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The US and Iran on Wednesday geared up for the next stage in the dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme, when Washington criticised a deal under which the Islamic Republic has offered to reveal more information about its activities.According to the deal, struck with the United Nations nuclear watchdog, Iran will provide more information in coming months about a series of issues that the west believes cast doubt on the nature of what Iran insists is a peaceful nuclear programme.These issues, detailed in reports stretching back to 2003, include unaccounted-for nuclear contamination, Iran’s possession of a design that could be of use in constructing a nuclear warhead, and unexplained links between Iran’s military and the nuclear programme.Details of the deal, which comes ahead of a UN Security Council debate expected next month over possible new sanctions on Tehran, have not yet been made public. But on Wednesday Washington, the UK and France all indicated that Iran’s step was inadequate.“Co-operation that is partial, conditional and only promised in the future is not enough,” said Greg Schulte, US ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear body.This summer Javier Solana, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, also extracted a promise from Ali Larijani, Iran’s top security official, that Tehran would seek to address unresolved issues regarding its nuclear programme.“There had not been any movement for over a year and now that Iran has decided to increase its co- operation with the IAEA this should be seen as an encouraging step,” said a western diplomat. “Any immediate dismissal of this progress appears to be an attempt to derail the process.”However, despite several meetings with Mr Larijani, Mr Solana has failed to persuade Tehran to halt uranium enrichment, which can produce either nuclear fuel or weapons grade material – or even to stop installing new centrifuges.
As in the days of Noah...
