Iran defiant as UN plans atomic weapons deadline

The UN nuclear watchdog looked set to impose a deadline on Iran to prove it is not running a covert atomic weapons program as Tehran warned it could end cooperation with the organisation.

In Tehran, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi denounced the “arrogance” and “extremist posture” of certain countries over Iran’s nuclear program in a statement published yesterday by the state news agency IRNA. Mr Kharazi also warned that Tehran might reconsider its cooperation with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

But IAEA chief Mohamed El-Baradei, speaking as the 35 member states of the IAEA’s governing board went into talks to reach an agreement for a resolution, said: “I think there is broad agreement the (IAEA) would like to see a deadline by which Iran should present all the information we need to have in order to bring this issue to closure.