Iran faces accusations of nuclear-weapons lies

VIENNA, Austria - The United States 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 Tehran'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.

Reflecting Iran's bitterness, its IAEA ambassador, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, withdrew an invitation to U.N. atomic agency experts to visit Tehran and discuss nuclear concerns.

He also announced that Tehran was boycotting a meeting this week to explore the possibilities of a Mideast nuclear-free zone that will be attended by Israel and all Arab nations, accusing IAEA chief Yukiya Amano of bias for not focusing on Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal.

The unusually tough exchanges were bound to further raise international tensions over Iran's nuclear activities - even though the Western statements emphasized that the preferred solution was through diplomacy.

France warned Iran to defuse world fears that it was working on nuclear weapons or face "unprecedented" sanctions, while Washington dismissed "the hollowness" of Iranian claims, asserting that Iran must acknowledge its secret weapons development work. Britain, too, urged Iran to "address the grave concerns of the international community about its nuclear program."

Statements delivered to the IAEA's 35-nation board by the United States, and on behalf of Germany, Britain, and France, contained no mention of military action - an option that has not been discounted by Israel or the United States if Tehran refuses to stop activities that can be used for nuclear weapons.

Still, they pulled no punches, drawing heavily on a recent IAEA report based on intelligence from more than 10 nations that concluded that some alleged clandestine work by Iran could not be used for any other purpose than making nuclear arms.

"It is no longer within the bounds of credulity to claim that Iran's nuclear activities are solely peaceful," said Glyn Davies, the chief U.S. delegate to the IAEA, adding: "There is little doubt that Iran . . . at the very least, wants to position itself for a nuclear weapons capability."

He told the Associated Press that the Iranian allegations were nothing more than "old bile in new bottles" - old excuses repackaged for the IAEA meeting.