U.S. voices regret over failure of IAEA Mission Iran ...

2/22/2012

U.S. voices regret over failure of IAEA mission

Washington, The U.S. voiced here Wednesday "regret" over Iran's failure to reach an agreement with the IAEA, saying that this reflects that Iran has not changed its "behavior" towards abiding to its international obligations.

White House Spokesman Jay Carney told reporters "we regret the failure of Iran to reach an agreement this week with the IAEA that would permit the agency to fully investigate the serious allegations raised in its November report."

He indicated that the agency maintains regular access to both of Iran's enrichment facilities at Qom and Natanz and that it was "seeking additional access in line with Iran's safeguards, obligations to sites and facilities where Iran is suspected of conducting work related to weaponization activity." "Unfortunately this is another demonstration of Iran's refusal to abide by its international obligations," he stressed.

He affirmed that "this particular action by Iran suggests that they have not changed their behavior when it comes to abiding by their international obligations." For his part, State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner told reporters in his briefing that the failure of the IAEA mission is considered a "disappointment" but that it "wasn't all that surprising, frankly." He added that "we want to see them (Iran) cooperate.

We want to see them address the international community's very well-founded concerns about their nuclear program, and that remains our goal."

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