Accessibility links

Breaking News

Reports: Iran Resolves IAEA Concerns About Nuclear Site


FILE - The flag of Iran waves in front of the the International Center building with the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021.
FILE - The flag of Iran waves in front of the the International Center building with the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021.

Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency have resolved questions about one of three sites where inspectors found previously undeclared nuclear material, Iranian state media said Tuesday.

The IAEA has for years sought answers from Iran about what inspectors said was the presence of “uranium particles of anthropogenic origin.”

A series of meetings, including a March visit to Tehran by IAEA chief Rafael Grossi brought pledges by Iran to cooperate with the probe.

Iranian state media said Tuesday that the two sides had resolved the case of the Marivan site, located in Fars province.

IAEA reports said an analysis of samples taken from the site in 2020 indicated the presence of uranium particles. The IAEA said it had information that in 2003 Iran planned to use and store nuclear material at the site for explosive testing.

Iran has denied allegations that it worked to develop nuclear weapons.

Fears of an Iranian weapons program prompted the 2015 agreement Iran signed with Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany that restricted the country’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

The United States withdrew from the deal in 2018 due to what then-President Donald Trump said was terms that were too favorable to Iran.

Iran responded by stepping away from its commitments under the deal, including enriching uranium to higher levels, employing more advanced centrifuges and holding larger stockpiles of enriched uranium.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

Special Report

XS
SM
MD
LG