Iran: No reason to visit Parchin nuclear facility

The director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said there's no reason for international inspectors to visit the Parchin military complex outside Tehran. The International Atomic Energy Agency this week said it wasn't able to verify the intent of Iran's nuclear program because it wasn't allowed access to the military installation. Joseph Macmanus, U.S. envoy to the IAEA, said this week that satellite imagery of the site suggested Iran may be trying to cover nuclear work there. Fereidoun Abassi, director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, was quoted by the semiofficial Fars News Agency as saying there's no reason for IAEA inspectors to visit Parchin. "Parchin isn't a nuclear site and no nuclear activity is carried out in there," he said. If it is, then inspectors need to provide supporting documentation to Iranian officials, added Abassi. A second round of negotiations between Iran, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany is scheduled for April in Kazakhstan. Iran is suspected of pursuing the technology needed to manufacture a nuclear weapon, an allegation Tehran denies. The government described last month's multilateral nuclear negotiations in Kazakhstan as positive, though no breakthroughs were announced.