UN nuclear chief, facing Israeli criticism on Iran, says his agency ‘very fair but firm’

By STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN
Associated Press

VIENNA (AP) — The head of the International Atomic Agency says that the U.N. nuclear watchdog will “never politicize” its work in Iran. He insisted on Monday after Israel’s prime minister accused it of capitulating to Iranian pressure that his agency has been “very fair but firm.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments came after a confidential report from the IAEA last week said that its investigators had closed off their investigation of traces of man-made uranium found at Marivan. Analysts had repeatedly linked Marivan to a possible secret Iranian military nuclear program and accused Iran of conducting high-explosives tests there in the early 2000s.