VIENNA, 4 June 2008 — European countries urged Iran yesterday to furnish all outstanding information on its disputed nuclear program to the UN atomic watchdog to end a long-running impasse.
“We call on Iran to supply all the necessary information, as well as the access to people, documents and sites requested by the IAEA,” or International Atomic Energy Agency, French ambassador Francois-Xavier Deniau told the agency’s 35-member board at its meeting here.
He was speaking on behalf of the so-called EU-3 comprising Britain, France and Germany. “That is the only way for the agency to determine the true nature of the Iranian nuclear program,” he said in a speech, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.
The Slovenian ambassador, Ernest Petric, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, echoed the French envoy. The EU “remains seriously concerned that despite more than five years of intense efforts by the IAEA, the agency is still not in a position to determine the full nature of Iran’s nuclear program,” Petric said.
IAEA chief Mohamed El-Baradei in his latest report had accused Iran of withholding key information that could shed light on the so-called alleged studies including research, engineering work and testing with a possibly military dimension.
The allegations have been backed up by intelligence from 10 different countries. But Iran has simply dismissed the intelligence as “fake” and “fabricated.”
A diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that Syria had informed other Arab League countries on the sidelines of the IAEA meeting that Damascus had agreed to let the experts inspect the bombed building itself in Al-Kabir.
But no other sites had been specified, the diplomat said, despite US media reports claiming the IAEA was also keen to visit two or three other suspect locations. In April, the United States turned over intelligence alleging the building was an undeclared nuclear reactor, close to completion, but not yet supplied with the necessary nuclear material.
