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Grossi: Iran's obtaining IAEA documentation is bad and shows poor co-operation.

Rafael Grossi, the chief of the U.N. Nuclear Watchdog agency, said that Iran's purchase of secret documents from the watchdog is a "bad" step and goes against the spirit that should exist between Tehran and the agency.

In a confidential report sent to its member states by the International Atomic Energy Agency on May 31, it said that "conclusive proof" had been provided by Iran of Iran's active collection and analysis of Agency documents.

The report stated that this "raises grave concerns regarding Iran's collaboration spirit" and could undermine IAEA work in Iran. But Tehran, in a recent statement to IAEA member states, said the accusations in the report were "slanderous", and that they had been made without "presenting any substantiated evidence or document".

This week, the 35-nation Board of Governors of the IAEA will hold a quarterly meeting. The United States will propose to the board a resolution that declares Iran in violation of its obligations to non-proliferate due to other failures detailed in the report.

Grossi said at a press briefing that "here, unfortunately, this is a situation that dates back a few year ago... We could tell with absolute clarity that documents belonging to the agency had been in the Iranian authorities' hands, which was bad." "We do not believe this action is compatible with the spirit and purpose of cooperation."

Grossi responded: "No. We have received documents from our member states and we also have our own assessments of documents, equipment, etc. (Reporting and editing by William Maclean, Francois Murphy)

(source: Reuters)