IAEA rejects Iran's call for new plan on nuclear stand-off

By Albert Otti Feb 2, 2012, 13:15 GMT

Vienna - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has rejected Iran's call for a new action plan to verify alleged nuclear weapons projects, as the agency is seeking answers rather than procedural talks, several Western diplomats said Thursday in Vienna.

The previous day, senior IAEA officials returned to Vienna from Tehran, where they discussed the allegations with Iranian officials for the first time in nearly two and a half years.

'I think Iran at least acknowledged that it is an issue,' said one of the diplomats who are closely following the IAEA's efforts to gain access to Iranian sites, documents and officials.

At the same time, Iranian officials pushed for a work plan, similar to an earlier such document from 2007, that sought to work through outstanding issues step by step, according to the diplomats.

But the IAEA officials made clear that 'they don't want another work plan,' one of the envoys said.

Tehran is of the view that the 2007 plan was fulfilled, while the Vienna-based IAEA argues it was never closed because of remaining issues about possible nuclear weapons research and development.

This time, the IAEA tried to avoid a situation where issues would be discussed and then be declared closed forever in a kind of 'box-ticking exercise,' a third diplomat said.

'There is not a defined set of questions to be answered,' he said, as the IAEA's probe might open the door to new information that would need to be verified.

Tensions have risen in the past weeks as Western countries have imposed sanctions on Iran's oil exports and financial sector, while Tehran has threatened to close a key shipping route for Middle Eastern oil at the Strait of Hormuz.

Diplomats in Vienna are awaiting a new IAEA report on Iran towards the end of this month, after the agency's chief inspector Herman Nackaerts and his team go to Tehran for a second round of talks on February 21.

'The question is how long this (process) will last, because other countries in the region are getting very nervous,' the first diplomat said.

He referred indirectly to Israel, which has not ruled out an attack on Iran's nuclear sites to prevent the country from getting a nuclear weapon. Tehran's leaders deny that they are working on such arms.

IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said Wednesday that it 'remains essential to make progress on substantive issues. Chief inspector Nackaerts said it had been a good trip, but added that 'there is still a lot of work to be done.'

The IAEA declined to comment on the statements by the diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

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