VIENNA — The U.S. and its Western allies bluntly accused Iran on Friday of deceiving the world by trying to hide work on nuclear arms, as the U.N. atomic agency passed a new resolution criticizing Iran’s nuclear defiance.
Iran shot back that the West’s allegations were based on fabricated American, Israeli, British and French intelligence fed to the International Atomic Energy Agency to try to discredit the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s chief IAEA delegate withdrew an invitation to U.N. atomic-agency experts to visit Tehran and discuss nuclear concerns.
France warned Iran to defuse world fears that it is working on nuclear weapons or face “unprecedented” sanctions, while the U.S. dismissed “the hollowness” of Iranian claims, asserting that Iran must acknowledge its secret weapons development work.
