TEMPO.CO, Vienna - The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Monday, March 2, 2015, urged Iran to speed up cooperation with the agency's probe intro Tehran's atomic program.
"This process cannot continue indefinitely. It is not an endless process," said Yukiya Amano, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
While Iran has been negotiating limits on its nuclear program with world powers, the IAEA has been pressing leaders in Tehran for years to address allegations that prior to 2003, and possibly since, they conducted research on developing nuclear weapons.
Iran has consistently denied the accusations, which were stipulated in a major IAEA report in 2011, as baseless.
However, Iran had agreed to answer the agency’s questions about alleged explosive testing and research into nuclear bomb making by August, but responses have yet to be provided.
"The agency remains ready to accelerate the resolution of all outstanding issues," Amano said. However, "this requires increased cooperation by Iran and the timely provision of access to all relevant information."
Amano met with Iranian leaders in February, and last week Tehran’s deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi pledged his country would “move faster and in a better sense” with the probe.
The P5+1 group of world powers have until March 31 to reach a framework for a deal, which will then be reinforced and officially signed on June 30.
US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in the Swiss lakeside town of Montreux late on Monday for talks on the agreement.
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