IAEA must determine independently if damaged Iranian nuclear facilities safe to access, Tehran calls demand 'unreasonable'

Tehran/Vienna, Dec. 20 -- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that the agency must determine on its own whether Iran's damaged nuclear facilities at Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan are inaccessible following the US strikes in June 22, a position Tehran has rejected, calling it "unreasonable".

Denouncing the nuclear watchdog's comments, Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation spokesman, Behrouz Kamalvandi, was quoted as saying to Iranian media, "The agency's insistence that access and inspections take place strictly under a safeguards agreement written for non-war conditions is unreasonable."Countering Tehran's position, the agency's chief Rafael Grossi said Iran could not unilaterally decide whether the sites were unsafe to examine...