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VIENNA-Iran has blocked a U.N. inquiry into whether it researched ways to make a nuclear bomb, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Monday, as Britain said it would push hard for tougher sanctions against Tehran.A confidential IAEA report said Iran had raised the number of centrifuges enriching uranium by 500 to 3,820 since May and was stepping up development of an advanced model able to refine nuclear fuel 2-3 times faster, in defiance of U.N. resolutions. But a senior U.N. official familiar with the International Atomic Energy Agency findings said Iran seemed a good two years away from enriching enough uranium for an atomic weapon, if it eventually chose to do so.Iran denies its nuclear work is aimed at developing a bomb."On the issue of possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear programme, we have arrived at a gridlock. Without Iran's assistance and cooperation, we cannot move forward," said a second senior U.N. official.Iran blamed the IAEA for the impasse. A senior Iranian official, who declined to be named, called on the IAEA to change its approach and work in a "legal and logical" manner. Britain accused Iran of showing "contempt for the IAEA by continuing to refuse to respond" to IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei's serious concerns about possible covert bomb work."We will therefore push hard for further U.N. sanctions in the coming weeks," a British Foreign Office statement said.To read more go to:
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