U.S. Wants Details on Iran Nuke Claims 'Very Soon'

The United States said Wednesday it hoped the U.N. atomic agency would "very soon" give more detail on new information the watchdog has on possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program.

"The real fear is that Iran is continuing ... and has over many years continued to explore and to develop technologies with no applications other than in the military sphere," Glyn Davies, U.S. envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told reporters.

A report presented to the 35-member IAEA board in Vienna Wednesday said the agency was "increasingly concerned" about a possible military dimension to Iran's nuclear work, about which it "continues to receive new information."

"The information ... is extensive and comprehensive and has been acquired both from many member states and through its own efforts," the report presented during the multi-day regular meeting said.

"It is also broadly consistent and credible in terms of technical detail, the time frame in which the activities were conducted and the people and organizations involved."

Davies said in a statement: "Iran's well-worn rhetoric that this information is 'baseless' or 'fabricated' does nothing to address the issues or alleviate the international community's concerns."

"I hope very soon" to see a new report, he said to reporters, adding that once it was presented it would be up to the board of governors of the IAEA "to draw conclusions and possibly take action."

The United Nations Security Council has imposed four rounds of sanctions on Iran, most recently in June 2010, over Tehran's refusal to stop sensitive nuclear work, most notably the enrichment of uranium.

Many Western nations suspect that Iran's program, which Tehran says is purely peaceful, is aimed at developing nuclear weapons.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had said on Tuesday that his country has "no need" for nuclear weapons, telling NBC that atomic bombs were "against our beliefs and our ideology."

Davies said meanwhile that he saw in a letter sent by Iran to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton -- confirmed to Agence France Presse in Brussels by her spokesman Michael Mann -- contained nothing to calm fears about Iran's activities.

"My own view, from the narrow standpoint of the work we do here at the IAEA, (is that) I don't see ... anything new by way of an Iranian commitment to fully address the concerns that the international community has," he said.