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Iran defiant, says IAEA

VIENNA: Iran continues to defy U.N. Security Council demands to scrap its uranium enrichment programme and has instead expanded its activities, said the International Atomic Energy Agency on Wednesday, in a finding that sets the stage for new Council sanctions.

The report from Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency, also faulted Tehran for blocking IAEA efforts to probe suspicious nuclear activities, saying that meant it could not ``provide assurances about ... the exclusively peaceful nature'' of its atomic programme.

Worrying phrase

And, in new and worrying phrasing, it expressed concern about its ``deteriorating'' understanding of unexplored aspects of the programme, despite a four-year probe sparked by revelations that Tehran had been clandestinely developing enrichment and other nuclear activities that could be used to make weapons for nearly two decades.

``Obviously, our knowledge is diminishing,'' said a senior U.N. diplomat, when asked how well the IAEA — the U.N. nuclear monitor — was able to carry out its mandate of clearing up gaps in knowledge about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

The report, one of a series keeping the IAEA's 35-nation Board and the Security Council up to date on the agency's monitoring and inspection efforts, was posted simultaneously on the IAEA internal website and handed over to the President of the Security Council for distribution among its members. The report's finding that Iran was expanding enrichment instead of curtailing it was not surprising. But it was important as a trigger for possible new U.N. sanctions — which would be the third since such penalties were initially imposed December 23. — AP

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