Iran rejects assessment by UN nuclear agency

VIENNA — Iran has rejected an assessment by the UN nuclear agency that it did past work on nuclear arms but is praising some aspects of the agency’s investigation of the issue, reflecting satisfaction that the more than decade-long probe has ended. Closure of the file means that some questions about the alleged weapons work may never be resolved. Before the 35-nation board of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency adopted a resolution last month ending the investigation, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano told the meeting that his investigation couldn’t “reconstruct all the details of activities conducted by Iran in the past.’’ But both Iran and the international community are eager to put the issue behind them in order to be able to implement a landmark nuclear deal that commits Tehran to significant limits on its nuclear activities for over a decade in exchange for relief from crippling economic sanctions. Implementation day will come once the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency certifies that Iran has fulfilled its commitments, and diplomats on Monday told The Associated Press that could happen within a week. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to comment on the process. Iran’s Fars news agency reported a key step toward that goal, saying that technicians have dismantled the core of the Arak heavy water reactor on Monday and filled it with concrete.