- News>
- World
Iran to agree to tougher UN inspections if demands clear
Moscow, July 02: Tehran is willing to agree to more intrusive inspections by UN nuclear monitors if the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) puts forward clear demands, Iran`s atomic energy chief said today.
Moscow, July 02: Tehran is willing to agree to more intrusive inspections by UN nuclear monitors if the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) puts forward clear
demands, Iran's atomic energy chief said today.
"Iran is in favour of signing an additional IAEA protocol
but we want clarification," vice president and head of Iran's
atomic energy body Gholam-Reza Aghazadeh told reporters after
three days of talks in Moscow.
"We want the IAEA demands to be specific, and put into documentation. That is why we need to conduct more negotiations with both the (UN) general secretary and the general council of the IAEA," he added.
Russia, which is building Iran's first nuclear reactor, at Bushehr, has been pressing Tehran to open up its nuclear program sites to UN inspectors.
Iran says it is ready to allow closer UN inspections but only under the condition that other countries would in return assist it in developing a broader nuclear power program.
That condition has been rejected by the United States.
Russia has come under mounting pressure to reassess its policy on Iran -- a country sitting on vast oil reserves -- amid western worries that Tehran is using the power station project to develop a clandestine nuclear weapons program.
Bureau Report
"We want the IAEA demands to be specific, and put into documentation. That is why we need to conduct more negotiations with both the (UN) general secretary and the general council of the IAEA," he added.
Russia, which is building Iran's first nuclear reactor, at Bushehr, has been pressing Tehran to open up its nuclear program sites to UN inspectors.
Iran says it is ready to allow closer UN inspections but only under the condition that other countries would in return assist it in developing a broader nuclear power program.
That condition has been rejected by the United States.
Russia has come under mounting pressure to reassess its policy on Iran -- a country sitting on vast oil reserves -- amid western worries that Tehran is using the power station project to develop a clandestine nuclear weapons program.
Bureau Report