US accuses Iran of intimidating UN inspectors investigating Tehran’s nuclear program

US accuses Iran of intimidating nuclear inspectors

VIENNA — The United States is accusing Iran of intimidating U.N. inspectors investigating its nuclear program in an effort to influence their findings.

The charge follows Iran’s decision to bar two International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors after they reported that Tehran was experimenting with pyroprocessing, a procedure that can be used to purify uranium metal used in nuclear warheads.

Iran says the inspectors misreported what they saw and notes that every nation has the right to approve inspectors put forward by the agency.

But Glyn Davies, the chief U.S. delegate to the IAEA, told the agency’s 35-nation board Wednesday that barring inspectors because “they report accurately … is unprecedented.”

Iran’s ban is a “clear effort to intimate inspectors and thereby influence the conclusions” they make, he said.