Middle East News

IAEA chief urges Iran to cooperate on weapons allegations

Jan 19, 2012, 9:58 GMT

Berlin - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano urged Tehran in an interview published Thursday to grant senior nuclear inspectors full access during an upcoming trip to Iran aimed at shedding light on alleged nuclear weapons projects.

'We want to verify everything that could have a military dimension,' he told the German daily Financial Times Deutschland.

The success of the visit of senior IAEA inspectors and officials depended solely on the cooperation of Iran, Amano said, calling for full access to installations and documents.

The visit, set to start in late January, would be the first time since 2008 that Iranian officials have proved willing to address nuclear weapons allegations, which the government has called fabricated and false.

The IAEA produced a report late last year which, for the first time, laid out Iran's alleged weapons projects in great detail, based on intelligence from various countries and the agency's own findings.

The Japanese diplomat rejected Iranian allegations that his agency was complicit in the killing of a nuclear scientist in Tehran this month.

'That is wrong,' Amano said. 'We did not make his name public. I did not know him.'

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