United Nations nuclear watchdog 'extremely concerned' about Iran's atomic work

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog is "extremely concerned" about Iran's atomic program and the pending nuclear deal, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi told the European Parliament. 

Iran has not been open about where its nuclear sites are located, the agency asserted.

Over the last several months, the IAEA identified "traces of enriched uranium in places that had never been declared by Iran as places where any activity was taking place," Grossi said on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg.

"I am not trying to pass an alarmist message that we are at a dead end, but the situation does not look very good. Iran has not been forthcoming in the type of information we need from them," he explained, per Reuters.

Grossi expressed hope that the 2015 Obama-era nuclear deal could be revived. 

"We are, of course, still hopeful that some agreement is going to be reached within a reasonable time frame, although we have to recognise the fact that the window of opportunity could be closed any anytime," Grossi noted.

However, in January, a Biden official said that the United States has "only a handful of weeks left" to reenter the deal before Iran has enough weapons-grade fissile material to use for a bomb.

Other countries, notably Israel, have expressed concerns that the deal would help fund Iran, including its state-sponsored terrorism.