Region | Iran
UN watchdog wants Iran to come clean on nuclear plan
UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohammad Al Baradei urged Iran to come clean on its atomic drive, saying it would be "good for Iran, good for the Middle East and good for the whole world".
- Agencies
- Published: 21:57 September 29, 2008
Vienna: UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohammad Al Baradei urged Iran on Monday to come clean on its atomic drive, saying it would be "good for Iran, good for the Middle East and good for the whole world".
"I urge Iran to implement all the transparency measures... required to build confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear programme at the earliest possible date," Al Baradei told the International Atomic Energy Agency's general conference here.
"This will be good for Iran, good for the Middle East and good for the whole world."
The IAEA has been investigating Tehran's controversial nuclear programme for the past six years, but has so far been unable to determine whether the activities are purely peaceful.
"Substantial progress has been made, especially regarding the scope and nature of Iran's uranium enrichment programme," Al Baradei said.
"We have been able to continue to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran."
However, the IAEA was "still not in a position to make progress regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran," Al Baradei cautioned.
Worry
"Although Iran has so far produced only a limited quantity of low enriched uranium, which remains under agency safeguards, this is still a cause for concern for the international community in the absence of full clarity about Iran's past and present nuclear programme," Al Baradei said.
"This concern has been expressed by the board of governors and in a number of Security Council resolutions."
Meanwhile, Iran said on Monday it would not halt sensitive nuclear work as demanded by the UN Security Council in its latest resolution on Tehran's atomic programme that the West believes is aimed at making warheads.
The UN Security Council passed a resolution on Saturday ordering the country to halt uranium enrichment, the part of the nuclear programme that most worries the West because it has both civilian and military uses.
Iran, which insists its plans are peaceful, has dismissed the resolution.
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