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Vienna: US and allied envoys met the UN nuclear watchdog chief on Friday to complain about remarks they saw as undercutting efforts to shut down Iran's uranium enrichment programme, diplomats said. Iran has made progress towards a nuclear energy industry despite pressure from big powers on Tehran to suspend all enrichment-related activity. Tehran has rejected enrichment suspension demands as a violation of its rights. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director Mohammad Al Baradei has irked the West by calling for a face-saving compromise that would cap Iranian enrichment activity at its current levels before it reaches industrial scale yielding large stockpiles of fuel convertible into material for atom bombs.
Diplomats said that US, British, French and Japanese ambassadors to the IAEA had visited Al Baradei's office to stress that Security Council policy was law, adopted unanimously, and that they wanted his support. "We made our concerns clear about the need for a complete suspension. We felt his published remarks were not helpful at this time," a British diplomat told reporters. At least two other diplomats confirmed the meeting. The US State Department said the ambassadors had "raised their concerns" about Al Baradei's statements. "All agreed that Iran needed to suspend its uranium enrichment activities, and noted the director-general statement yesterday (Wednesday) calling on Iran to do so," Deputy State Department Spokesman Tom Casey said. "They reiterated their continued support for United Nations Security Council resolutions on Iran's nuclear programme."
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