- VIENNA: A US envoy on Thursday suggested time was running out for Syria to cooperate with a UN atomic agency probe of alleged secret nuclear activities before the agency invokes its seldom-used authority to call for a special inspection — a possible prelude to UN Security Council involvement.
Rising to Syria's defense, a senior Iranian diplomat accused the organization — the International Atomic Energy Agency — of harassing Syria by leveling false allegations in collusion with Israel and its allies.
The two officials spoke as the 35-nation atomic agency board meeting turned its attention from the agency's probe of Iran's nuclear activities to suspicions that Syria has a hidden nuclear program.
Israeli warplanes bombed what the US says was a nearly finished nuclear reactor three years ago, launching an agency investigation. After an initial visit to the site, agency inspectors have not been allowed to return — or visit other suspect sites — and the agency's chief, Yukiya Amano, says Syria's lack of cooperation could mean that information sought by the agency could be lost with the passage of time.
