Washington has directly challenged United Nations'

 report which concluded that Iran has not been

 trying to develop atomic weapons.

 A senior State Department official John Bolton 

told an audience in the American capital 

that the report by the nuclear watchdog, 

the IAEA, flew in the face of established facts.

 From Washington, here’s David Banfort.

In his speech, Mr. Bolton said the Atomic Energy Agency's

 main conclusion that there was no evidence Iran was

 seeking to acquire nuclear weapons was impossible 

to believe. Mr. Bolton, 

the State Department's Undersecretary for arms control, 

said the IAEA statement flew in the face of

 established facts. He said that Iranian denials,

 deceptions and violations over an 18-year period

 pointed in the opposite direction.

 Mr. Bolton’s language is exceptionally undiplomatic,

 and he stops only just short of directly

 criticizing the head of the Atomic Energy Agency,

 Mohamed ElBaradei.