UN nuclear watchdog urges Iran to take ‘steps’ to allow inspectors, report says

The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, is urging Iran to take “incremental steps” to allow inspectors to return to key nuclear facilities in the Islamic Republic, adding that such access is “critical,” according to a report seen by AFP.

“The director general encourages Iran to consider technical and gradual measures by which conditions are achieved that allow for the return of agency inspectors to Iran,” the report says, adding “such incremental steps could pave the way to normal safeguards implementation in Iran.”

In addition, the agency is “increasingly concerned” about an underground uranium-enrichment plant at Isfahan that Iran declared last year but has not let the watchdog inspect, it said in the confidential report.

“The Agency does not know IFEP’s exact location, status for safeguards purposes, or whether it contains nuclear material,” the IAEA report said, referring to the Isfahan Fuel Enrichment Plant (IFEP).