Nuclear probe of Iran ends as questions remain
Tehran and U.S. still disagree on program’s intent.
VIENNA — The U.N. nuclear agency closed the books Tuesday on its decade-long probe of allegations that Iran worked on atomic arms, and Tehran proclaimed that within weeks, it would fifinish required cutbacks of current nuclear programs that the U.S. fears could be turned to making such weapons.
The probe had to be formally ended as part of a July 14 deal between Iran and six leading Western nations, including the U.S., that will remove economic sanctions on Tehran in exchange for its commitment to scale back its nuclear program.
The move means that some questions about the alleged weapons work may never be resolved. Yukiya Amano, head of the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency, told the agency’s 35-nation board that his investigation couldn’t “reconstruct all the details of activities conducted by Iran in the past.”
At the same time, he repeated an assessment he made last month that Iran had worked on “a range of activities relevant” to making nuclear weapons, with coordinated efffffffffffforts up to 2003 tapering offff into scattered activities up to 2009.
Chief Iranian delegate Reza Najafifi denied such work, as Iran has consistently during the protracted probe. In his statement to the board he said Tehran’s nuclear activities “have always been for peaceful civilian or conventional military uses.”
Noting that formal closure of the investigation negates a series of critical IAEA resolutions against his country, he proclaimed Tuesday a “historic day.” Amano also hailed the “very important milestone,” but noted that “much work needs to be done in the future.
Despite the Iranian denials, the U.S. and its allies continue to believe that Tehran did work on components of a nuclear weapon. But their overriding interest is moving ahead to implement the July 14 deal.
Najafifi said that — with the probe put to rest — Iran could meet its obligations under that agreement within “two or three weeks.” It was unclear whether that time frame would include not only Iran’s declaration that it has met its commitment, but also IAEA verifification that it has cut back or re-engineered equipment and programs that could be used to make nuclear weapons.