Inspectors Say Iran Is Evading Questions as Nuclear Talks Enter a Crucial Stage [View all]

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Source: New York Times

With only five weeks remaining for a basic agreement to be reached with Iran on the fate of its nuclear program, the world’s nuclear inspectors reported on Thursday that Iran was still refusing to answer their longstanding questions about suspected work on nuclear weapons and designs.

The report, by the International Atomic Energy Agency, was issued just as an American negotiating team heads to Geneva for four days of talks that will, by Sunday, include Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif. Most of those negotiations focus on the future, particularly on the question of how much nuclear fuel Iran would be permitted to produce and stockpile.

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The report said the agency “remains concerned about the possible existence in Iran of undisclosed nuclear-related activities involving military-related organizations, including activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile.”

Because Iran has not provided explanations for the agency’s questions about all nuclear-related work, the report said, “the agency is not in a position to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran, and therefore to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities.”

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Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/20/world/middleeast/un-says-iran-still-evades-queries-on-possible-nuclear-work.html?_r=0