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IAEA: No assurance all of Iran regime’s nuclear program is peaceful

yukiya-amano

The United Nations nuclear watchdog is preparing to wrap up a more than a decade-long probe of alleged nuclear weapons work by the Iranian regime, but its report will stop short of delivering a judgment on whether the suspicions are valid, the nuclear agency’s chief said Thursday, according to The Associated Press.

The report by the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency is meant to put the issue to rest after years of on-and-off attempts to investigate the allegations, the AP said. The U.S. and its allies say Tehran conducted past research and development of such weapons.

The issue has dominated IAEA meetings, contributed to U.N. Security Council resolutions against the Iranian regime and is now playing a role in determining whether sanctions against the regime will be lifted under a nuclear deal that is expected to be implemented early next year, the AP added.

But the comments by IAEA chief Yukiya Amano made clear that his assessment will contain enough gray zones to leave the question unresolved.

The report “won’t be black and white,” Amano told reporters outside a meeting of the IAEA’s 35-nation board. Suggesting some questions remain unanswered, he described his report as a “jigsaw puzzle” for which his agency has “pieces.”

Amano added he is “not in a position to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran,” and thus cannot conclude that “all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities.”

Amano said his report will be circulated among board members next week.