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 The International Atomic Energy Agency last month said Iran denied
a visa for one member of an IAEA delegation that visited Tehran on
Aug. 31 to try to advance a long-running inquiry into what the U.N.
agency calls the possible military dimensions of the country's
nuclear program.
It was the third time the person had been unable to obtain an entry
permit, the Vienna-based IAEA said. It did not reveal the official's
nationality or expertise.
But the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the
sensitivity of the issue, said they believed he was a U.S. national
and an atomic arms expert. The IAEA declined to comment on Thursday.
It is important, the U.N. agency said in a Sept. 5 report on Iran's
nuclear program, that "any staff member identified by the agency
with the requisite expertise is able to participate in the agency's
technical activities".
In a statement distributed to IAEA member states this week, Iran
dismissed the criticism of its refusal to let one IAEA expert into
the country, saying it had a sovereign right to decide who to admit
onto its territory.
But its failure to issue a visa to an IAEA official may deepen
longstanding Western suspicions that it is stonewalling the U.N.
agency's investigation.
The IAEA has for years been trying to get to the bottom of
allegations that Iran has worked on designing a nuclear bomb.
Iran says its nuclear activity is peaceful, but suspicions in the
West that the civil nuclear program is a front for weapons
development have led to punishing economic sanctions, which Tehran
hopes will be lifted if ongoing negotiations with world powers
succeed in ending the standoff.
Iran and the United States have not had diplomatic ties since
shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the
U.S.-backed shah, but they are now engaged in multilateral
negotiations to try to end their decade-old nuclear dispute.
IRAN VOWS COOPERATION
IAEA member states have the right to deny access to individual
inspectors proposed by the U.N. agency, and Iran has for several
years blocked staff from some Western nations, including the United
States, to check its nuclear sites.
But the separate, high-level IAEA team in charge of the Iran inquiry
- which at least on some occasions has included officials from
France, the United States and Britain - has held several meetings in
Tehran since early 2012.
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It was unclear whether the official who was unable to take part in
the August meeting was able to attend a visit by IAEA experts to the
Iranian capital this week.
Iran said in its statement that it had provided visas on time to
three new members of the IAEA team in recent months.
Western officials say Iran needs to cooperate with the IAEA inquiry
if it wants to reach a breakthrough diplomatic settlement with world
powers.
Last month's IAEA report said Iran had failed to answer questions
about possible military dimensions of its nuclear program by an
agreed Aug. 25 deadline, in a possible setback for broader diplomacy
between Iran and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China
and Russia.
Iran rejects the accusations as baseless. But since the relative
pragmatist Hassan Rouhani was elected president last year on a
platform to end its international isolation, it has promised to work
with the IAEA to clear up the suspicions.
While the powers seek to limit the size of Iran's future nuclear
program - and thereby extend the time it would need for any attempt
to accumulate fissile material for a weapon - the IAEA is
investigating purported research and experiments in the past that
could be applied to making the bomb itself.
(Editing by Tom Heneghan)
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