Iran Stonewalling as Nuclear Talks Hang in Balance, Agency Says

VIENNA - The U.N. atomic watchdog on Tuesday criticized Iran for stonewalling an investigation into past activities and jeopardizing important monitoring work, possibly complicating efforts to resume talks on the Iran nuclear deal. 

The International Atomic Energy Agency said in two reports to member states reviewed by Reuters that there had been no progress on two central issues: explaining uranium traces found at several old undeclared sites and getting urgent access to some monitoring equipment so that the agency can continue to keep track of parts of Iran's nuclear program.  While the investigation into the uranium traces has been going on for more than a year, diplomats say the IAEA urgently needs access to the equipment to swap out memory cards so there are no gaps in its observation of activities such as the production of parts for centrifuges, machines that enrich uranium.  Without such monitoring and so-called continuity of knowledge, Iran could produce and hide unknown quantities of equipment that can be used to make weapons or reactor fuel.