The UN atomic watchdog cannot yet determine if a building in a remote site in the Syrian desert destroyed by Israeli planes last year was intended for nuclear use, the IAEA found in a report Wednesday. "While it cannot be excluded that the building in question was intended for non-nuclear use, the features of the building ... along with the connectivity of the site to adequate pumping capacity of cooling water are similar to what may be found in connection with a reactor site," the IAEA said in its report, according to AFP.
Meanwhile, the UN body said Iran is still defying UN demands to suspend uranium enrichment and not cooperating with investigations into claims that its nuclear programme has a military aspect. "Contrary to the decisions of the (UN) Security Council, Iran has not suspended its enrichment related activities, having continued ... the installation of new cascades and the operation of new generation centrifuges for test purposes," the IAEA said.
According to the report, the IAEA had been unable to make any "substantive" progress during inquiries into whether the nuclear programme has a military aspect. "Regrettably, as a result of the lack of cooperation by Iran in connection with the alleged studies and other associated key remaining isuses of serious concern, the agency has not been able to make substantive progress on these issues," the report said, according to AFP.
