PARIS, Feb 14 (KUNA) -- France said on Thursday that it was "very concerned" by the breakdown, once again, in talks between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has been seeking inspections and access at Iran's multiple sites, some of which are suspected of housing military programmes linked with Iran's nuclear activities.
"The persistent refusal of Iran to finalise discussions with the IAEA and shed all light on the finality of its nuclear programme is very worrying," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot said in answer to a KUNA question.
The IAEA has been seeking proper and transparent access to Iranian sites for years and has complained that it has not been granted either access or complete answers to a number of "pending questions." The IAEA has also been requesting access to qualified personnel working on Iran's nuclear programme.
Iran claims its work is solely to provide civil nuclear technology for civilian energy purposes but alarm bells have been sounded both at the IAEA and with some nations regarding a possible military component to the nuclear activities.
Several meetings with the IAEA and Iranian officials have ended in stalemate, furthering suspicions Iran has something to hide.
"Unfortunately, Iran has not seized the opportunities of these meetings with the Agency to finally engage in steps towards cooperation and transparency. On the contrary, we note that Iran has announced the installation of new-generation centrifuges on the Natanz site, destined to accelerate its uranium enrichment programme," Lalliot pointed out.
He said Iran must cooperate with the IAEA in line with international obligations set out by the UN Security Council and by the IAEA Board of Governors.
The IAEA Board is due to meet at the beginning of March and will set out the conditions of the latest failure in talks with Iran and measures to take. (end) jk.sd KUNA 141548 Feb 13NNNN