The UN's nuclear agency has cut back on its technical aid projects in Iran as part of UN sanctions imposed on Tehran over its disputed nuclear programme.
A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency said that of 55 projects in Iran, 10 were stopped and 12 restricted as they could violate UN sanctions.
The aid reductions are already in place but will go for final approval at a March meeting of the IAEA's board of governors.
"This is a substantial cut in the technical aid programme for Iran," said a senior UN official.
"It is a message of inducement to Iran to reconsider its course," he said.
|
"If the US dares to attack Iran, it will be the end-all and be-all of everything the US ever stood for"
MPerry4721, Shenorock, US
|
The confidential report by Mohamed El-Baradei, the IAEA chief, was obtained by both the Reuters and AFP news agencies.
The existing UN resolution bans transfers of sensitive nuclear materials and know-how to Iran.
IAEA aid, traditionally given to support peaceful uses of nuclear energy, is also banned if it has any possible use in producing atomic fuel.
Projects stopped as a result of the IAEA action related mainly to strategic nuclear power planning and generation of nuclear fuel.
Munich meeting
The move comes as Ali Larijani, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, headed to an international security conference in Munich, Germany, after earlier reports had said he was too ill to leave.
A diplomat close to the Vienna-based IAEA said European states at the conference would urge Larijani to revive negotiations on the issue by getting Iran "to come up with some realistic, achievable proposals" to meet the UN's demands.
Tension is escalating over Iran's nuclear programme, particularly its production of enriched uranium - which can be used for fuel or weapons.
Iran says its programme is a peaceful effort to generate nuclear-powered electricity but the US says Tehran is using this as a cover for the secret development of nuclear weapons.