White House regrets Iran 'failure' on UN mission

WASHINGTON: The White House expressed disappointment Wednesday that Iran had made no progress in its dealings with UN nuclear inspectors, branding the fruitless visit a "failure" on Tehran's part.

"We regret the failure of Iran to reach an agreement with the IAEA," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. "It's another demonstration of Iran's refusal to abide by its international obligations."

The International Atomic Energy Agency said it had gone into the two-day visit to Tehran -- and a previous, inconclusive one last month -- in a "constructive spirit," but said no agreement was reached on efforts to elucidate Iran's nuclear activities.

Despite requests, "we could not get access" to Iran's military site in Parchin where nuclear warhead design experiments were suspected to have been conducted, the leader of the IAEA team, chief UN inspector Herman Nackaerts, said on his return to Vienna. IAEA chief Yukiya Amano described Tehran's refusal to allow the Parchin inspection as "disappointing."

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the United States was disappointed but not surprised by Iran's denial of access to the inspectors.

Toner said that the United States would talk to other countries in the so-called P5+1 -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia -- on how to move forward on Iran.

"It is disappointing, but we're going to assess with our partners in P5+1 as we move forward," Toner told reporters.

"I think it, again, just speaks to the need to move in a very cautious but coherent and deliberative fashion," he said.

The fruitless IAEA trip came shortly after Iran sent a letter to European Union chief diplomat Catherine Ashton voicing willingness to resume talks.

Asked if Iran was sending mixed messages, Toner said the regime was likely feeling the pressure of international sanctions.

"We want to see negotiations move forward. There is that diplomatic track. But we're not going to ease up on the sanctions," Toner said.

The United States and Europe have been ramping up economic sanctions on Iran since November, when the IAEA published a report crystallizing -- though not entirely validating -- Western suspicions it was pursuing nuclear weapons research in Parchin and elsewhere.

Iran repeatedly has said the sanctions will not deter it from its nuclear ambitions, which it claims are peaceful, and it has threatened to strike back at any military action, possibly by closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz. (AFP)