Watchdog says ‘limited’ progress in Iran nuclear probe

The chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday the nuclear watchdog had made little headway in determining whether Iran has military ambitions for its nuclear program, and could not determine whether Tehran’s intentions were entirely peaceful.

Director general Yukiya Amano also said the IAEA had “good cooperation” with Tehran in the efforts to implement the terms of the November 2013 interim deal, but issues meant to clear up suspicions of weaponization work remained.

“As far as the implementation of the comprehensive safeguards agreement, we have some good cooperation with Iran,” Yukiya Amano said at a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace conference, according to Reuters.

“We are also implementing the Joint Plan of Action and we can also say the implementation is good. But with respect to the clarification of issues with possible military dimensions, the progress is limited and this is the area where more … cooperation from Iran is needed.”

Amano said the agency could not, at this time, establish whether the nuclear materials were not being used for military purposes.

“We continue to verify the non-divergence of nuclear material declared by Iran but we are still not in a position to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful purpose,” he said.

Iran and six world powers are currently racing toward a landmark deal that would see some Iranian nuclear activity forzen in exhcnage for a lifting of sanctions. Israel has lobbied against the agreement, saying Iran should not be trusted, but the US and others have said the agreement will include safeguards against Iran building a nuclear weapon.

Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, a claim rejected by the West.

Earlier this month, Amano said Iran still needed to hand over key information to the UN body necessary for its investigation of the country’s nuclear program.

“Iran has yet to provide explanations that enable the agency to clarify two outstanding practical measures,” Amano told the IAEA’s Board of Governors in Vienna, according to Reuters.

The two missing pieces of the puzzle relate to alleged explosive tests and other issues related to research that may also be useful for military uses of atomic energy. According to Amano the missing pieces of data should have been addressed by Iran by last August.

“The agency is not in a position to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran, and therefore to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities,” Amano was quoted by Reuters as saying.

The agency remains ready to accelerate the resolution of all outstanding issues, he added, but “this process cannot continue indefinitely.”