UN nuclear watchdog: Significant progress in Iran probe

The head of the UN atomic agency says there has been “significant progress” in a long-stalled probe into allegations that Iran sought to develop nuclear weapons in the past.

“Significant progress has been achieved,” International Atomic Energy Agency head Yukiya Amano says following a weekend trip to Iran, during which he visited the contentious Parchin military facility, where the Islamic Republic is suspected of conducting nuclear experiments.

Amano confirms that Iran had provided samples from Parchin that it had taken itself, but says the agency had verified the samples using an established process. He insists that the “process was carried out under our responsibility and monitoring.”

The samples will now be transferred to Vienna for analysis, Amano says.