Iran denied United Nations inspectors access to a suspected nuclear site, scientists and documents during a visit to Tehran this week, dimming already scant hopes for a breakthrough to end a standoff over Iran's nuclear work, according to diplomats briefed on the International Atomic Energy Agency's mission.
The U.N. agency specifically has been seeking to interview nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, whom the IAEA and U.S. government believe may be the lead Iranian official in organizing nuclear-weapons research.
Mr. Nackaerts also asked Iranian officials to visit a military facility just south of Tehran, called Parchin, but was denied, according to the officials briefed on the trip. The IAEA believes the facility may have housed a containment vessel used in conducting tests of the high explosives used in triggering a fissile reaction from the uranium metal used in a nuclear warhead, according to the agency's November report.
"There is no indication that Iran offered substantive cooperation in terms of answering the IAEA's questions" about military work, said a Western diplomat based at the agency's headquarters in Vienna. "Iran seemed focused on modalities rather than substance."
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