U.S. sees "apparent clean-up" at Iran site

U.S. sees "apparent clean-up" at Iran site

VIENNA (Reuters) - A senior U.S. official said on Tuesday that Iran was carrying out apparent clean-up efforts at a military site, Parchin, that the U.N. nuclear watchdog wants to visit as part of a probe into suspected atom bomb research in the Islamic state.

Robert Wood, acting head of the U.S. mission to the International Atomic Energy Agency, also told the IAEA's 35-nation board that Iran had produced enough low-enriched uranium for several nuclear weapons if refined further to high levels.

"Iran has actually accelerated its production of low-enriched uranium," Wood said, according to a copy of his statement. "There appears no immediate peaceful need for such stockpiles or for such an acceleration of the program, and we would note that this quantity of low-enriched uranium is enough for several nuclear weapons if further enriched to higher levels."

(Reporting by Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Michael Roddy)