[JURIST] An Iranian official with the country's Supreme National Security Council said Saturday that a potential UN Security Council [official website] resolution imposing new sanctions on Iran in connection with its nuclear activities would be "legally and technically baseless," according to the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA). On Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) [official website] reported [press release] that while a recent probe into the county's nuclear activities managed to "clarify" those, it needed continued access to ensure that Iran's nuclear program was solely directed at peaceful purposes. IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei encouraged [statement text] Iran to authorize the IAEA to visit Iran and obtain documents, including documents pertaining to Iran's unclear past weaponization studies. AFP has more. UN News Centre has additional coverage.

Last March, the UN Security Council unanimously voted to impose sanctions [JURIST report] on Iran for continuing to enrich uranium in violation of a December 2006 resolution. Security Council Resolution 1747 [text and background] broadens the sanctions of December 2006's Resolution 1737 [text; JURIST report], freezing assets of investors in Iran and blocking the export of Iranian arms.