Iran said it will allow the UN nuclear watchdog to visit the Parchin military site, ISNA news agency reported on Tuesday, a day after the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) chief expressed "serious concerns" over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
The IAEA requested access to Parchin during high-level talks in Tehran in February, but the Iranian side did not grant it.
"...Parchin is a military site and accessing it is a time-consuming process, therefore visits cannot be allowed frequently ... We will allow the IAEA to visit it one more time," Iran's diplomatic mission in Vienna said in a statement, according to ISNA.
An IAEA report last year said that Iran had built a large containment chamber at Parchin, southeast of Tehran, to conduct explosives tests that are "strong indicators" of efforts to develop an atom bomb.
The report triggered a fiery response from the West, with the United States and European Union slapping the most stringent sanctions on Iran yet, targeting its financial and oil sectors.
Iran slammed the report at the time as "lousy intelligence," while Russia criticized it as being "politically motivated."
IAEA inspectors did in fact visit Parchin in 2005, but did not see the place where the UN watchdog now believes the explosives chamber was built.
Agency chief Yukiya Amano said on Monday Iran has tripled its monthly production of higher-grade enriched uranium and the UN nuclear watchdog had "serious concerns" about possible military dimensions to Tehran's atomic activities.
Amano's comments also prompted China to renew its warnings over nuclear weapons proliferation in the Middle East, while defending Iran's right to peaceful nuclear power.
"We are opposed to any country in the Middle East, including Iran, developing and possessing nuclear weapons," Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said.
Yang, speaking at a news conference held as part of China's annual parliamentary session on Tuesday, reiterated that China opposed unilateral sanctions on Iran, against a backdrop of ratcheting international tensions over Tehran's nuclear activities.
"We oppose unilateral sanctions," he said.
China has repeatedly urged a negotiated solution to the dispute over Tehran's atomic activities, which Western governments say appear aimed at mastering the means to make nuclear weapons. Iran says those activities are peaceful.
Beijing ? the world's highest recipient of Iranian oil ? has also resisted Western efforts to exert pressure on Iran by imposing sanctions on its oil exports.
Yang also called for more time for talks between Iran and the "P5+1" group of the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured President Barack Obama on Monday that Israel has not made any decision on attacking Iran's nuclear sites, sources close to the talks said, but Netanyahu gave no sign of backing away from possible military action.
Israel ? the only Middle Eastern state to possess nuclear weapons ? has recently upped its rhetoric for war with Iran, drawing warnings from world capitals against military action that could provoke regional conflict and significantly hinder oil supplies.
(Al-Akhbar, Reuters)
Source: http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iran-allow-iaea-visit-military-site
duke basketball miranda july joe paterno near death joepa sc primary bill moyers heidi klum and seal divorce
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.