VIENNA, June 23 (AFP): The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Monday called for its inspectors to be able to return to Iran's nuclear sites in a bid to "account for" its highly enriched uranium stockpiles.
He called for a cessation of hostilities. The request follows attacks by Israel and the United States on Iran's nuclear facilities.
"Iran, Israel and the Middle East need peace," Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told an emergency meeting of the organisation's board of governors in Vienna. "For that, we must take a number of steps," he said.
"First of all, we must return to the negotiating table and for that allow IAEA inspectors-the guardians on our behalf of the NPT (nuclear non-proliferation treaty) -- to go back to Iran's nuclear sites and account for the stockpiles of uranium, including, most importantly, the 400 kilogrammes enriched to 60 percent."
Grossi said Tehran had sent him a letter on June 13 announcing the implementation of "special measures to protect nuclear equipment and materials".
'Extremely dangerous' if Iran
closes Strait of Hormuz: EU
The EU's top diplomat warned Monday it would be "extremely dangerous" should Iran shut down the crucial Strait of Hormuz trading route over US strikes on its nuclear sites.
"Concerns of retaliation and this war escalating are huge," Kaja Kallas told reporters as EU foreign ministers met in Brussels for talks, with the Iran-Israel conflict high on the agenda.
"Especially the closing of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran is something that would be extremely dangerous and not good for anybody," she warned.
Analysts have said Iran may opt to retaliate to Washington's early Sunday attack by shutting the Strait, a waterway through which one-fifth of global oil output passes.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has urged China to help deter Iran from shutting down the trading route.
The European Union has been urging de-escalation since the United States joined Israel's war with Iran by striking the country's nuclear sites.
