Agency Says Tehran Prevented Access to Sites, Scientists; Breakdown Poses New Obstacle to Renewed Talks With the West

WASHINGTON—Talks between Iran and the United Nations nuclear watchdog aimed at gaining greater access to Tehran´s nuclear sites, scientists and documents broke down Tuesday, raising serious questions about the future for any negotiations between the Islamic Republic and the West.

Inspectors from the U.N.´s International Atomic Energy Agency had sought this week to visit a military site south of Iran, called Parchin, that the IAEA believes might be involved in research to develop atomic weapons. A charge Iran has denied.

The agency has also repeatedly sought to interview key scientists allegedly involved in the nuclear program and to discuss with Iran documents that the IAEA believes could show ongoing studies to develop nuclear weapons.

In a statement released late Tuesday, though, the IAEA´s director general, Yukiya Amano, said Tehran refused to allow its inspectors to visit Parchin or to engage in substantive talks concerning the agency´s concerns about nuclear weapons work. The Japanese diplomat also refused to indicate any future high-level talks between Iran and the IAEA to address the nuclear question.

The IAEA delegation´s visit on Monday and Tuesday was its second trip to Tehran this month aimed at gaining greater cooperation. The mission was headed by the agency´s chief inspector, Herman Nackaerts of Belgium.

"It is disappointing that Iran did not accept our request to visit Parchin during the first or second meetings," Mr. Amano said in a statement. "We engaged in a constructive spirit, but no agreement was reached."

Iranian officials on Tuesday sought to play down the conflict with the IAEA by describing the meetings as constructive. They also played down the issue of Parchin by arguing that it´s not a nuclear facility.

"The aim is to negotiate about cooperation between Iran and the agency and to set a framework for a continuation of the talks," the spokesman for Iran´s foreign ministry, Ramin Mehmanparast, told Iranian state news agencies. "Iran´s cooperation with the agency continues and is at its best level."

The breakdown in the talks raises questions about the future of potential talks between Iran and world powers that the Obama administration had hoped could be used to address the nuclear issue and defuse rising tensions between Tehran and the West.

Last week, Iran´s nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, wrote the European Union´s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, calling for an immediate resumption of talks without preconditions. Ms. Ashton leads a bloc of nations seeking to engage with Tehran on the nuclear issue, which includes the U.S., France, Britain, Germany, U.K., China and Russia.

Ms. Ashton, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and European officials welcomed Iran´s overture, saying it could signal an opening for a resumption of serious negotiations. But they also said Tehran would need to display a seriousness to address the West´s concerns about alleged nuclear weapons work and cited Tehran´s treatment of the IAEA team as a key barometer.

Senior U.S. officials said late Tuesday that it was uncertain whether the failed IAEA talks would kill hopes for the broader negotiations.

"Won´t help. Won´t kill" them, said an American official involved in Iran policy.

Tensions between Iran and the West have escalated dramatically in recent weeks, as the U.S. and EU have imposed draconian new sanctions on Iran. Washington and Brussels have targeted Iran´s oil exports and central bank. And last week. European officials said they were banning most Iranian banks from using the electronic and communications system that´s at the center of the global banking system.

Iran has responded by threatening to block the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which flows around 40% of the world´s crude oil exports. And Israel has accused Tehran of attempting to assassinate Israeli diplomats in recent weeks living in Asia, a charge Tehran had denied.

On Tuesday, Iran threatened to take preemptive military action if it believed its national security interests were being undermined.

"Our strategy now is that if we feel our enemies want to endanger Iran´s national interests, and want to decide to do that, we will act without waiting for their actions," Mohammed Hejazi, the deputy armed forces head, told Iranian state media.

Israel has repeatedly threatened to attack Iran if international efforts to contain Tehran´s nuclear advances stalled.

Many Western diplomats had hoped the Israeli threats and the mounting sanctions might force Tehran to make some concessions to the IAEA and the West. But now some analysts said Tehran might be signaling the end of any substantive cooperation with the U.N. agency.

"The Iranians now see the IAEA as an extension of the U.S, government," said Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington think tank. "They feel they have no incentive to be transparent [with the IAEA] as it will only further incriminate them."

The IAEA is scheduled to release its quarterly report on the status of Iran´s nuclear work in the next few weeks. The agency´s November report marked its most direct charge that the IAEA believes Iran has sought to develop nuclear weapons. (Copyright © Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) 02/22/12)