UN nuclear agency urges Iran to explain uranium particles at undeclared site

The UN nuclear watchdog urges Iran to explain the presence of uranium particles at an undeclared site, as a landmark deal aimed at curbing Tehran’s atomic activities threatens to collapse.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said in a report that its inspectors “detected natural uranium particles of anthropogenic origin at a location in Iran not declared to the agency.”

The agency’s acting head Cornel Feruta says IAEA and Iranian officials will meet in Tehran next week to discuss the matter, adding that the UN body has not received any additional information.

“The matter remains unresolved… It is essential that Iran works with the agency to resolve this matter promptly,” he says at a meeting of the agency’s board of governors.

A diplomatic source tells AFP that the IAEA will send a high-ranking technical delegation to Iran next week.

The particles are understood to be the product of uranium which has been mined and undergone initial processing, but not enriched.

While the IAEA has not named the site in question, diplomatic sources have previously said the agency asked Iran about a site in the Turquzabad district of Tehran where Israel has alleged secret atomic activity in the past.

— AFP