US envoy says Iran ‘committed to deception’

International Atomic Energy Agency hears how Tehran is frustrating efforts to monitor its nuclear research program

6 March 2013, 2:57 pm Edit

Heavy water reactor facility near Arak, Iran (photo credit: CC-BY nanking2010/Wikipedia/File)

VIENNA (AP) — A senior US envoy says Iran is committed to “deception, defiance and delay” in how it deals with international concerns about its nuclear program.

The hard-hitting comments by Joseph MacManus to the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency reflect US frustration over Iran’s expanding uranium enrichment program and stalled attempts by the UN’s nuclear agency to probe suspicions that Tehran might have tried to develop nuclear weapons in secret.

Iran denies any such efforts and says all its nuclear activities are peaceful. But it continues to block IAEA experts access to sites, officials and documents it wants to probe and refuse the UN Security Council demands to stop enrichment, which can be used to make reactor fuel and fissile warhead material.

McManus, the chief US envoy to the IAEA, spoke Wednesday.