REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, VIENNA - The UN nuclear watchdog chief said on Monday talks with Iran have been "going around in circles" - unusually blunt criticism pointing to rising tension over suspected nuclear arms research by Tehran that has increased fears of a new Middle East war.
Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, vented growing frustration at the lack of results in getting Iran to address suspicions of military dimensions to its atomic energy program. Tehran denies the accusations.
In hard-hitting comments to the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors, he also said Iranian advances in building a heavy-water research reactor and in its uranium enrichment work were in "clear contravention" of UN Security Council resolutions, dating to 2006, calling for a suspension in such activities.
The IAEA has been trying since early 2012 to engage with Iran over what the Vienna-based UN agency calls the "possible military dimensions" to Iran's nuclear program. But ten rounds of negotiations in the last 17 months have failed to achieve any breakthrough.
Western diplomats accuse Iran of stonewalling the IAEA, an allegation Tehran rejects. "Despite the intensified dialogue between the agency and Iran since January 2012..., no agreement has been reached on the structured approach document. To be frank, for some time now we have been going around in circles," said Amano.
"This is not the right way to address issues of such great importance to the international community, including Iran," he said, according to a copy of his speech to the closed-door board meeting at the IAEA's headquarters.
Israel, widely assumed to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed state, sees Iran's declared civil nuclear program as the most serious risk to its security and has threatened military action if diplomacy and sanctions fail to make Tehran hold back.
Amano said: "We need to achieve concrete results without further delay to restore international confidence in the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear activities."
The IAEA has "solid grounds for requesting clarification in relation to possible military dimensions", he added.
Amano spoke at a time of apparent deadlock in a broader diplomatic initiative by six world powers to find a peaceful solution to the decade-old dispute over Iran's nuclear ambitions. Western diplomats say they are awaiting the outcome of Iran's June 14 presidential election but do not anticipate any notable shift in the country's nuclear defiance.
Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika