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 As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry flies to Vienna for what are
meant to be final talks to clinch a deal with Iran, International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano said he was still
unable to provide "credible assurance" Iran had no undeclared
nuclear material and activities.
The talks -- which have dragged on for more than a year -- are aimed
at setting limits on Iran's nuclear program in return for an end to
sanctions that have seriously hurt its economy.
As one of the conditions, Western officials say Iran must stop
stonewalling the IAEA investigation into concerns Iran may have
worked on designing a nuclear-armed missile, although some experts
feel this should not be a deal-breaker.
"Iran has not provided any explanations that enable the agency to
clarify the outstanding practical measures," Amano told the U.N.
agency's 35-nation board of governors, also meeting in the Austrian
capital.
 He was referring to information Iran was supposed to have given the
IAEA by late August concerning allegations of explosives tests and
other activity that could indicate preparations for developing
nuclear bombs.
Those allegations were set out in an IAEA report in 2011 based on
intelligence from some 10 IAEA member states as well as the agency's
own investigation. It did not identify the countries but they are
widely believed to include the United States, Israel and some of
Washington's Western allies.
Iran denies any intention of seeking atomic weapons, saying its
nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity.
"I call upon Iran to increase its cooperation with the agency and to
provide timely access to all relevant information, documentation,
sites, material and personnel," Amano said.
"TACTICS OF DELAY"
Iran's IAEA envoy, Reza Najafi, said the allegations were based on
"wrong and fabricated" information.
To prove this, he told the IAEA board, Iran would be ready to give
the U.N. agency "one managed access" to a western region, where,
according to the allegations, explosives experiments took place.
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The IAEA's priority for its inquiry has been to visit another site,
the Parchin military facility, refused by Iran.
While the countries in talks with Iran -- the United States, France,
Germany, Britain, Russia and China -- want Tehran to scale back its
uranium enrichment program to lengthen the timeline for any covert
bid to assemble nuclear arms, the IAEA is investigating possible
research on designing an actual bomb.
Even though it has long been clear that the inquiry would not be
completed before the target date for a deal with the powers, Western
diplomats had hoped for more progress by now.
Israel and hawkish U.S. lawmakers are likely to condemn any accord
that they feel does not fully resolve the issue.
Israel's envoy, Merav Zafary-Odiz, said the IAEA investigation was
"simply stuck because Iran has never abandoned its longstanding
tactics of delay, concealment and reluctance to cooperate" with the
U.N. agency.
Iran says it is Israel's assumed atomic arsenal that threatens peace
and stability in the Middle East.
(Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Robin Pomeroy)
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