IAEA Team Barred from Entering Key Iranian Nuclear Site

A delegation of inspectors from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has been barred from entering a key Iranian military site, rendering the trip to Persia somewhat of a failure.

Led by Herman Nackaerts, the group from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was prohibited by Iranian officials from inspecting the Parchin site, just south of Tehran.

It is disappointing that Iran did not accept our request to visit Parchin, IAEA’s director-general Yukiya Amano said in a statement.

The Parchin locale is believed to have been the site of nuclear testing in recent years.

After only two days of talks, the IAEA team has departed Iran without any sort of agreement facilitating the clarification of unresolved issues related to Iran’s nuclear power program.

An earlier round of talks in January similarly failed to reach any kind of deal.

However, the Iranian envoy to IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said more talks between Teheran and the nuclear monitors would continue in the future.

IAEA is scheduled to release another report on Iran’s nuclear program later this month.

Last November, the group produced an alarming report suggesting Teheran had been carrying out tests “relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device.” That report not only led to more drastic sanctions against Iran by the United States and the European Union, but has also led to fevered speculation that Israel will launch military strikes against the Islamic Republic to thwart its atomic program.

Iran has long maintained that is seeks nuclear energy development for only peaceful purposes.

The Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called atomic weapons useless, harmful and dangerous, according to Al Jazeera.