A senior U.S. envoy accused Iran of “deception, defiance and delay” Wednesday in dealing with international concerns about its nuclear program, reflecting frustration over Tehran’s expanding uranium enrichment program and stalled U.N. attempts to determine whether Tehran has worked secretly on nuclear arms.

Joseph Macmanus, the chief U.S. delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency, also suggested that the U.S. might push for tougher diplomatic action in the coming months.

While not going into details, his comments indicated that America might lobby the IAEA board to ask for a special inspection of Parcin, a facility that the agency suspects was used to test explosive triggers for a nuclear weapon, or that the United States would seek an IAEA resolution critical of Tehran.

International criticism of Iran has been relatively muted since last week’s nuclear talks in which Tehran showed interest in proposals made by the United States and five other world powers. While expressing concern about enrichment and the deadlocked probe, the six powers avoided tough language and mentioned the “useful meetings” that produced the proposals in a joint statement Tuesday to the 35-nation International Atomic Energy Agency board.

By contrast, the comments Wednesday to the same meeting by Macmanus were unusually hard edged, suggesting they were meant to signal that pressure on Iran over its nuclear activities would not diminish.

Without having to pay heed to Russia and China — countries in the six-power group that are traditionally softer on Iran than Washington — Macmanus concentrated on expressing the U.S. view of Iran‘s alleged failure to meet its international obligations and diminish concerns that it wants nuclear weapons.

Iran denies any such aspirations. But it hid its enrichment program for years and is rapidly expanding it, prompting suspicions that it was less interested in using it to make reactor fuel and more in its other use — producing fissile warhead material.

The IAEA also suspects that Tehran worked secretly on nuclear weapons, basing its assessment mostly on intelligence from the U.S., Israel and West European nations. Tehran says the intelligence is faked and refuses to allow the IAEA to resume a probe of the allegations until details of how that should proceed are worked out — a stipulation the West dismisses as a delaying tactic.

Repeating that his country had no interest in nuclear weapons, Iran‘s chief delegate, …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

A senior U.S. envoy accused Iran of “deception, defiance and delay” Wednesday in dealing with international concerns about its nuclear program, reflecting frustration over Tehran’s expanding uranium enrichment program and stalled U.N. attempts to determine whether Tehran has worked secretly on nuclear arms.

Joseph Macmanus, the chief U.S. delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency,also suggested that the U.S. might push for tougher diplomatic action in the coming months.

While not going into details, his comments indicated that America might lobby the IAEA board to ask for a special inspection of Parcin, a facility that the agency suspects was used to test explosive triggers for a nuclear weapon, or that the United States would seek an IAEA resolution critical of Tehran.

International criticism of Iran has been relatively muted since last week’s nuclear talks in which Tehran showed interest in proposals made by the United States and five other world powers. While expressing concern about enrichment and the deadlocked probe, the six powers avoided tough language and mentioned the `’useful meetings” that produced the proposals in a joint statement Tuesday to the 35-nation International Atomic Energy Agency board.

By contrast, the comments Wednesday to the same meeting by Macmanus were unusually hard edged, suggesting they were meant to signal that pressure on Iran over its nuclear activities would not diminish.

Without having to pay heed to Russia and China — countries in the six-power group that are traditionally softer on Iran than Washington — Macmanus concentrated on expressing the U.S. view of Iran‘s alleged failure to meet its international obligations and diminish concerns that it wants nuclear weapons.

Iran denies any such aspirations. But it hid its enrichment program for years and is rapidly expanding it, prompting suspicions that it was less interested in using it to make reactor fuel and more in its other use — producing fissile warhead material. The IAEA also suspects that Tehran worked secretly on nuclear weapons, basing its assessment mostly on intelligence from the U.S., Israel and West European nations. Tehran says the intelligence is faked and refuses to allow the IAEA to resume a probe of the allegations until details of how that should proceed are worked out — a stipulation the West dismisses as a delaying tactic.

Macmanus, in comments to the closed meeting made available to media, focused on both Iran‘s expanding enrichment program and refusal to allow IAEA experts access to sites, officials and documents it wants to probe in its investigations of Parcin and other suspicions of nuclear weapons work.

`’We are deeply concerned with what appears to be Iran‘s unwavering commitment to deception defiance and delay,” he said. `’Iran … has chosen to take further provocative actions.”

Asked about possible requests for a special inspection or an IAEA board resolution in the future, he later told reporters that `’some adjustment might have to be made” in ways to address concerns about Iran, adding that will be taken up by the board `’over the next several months.”

Iran can refuse a special inspection but that would set it up …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News