UN To Check Iranian Military Site
Thu, 6 Jan 2005
UN To Check Iranian Military Site Allegedly Linked To Nuclear Weapons Testing New York,
Jan 6 2005 4:00PM The United Nations atomic watchdog agency will be sending inspectors in the coming days to the Parchin military site in Iran, following allegations that it was linked to nuclear weapons testing.
The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (<"http://www.iaea.org/index.html">IAEA) announced today that Iran agreed to its request for access to the site, where the inspectors will take environmental samples to determine whether nuclear activity has taken place there.
It is the latest act in a saga that began nearly two years ago when it became clear that Iran had for many years concealed its nuclear activities in breach of its legal obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (<"http://www.un.org/Depts/dda/WMD/treaty/">NPT).
IAEA said Tehran had agreed to the request for access on the basis of transparency following the allegations.
In November the IAEA's Board of Governors welcomed Iran's decision to suspend all uranium enrichment activities and called on it to grant the access needed to provide "credible assurances" that is has not engaged in any undeclared nuclear activities.
ENDS