The IAEA generated a report that strongly suggested Iran participated in coordinate actions directed at developing a nuclear bomb up until 2003, though it found no credible hint of weapons-related work beyond 2009. Chief Iranian delegate Reza Najafi denied such work, in line with his country’s constant line throughout the protracted probe.
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“We are intending to complete this procedure within two to three weeks, so accelerate the execution day as soon as possible”, he said, meaning the atomic restrictions would be in place well before a parliamentary election in February. “We can not be complacent”.
He added that today’s meeting also saw approval of an agenda for implementing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, referring to the agreement reached this summer in Vienna.
United States officials have previously expressed annoyance at how fast Iran is implementing the deal, saying they aren’t prepared to live up to their side of the deal, lifting sanctions, so quickly. The US reaction, however, is likely to take awhile.
U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said the Security Council can not allow Iran to violate the resolution with impunity.
Iran’s United Nations mission did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee – a pro-Israel interest group in the USA – condemned the IAEA vote.
The world’s nuclear watchdog on Tuesday announced the end of its investigation into Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program.
“Nothing has changed”, she declared. “On the basis of its analysis and findings the Panel concludes that Emad launch is a violation by Iran of paragraph 9 of Security Council resolution 1929”, reads the 10-page report.
“Significant progress has been made on the Iran nuclear issue, but now is not the time to relax”, Amano said.
The experts said a rocket must be capable of delivering at least a 500 kilogram payload to a range of at least 300 kilometers to be deemed capable of firing a nuclear weapon. It said the Ghadr-1 was an advanced version of Iran’s Shabab-3 ballistic missile system and the re-entry vehicle had a guidance system and steerable fins.
The accord was reached between negotiators from Tehran and the United States, along with five other Western allies. Iran is expected to ship this material to Russian Federation.
In October, Iran announced that Emad was the country’s first long-range missile that could be guided and controlled until hitting the target with high precision.
He said it “will obviously boost the strategic deterrence capability of our armed forces”.
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The U.N. report also claims that Iran violated the U.N. ballistic missile ban with launches in 2012 and 2013. The last IAEA update on November 18 said that Iran had removed some 4,500 centrifuges.
