IAEA Board To Discuss Syria, Iran

IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano (file photo)

The board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has kicked off a weeklong meeting in Vienna amid pressure from the United States and other nations to rebuke Syria over alleged illicit nuclear activity.

The latest IAEA report concluded that a Syrian site destroyed in a 2007 Israeli raid was probably a nuclear reactor which should have been declared. Syria insists that it was a non-nuclear, military site.

Opening the meeting, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said Syria had failed to cooperate fully on Deir Alzour, despite being given "ample time."

The issue of Iran's nuclear program will also be high on the agenda.

At a news conference in Vienna, Amano called on Tehran to work with the IAEA.

"I would like to reiterate my request to Iran to proactively cooperate with the agency and re-engage with the agency to clarify the activities which might have military dimension," Amano said.

"The activities in Iran related to the possible military dimension seem to have been continuing until quite recently."

compiled from agency reports