A delegation from Iran is expected to explain a decision to
resume nuclear fuel research to the International Atomic Energy
Agency in a meeting at IAEA headquarters on Thursday, diplomats
close to the agency said.
They said Mohammad Mehdi Akhonzadeh, Vienna-based Iranian
ambassador to the IAEA, met agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei on
Wednesday but failed to provide technical details about Tehran's
announcement on Tuesday of plans to restart the research drive.
Germany and France warned Iran against the planned end to a
suspension of nuclear research and development work, saying this
could endanger Iranian-EU talks designed to resolve a volatile
stand-off over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
The West suspects that Iran, which calls for Israel's
destruction, wants nuclear technology to build bombs. Iran says its
atomic work aims solely to generate electricity and years of IAEA
inquiries have found nothing to clearly disprove this.
Diplomats close to the IAEA said the Tehran delegation were to
meet technical experts in its nuclear safeguards division to
describe what the fresh research and development would entail.
"Iran needs to do this because if they are undoing parts of the
suspension, the IAEA must be involved," said one diplomat.
The diplomat noted that equipment which presumably would be part
of the research effort had IAEA seals on it that were applied as
part of the agency's safeguards regime.
A European Union diplomat said Mohammad Saeedi, deputy director
of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, would head the delegation and
would meet ElBaradei. The IAEA could not confirm this. Iranian
officials in Tehran were unavailable for comment.
Fresh research and development, shelved voluntarily by Iran two
years ago to blunt international pressure over its atomic
aspirations, may include the manufacture and assembly of
centrifuges used for uranium enrichment, the most sensitive part of
the nuclear fuel cycle.
It could also involve some small-scale enrichment tests.
Germany, France and Britain are leading an EU effort to find a
compromise that would allow Iran to develop a domestic nuclear
power capacity without atomic weapons.
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said
Iran's announcement defied demands by the IAEA's 35-nation board
and undermined a dialogue with the EU revived in Vienna on December
21, and due to resume later this month.
(Chinadaily.com via agencies January 5, 2006)
