IAEA demands access to suspected Iranian nuke site

Nuclear watchdog urges more cooperation from Tehran at Parchin

VIENNA (AP) — The head of the UN nuclear agency says he cannot guarantee that all of Iran’s nuclear activities are peaceful unless Tehran provides more cooperation with his organization.

Yukiya Amano of the International Atomic Energy Agency is also urging Tehran to grant his inspectors access to a site where the IAEA thinks Tehran may have carried out experiments linked to nuclear weapons development.

Iran denies any work on, or interest in nuclear weapons. The agency has tried for more than a year to visit the Parchin site, to follow up suspicions that Tehran worked there on conventional explosives triggers for a nuclear weapon.

Amano told the 35-nation IAEA board Monday that without more Iranian cooperation, his agency “cannot conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities.”