Iran digs in heels over nuclear secrets

Iran said yesterday it had told the United Nations enough about its nuclear programme and had no obligation to say more, rebuffing calls for it to be more open and dispel suspicions it is building a nuclear bomb.

"Iran has given enough answers to the agency's questions," Hassan Rohani, head of Supreme National Security Council and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, was quoted as saying by the official news agency IRNA.

On Tuesday the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN's nuclear watchdog body, said Iran had continued to hide from it technology and research that could be linked to a weapons programme - despite its declaration in October that it had no more secrets to divulge.

"We have other research projects which we haven't announced to the agency and we don't think it is neceesary to announce to the agency," Rohani said. The IRNA report gave no details on the kinds of projects he was referring to.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, said in a statement sent to Reuters that outstanding IAEA concerns about Tehran's nuclear programme were "purely procedural" and did not undermine Iran's denials that is is pursuing atomic arms.

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said on Tuesday Tehran's failure to disclose sensitive research in its October declaration was a "setback" and said he wanted to see "much more prompt" information coming from the Islamic republic.