IAEA Chief Launches Push for Answers From Iran

Yukiya Amano, Director General, IAEA

The head of the IAEA has renewed calls for answers from Iran about their nuclear development program. Yukiya Amano has taken a hard line in the past with nations who failed to hold to international standards. “It is not a question of being tough, or not,” he said. As IAEA chief, Amano said, he is “bound by IAEA statutes” and must “stick with principles.”

The chief U.N. nuclear official said Wednesday he is launching a new effort to resolve questions about alleged atomic weapons research by Iranian scientists, hinting at a firmer stance by the U.N. watchdog agency in seeking answers from Iran about its nuclear intentions.

Yukiya Amano, who became director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in December, said he is also pressing Iran for more robust monitoring of a nuclear facility that began producing a higher grade of enriched uranium this year. U.S. officials fear that the facility could shorten Iran’s path to nuclear weapons if the country’s leaders choose to make them.