Iranian Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency Reza Najafi has always maintained that Tehran's nuclear activities "have always been for peaceful civilian or conventional military uses." (Associated Press photo)
The UN nuclear agency closed the books Tuesday on its decade-long probe of allegations that Iran worked on atomic arms, and Tehran proclaimed that within weeks, it would finish cutbacks on present nuclear programs that the US fears could be turned into making such weapons.
The probe had to be formally ended as part of a July 14 deal between Iran and six nations that involves the removal of economic sanctions on Tehran in exchange for its commitment to crimp its nuclear program. A resolution was approved by consensus of the 35-nation board of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency.
The move means that some questions about the alleged weapons work may never be resolved. Before the resolution's adoption, agency head Yukiya Amano told the board that his investigation couldn't "reconstruct all the details of activities conducted by Iran in the past."
At the same time, he repeated an assessment he made last month that Iran worked on "a range of activities relevant" to making nuclear weapons, with coordinated efforts up to 2003 tapering off into scattered activities up to 2009.
Chief Iranian delegate Reza Najafi denied such work, in keeping with his country's constant line during the protracted probe. In his statement to the board, and then to reporters outside the meeting, he said Tehran's nuclear activities "have always been for peaceful civilian or conventional military uses."
Noting that formal closure of the issue negates a series of critical IAEA resolutions against his country, he proclaimed Tuesday a "historic day" that opens the path to closer cooperation both with the agency and its member nations.
Amano hailed the "very important milestone." At the same time, he noted that - with his agency charged with monitoring Iran's commitments under a deal that extends for more than a decade - "much work needs to be done in the future.
"We cannot relax," he said. "We cannot be complacent."
Despite Iranian denials, the US and its allies continue to believe that Tehran did work on components of a nuclear weapon. But their overriding interest is moving ahead to implement the July 14 deal.