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West Warns Iran to Come Clean About Military Nuclear Program

On Thursday, Western powers demanded Iranian cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) investigation into Iran’s military nuclear research.

Reuters reports:

Western powers told Iran on Thursday it must step up cooperation with a U.N. watchdog’s investigation into suspected atomic bomb research by the country if it wants to get a broader nuclear deal that would ease sanctions.

The warning was issued at a board meeting of the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, as chief negotiators from Iran and six world powers prepared to resume talks in New York after a two-month hiatus.

The Iranian envoy to the IAEA rejected the accusations that the regime was not properly cooperating with the investigation, calling them “mere allegations.” However Reuters notes that despite promises to “cooperate with the IAEA since Hassan Rouhani […] was elected president last year,” Iran has failed to address two major issues to the IAEA: “alleged experiments on explosives that could be used for an atomic device, and studies related to calculating nuclear explosive yields.”

Significantly, the European Union said, “that resolving all outstanding issues (between Iran and the IAEA) will be essential to achieve a comprehensive, negotiated long-term settlement.”

In his interview with Ann Curry of NBC earlier this week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that “the only solution to the nuclear issue goes through negotiation,” but did not address his country’s failure to explain the full scope of its nuclear research to the IAEA.

Earlier this week, the head of the IAEA, Yukiya Amano, blasted Iran for its refusal to cooperate with the agency’s investigation.

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