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Iran told to allow access to inspectors

UN seeks clues on nuclear tests

LONDON — The head of the UN nuclear regulatory body urged Iran on Monday to allow access by international inspectors to a military site near Tehran to ascertain whether tests have been carried out there on nuclear bomb triggers.

Yukiya Amano, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, was speaking at the body's headquarters as its board of governors began a routine meeting weeks after IAEA inspectors returned from talks in Tehran that failed to obtain access to the Parchin site, 20 miles south of Tehran.

''I request Iran once again to provide access to the Parchin site without further delay,'' Amano said. ''Providing access to the Parchin site would be a positive step which would help to demonstrate Iran's willingness to engage with the agency on the substance of our concerns.''

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The talks about Parchin are separate from the negotiations Iran is conducting with six global powers on the broader question of its disputed nuclear program, which Tehran says is for peaceful purposes. Western powers suspect that Iran is seeking the technology for nuclear weapons.

The final round of those talks ended last week in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with agreement for further meetings in March and April over a proposal that would sharply constrain Iran's stockpile of the most dangerous enriched uranium in return for a modest lifting of some sanctions.

Also on Monday, Vice President Joe Biden assured the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that President Obama was not bluffing when he threatened to use military force — if all else failed — to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.