It is time to tackle “more difficult” nuclear issues such as allegations of Iran’s past weapons work after recent progress, the head of the U.N. atomic watchdog told Agence France-Presse in an interview.
“We started with measures that are practical and easy to implement, and then we move on to more difficult things,” said Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“We certainly wish to include issues with ‘possible military dimensions’ in future steps ... We have already discussed it and will continue to discuss it at the next meeting” between the IAEA and Iran on Feb. 8, he said.
An agreement with the IAEA towards improved oversight over Iran’s program included six steps such as this week’s visit by IAEA inspectors to the Gachin uranium mine and to a new reactor plant at Arak in December.
But the deal, separate to an accord struck with world powers on Nov. 24 in Geneva, made no specific mention of long-standing allegations that prior to 2003, and possibly since, Iran’s nuclear work had what the IAEA calls “possible military dimensions.”
Two years of talks between the IAEA and Iran over these accusations, detailed in a controversial IAEA report in November 2011 and consistently denied by Iran as being based on faulty intelligence, went nowhere.
But Amano, 66, told AFP that Iran has not been let off the hook, saying that the Nov. 24 accord with world powers made clear that “all past and present issues” must be resolved.

IAEA: time to tackle hard issues with Iran

Yukiya Amano, IAEA’s director general, says the U.N. atomic watchdog will start with “easy” measures and “move on to more difficult things” regarding Iran’s nuclear issues. (File photo: Reuters)
Al Arabiya News
Friday 31 January 2014
Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 09:41 - GMT 06:41
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