Damien McElroy: Iran Slams 'Unprofessional' IAEA Chief

Iran's fury at the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) report accusing Tehran of building a nuclear bomb was yesterday directed against the agency's Japanese leader and his Western backers. Ali Ashgar Soltanieh said Iran would retaliate for the sweeping nature of the report by suspending access to parts of its nuclear program that it regards as a voluntary gesture to allay international concern. "The UN atomic watchdog should not become a subsidiary of the Security Council, publishing false accusations dictated from New York and Washington," he said. "We will ensure that some steps we are taking beyond what we are obliged to do will not be continued, such as opening up or research and development and the heavy water program. We are under no obligation to do this." Speaking as he drove from the spacious villa that houses his delegation in central Vienna to the IAEA headquarters across the river, Mr Soltanieh pulled an invitation letter to Tehran, addressed to the IAEA director general Yukiya Amano last month. On a grey day in the Austrian capital, he built a broad case that Mr Amano had acted in bad faith by pursuing an agenda to smear Iran with discredited accusations. "Whatever is in the report is old accusations that we dealt with," he said.