Much to do before extent of Iran nuclear program is known: IAEA

STOCKHOLM (AFP) Dec 08, 2003
Iran has been cooperative in disclosing information about its nuclear programme but more needs to be done before there is certainty about the full scale of its activities, the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog said on Monday.

"I'm satisfied by the degree of cooperation we have seen from Iran for six weeks or so," International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Mohamed El Baradei told reporters in Stockholm on the sidelines of a conference on nuclear waste management.

"But I very much hope that this will be sustained because we still have a lot of work to do," he stressed.

The IAEA two weeks ago condemned Iran for 18 years of covert nuclear activities but stopped short of bowing to US demands of hauling Tehran in front of the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.

Tehran recently agreed to sign, in the "next couple of weeks", an additional protocol to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NTP) that would authorise snap inspections of Iran's nuclear activities.

El Baradei is due to file a report in February on the full scale of Iran's nuclear activities, for which Iran has pledged to supply all information required by the IAEA.

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