Iran has signalled it is unwilling to grant a request by international nuclear inspectors for unfettered access to a restricted military complex they suspect may house a chamber designed to test explosives used in atomic weapons triggers.In its first public statement on the matter since the leader of the International Atomic Energy Agency expressed irritation last week about Iran's lack of co-operation, Iran also denied suggestions it had sought to cleanse the military complex, called Parchin, to eliminate any trace of incriminating activity.
''The site is a military site and conventional military activities are being carried out in the site,'' the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, said, according to Iranian news agencies.
Ridiculing reports that Iran had tried to clean up the site, he said: ''If military nuclear activities are carried out, evidence of them can never be cleaned up, and the issue is mostly propaganda.''
Iran's unwillingness to grant the inspectors' request could complicate resumed talks announced last week between Iran and the five permanent United Nations Security Council members plus Germany over Iran's nuclear energy program, an increasing source of world tension.