UN nuclear chief says he ‘must alert world’ about Iran

The UN nuclear chief says it is his duty to “alert the world” about suspected work in Iran to develop atomic bombs, as major powers prepared to intensify the pressure on theIslamic state.

International Atomic Energy Agency head Yukiya Amano stressed the need for Iran to engage in serious talks and said he wanted to send a high-level mission to the country to address mounting fears about the nature of its nuclear activities.

An IAEA report last week, which assessed that Iran has been conducting research and experiments to develop a nuclear weapons capability, has stoked tensions in the Middle East and raised a clamour in Western capitals for harsher sanctions against the Islamic state.