The U.S. urged Iran Wednesday to "abandon forever the pursuit of nuclear weapons," saying evidence compiled by the International Atomic Energy Agency pointed overwhelmingly to such endeavors by Tehran.
Gregory L. Schulte, the chief U.S. delegate to the IAEA, made the demand as he joined with European powers to take the Islamic Republic to task for its nuclear defiance.
"The questions that remain unanswered strongly suggest that Iran has undertaken a significant state-sponsored effort to develop nuclear weapons, an effort that agency inspectors are not in a position to verify has halted," he told the IAEA's 35-nation board.
The European Union told the board that Iran's rejection of evidence it tried to make such arms as faked "is neither credible nor acceptable, given the quality of and quantity of the documents presented by the agency to Iran."
Since launching its probe into the allegations last year, the IAEA has asked in vain for substantive explanations for what seem to be draft plans to refit missiles with nuclear warheads, explosives tests that could be used for a nuclear detonation, military and civilian nuclear links and a drawing showing how to mold uranium metal into the shape of warheads.
Iran remains defiant, dismissing evidence from the U.S. and other board members purportedly backing the allegations as fabricated.
Senior diplomats who have been briefed on the issue have told The AP that IAEA officials leading the probe believe much of the intelligence provided by the U.S. and other board members is genuine.
But Russia _ which has braked Western attempts to impose tougher U.N. sanctions _ appeared to be in some doubt on that Wednesday. A Russian statement to the board said only "objective and verified information" should be used in the investigation.
And in a slap at the U.S. which has denied the agency permission to give paper copies of some of the intelligence it has provided, Russia said that Iran must have the chance to "carefully analyze the information."
Iran is also under fire for defying three sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions and continuing to enrich uranium _ which can generate both nuclear fuel and the fissile material for the core of nuclear warheads.
In a joint statement to the board separate from the EU comments, Britain, France and Germany, the European powers at the forefront of engaging Iran on its nuclear program, urged Tehran to accept an offer to start talks meant to defuse concerns it wants to make atomic weapons.
A new attempt to kickstart those talks appeared to be nearing even as Western nations at the board meeting criticized Iran for its defiance of the Security Council ban on enrichment and its stonewalling of an IAEA probe of its alleged weapons program. In Brussels, Belgium, the EU's foreign policy chief announced he would soon meet with Iranian leaders personally in a new attempt to sell them on nuclear negotiations.
"I don't expect miracles but I think it is important for us to keep extending a hand," Javier Solana told the European Parliament. In a debate on the EU's foreign policy, Solana told EU lawmakers it was important to continue to discuss international concerns about Iran's uranium enrichment program.
He did not give a date for his trip.
The "carrot and stick" concept _ offering Tehran incentives to persuade it to modify its nuclear behavior while punishing it if it doesn't _ has been the cornerstone of international efforts to engage Iran since 2004.
That's when European powers, backed by Russia, China and the United States, first offered Tehran economic, political and technological rewards if it suspended uranium enrichment and other activities that could be used to make nuclear arms.
Since then, however, Iran has gone on to expand its enrichment program, shrugging off three sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions. More recently, it has stonewalled IAEA attempts to delve into allegations that several Iranian projects appear to represent different components of a nuclear weapons program.
