iran cannot simply dismiss all the charges as "fabricated," the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, told a meeting of the body's 35-member board. Tehran must "clarify the extent to which the documentation is factually correct and where, as it asserts, such information may have been fabricated or relates to non-nuclear purposes," ElBaradei said on the first day of a week-long board meeting.
Neither could the Islamic republic hide behind the argument that in order to respond to the accusations, it would have to divulge information pertinent to its national security, the IAEA chief said.
The nuclear watchdog was not seeking to "pry" into Iran's conventional or missile-related military activities, he said.
"We need, however, to make use of all relevant information to be able to confirm that no nuclear material is being used for nuclear weapons purposes," ElBaradei said.
"I am confident that arrangements can be developed which enable the agency to do its work while ensuring that Iran's legitimate right to protect the confidentiality of sensitive information and activities is respected," he said.
After six years of intensive investigation, the IAEA still has not been able to determine whether the activities are entirely peaceful, as Iran claims.
The main hurdle is the "alleged studies", referring to documentation found on a laptop in Iran which suggest Tehran may have been trying to develop a nuclear warhead, convert uranium and test high explosives and a missile re-entry vehicle.
Iran has consistently dismissed the allegations as "baseless" and the documentation used to back them up as "fabricated".
But the IAEA insists the onus is on Iran to disprove the allegations.
Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, complained that Iran had not been allowed to see any of the documentation supposedly backing up the allegations.
"How come we can question a country without giving authentic documents? A member state is accused by another member state, but that member state has not given any documents or evidence," he told reporters. Another major concern remains Iran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, a process which can be used to make the fissile material for a nuclear bomb, ElBaradei said.
Instead, Iran had installed additional cascades of uranium-enriching centrifuges, bringing the number up and running to close to 4,000, and was testing more advanced centrifuges as well.
So far, Iran's enrichment plant in Natanz has produced a total of 480 kilogrammes (1,058 pounds) of low-enriched uranium or LEU, it said.
It would need 1,700 kilogrammes to convert into high-enriched uranium (HEU) for use in an atom bomb, a UN official said.
On the matter of Syria, which the United States alleges had been building a secret nuclear facility until it was destroyed in a bombing raid by Israel last year, ElBaradei said the IAEA was still in the process of analysing and evaluating samples taken during a visit to Al-Kibar in a remote desert area of northeastern Syria on the Euphrates River.
"Samples taken from the site are still being analysed and evaluated by the agency, but so far we have found no indication of any nuclear material," he said.
Turning to North Korea, the director general revealed that Pyonyang had asked the IAEA to remove seals and surveillance equipment from its Yongbyon nuclear plant. North Korea said last week that it was working to restart its atomic reactor at Yongbyon and no longer wanted US concessions promised under a landmark deal in June in return for its denuclearisation.
The hardline communist regime stopped work to disable its Yongbyon complex last month and said last Friday that it was working to restart the plutonium-producing reactor.
IAEA inspectors "have observed ... that some equipment previously removed by the DPRK during the disablement process has been brought back," ElBaradei said.
Nevertheless, "this has not changed the shutdown status of the nuclear facilities at Yongbyon," he added.
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