World powers unite to censure Iran over nuclear work

The UN’s top nuclear official is expressing concern that Iran may be secretly continuing work on nuclear weapons. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano told The Associated Press that his agency has indications of such activities both “in the past and now.” Iran denies secret weapons work and even the United States — which provides much of the intelligence on Iran to the agency — said in 2007 that Tehran had suspended all meaningful weapons development by 2003.

World powers united on Friday to seek a new UN censure of Iran's nuclear programme and demand that it halt construction of uranium enrichment site kept secret until recently.Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Russia and China sponsored the new resolution against Iran to be voted by the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-member board of governors, diplomats said.Diplomats predicted it would be approved with a substantial majority.Western powers suspect Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb. Iran insists its atomic drive is peaceful.

VIENNA — In a defiant move ahead of nuclear talks, Iran has announced plans to vastly increase its pace of uranium enrichment, which can make both reactor fuel and the fissile core of warheads. Eager to avoid scuttling those negotiations, world powers are keeping their response low-key. Iran told the International Atomic Energy Agency of its intentions last week, and the IAEA informed member nations in an internal note seen by The Associated Press on Thursday.

US Vice President Joe Biden on Friday warned Iran that opportunities for diplomacy over its disputed nuclear programme were not unlimited but offered direct talks between Washington and Tehran. In an interview with the German Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily, Biden said the "burden of proof" that Iran was not seeking a nuclear weapon lay with the authorities in Tehran.

Iran will produce its own fuel for a medical research reactor in Tehran if it is not made available by the UN atomic watchdog, a senior hardline cleric said on Saturday.Ahmad Khatami, speaking at a Tehran University prayer service to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, also warned world powers that Iran would not be swayed by "bribery" or cowed by threats from its rights to nuclear technology.He was responding to a resolution adopted on Friday by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) demanding that Iran halt construction of a new uranium enrichment facility.

VIENNA, Austria — Senior UN investigators trying for more than a year to restart a probe into Iran’s alleged work on nuclear arms chose their words carefully Tuesday about hopes for success as they left for Tehran on a trip that sets the stage for separate talks between six world powers and the Islamic Republic. Iran insists it has never tried to develop nuclear arms — an assertion underlined by the Foreign Ministry in Tehran as the UN team of International Atomic Energy Agency experts prepared to board the flight bound for the Iranian capital.

Iran on Tuesday began enriching uranium to 20 percent purity level at its Natanz plant in defiance of world powers but under the supervision of inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog, state media said.Al-Alam television quoted a source from Iran's atomic body as telling the state-owned Arabic language channel that "Iran has started enriching uranium to 20 percent in the presence of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) inspectors at Natanz."