Washington, US
Amid the US sanctions on Iran over concerns of its nuclear program, Washington along with UK and several European Union countries have joined hands to call out the nuclear watchdog IAEA to pass a resolution ordering Tehran to "urgently" explain uranium traces found at three undeclared sites.
As seen by Reuters in the resolution text, the US, Britain, France and Germany have sent this draft resolution on Friday to other countries on the 35-nation International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors.
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This key development comes ahead of a quarterly meeting which starts on Wednesday next week. Speculations are rife that Western powers will push IAEA during the meeting to call out Iran to cooperate.
In 2019, IAEA first discovered the traces of man-made uranium that suggested they were once connected to Iranâs nuclear program. US intelligence agencies have said Iran has an organized nuclear weapons program however since long Iran has denied the allegations.
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The nuclear watchdog on Thursday issued a report, which is also seen by Reuters, that said Iran has agreed to a visit by the UN nuclear watchdog this month to start giving answers.
"IAEA chief Rafael Grossi takes note of Iran's proposal to hold a further technical meeting with senior Agency officials in Tehran before the end of the month, but stresses that this meeting should be aimed at effectively clarifying and resolving those issues," one of two confidential IAEA reports on Iran sent to member states on Thursday said, reported Reuters.
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The IAEA "expects to start receiving from Iran technically credible explanations on these issues, including access to locations and material, as well as the taking of samples as appropriate", it added.
The US has also alleged Iranian military personnel of visiting Crimea where the country said Russian military personnel have been piloting the Tehran's drones which is targeting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
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