'Deep, increasing concern' on Iran: IAEA resolution

VIENNA (AFP) - World powers on Thursday put forward a resolution at the UN atomic watchdog expressing "deep and increasing concern" about Iran's nuclear programme following a hard-hitting IAEA report last week.
The resolution from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany "expresses deep and increasing concern about the unresolved issues regarding the Iranian nuclear programme, including those which need to be clarified to exclude the existence of possible military dimensions." Meanwhile, the head of the UN atomic watchdog said Thursday he has proposed to Iran a "high-level" visit to Tehran to discuss the body's damning new report on the country's nuclear programme.
"I wrote to Irans Vice-President and President of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Dr Abbasi, on 2 November proposing to send a high-level team to Iran," International Atomic Energy Agency head Yukiya Amano said. Speaking at the start of a two-day meeting of the IAEA's board of governors expected to be dominated by the new report, Amano said he hoped the visit would "clarify the issues" in the Vienna-based agency's assessment. "I hope a suitable date can be agreed soon," he said, according to a text of his speech made available at http://www.iaea.org/press/.
"It is essential that any such mission should be well planned and that it should address the issues contained in my report," he said. "I ask Iran to engage substantively with the agency without delay and provide the requested clarifications regarding possible military dimensions to its nuclear programme."
He added: "I remain willing to engage in dialogue with Iran.
Last week, the agency came the closest yet to accusing Iran outright of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, in a report immediately rejected by the Islamic republic as "baseless."