Tokyo, Aug 28: Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi said today his nation had decided to start talks with the IAEA for inspections of its nuclear sites and was ready to offer "constructive" cooperation, according to a Japanese official.
Kharazi, who arrived in Japan late yesterday after
trips to India and China, handed over a letter from President
Mohammad Khatami to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
The visit came just after a confidential UN report
said inspectors found two different types of highly enriched
nuclear particles at facilities in Iran that are not needed
in civilian atomic programmes.
The findings were contained in a report by the
international atomic energy agency that was handed to the UN
nuclear watchdog's board of governors Tuesday ahead of a
crucial meeting on Iran, a western diplomat in Vienna told.
Kharazi was quoted by the official as telling Koizumi
that the letter from Khatami carried Iran's basic policy on
the nuclear issue and contained two main points.
"One is our plan to enhance cooperation with the IAEA
and the other is our decision to launch negotiations towards
signing an additional protocol," to the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the Minister was quoted as
saying by the Japanese official.
The protocol paves the way for surprise inspections
of nuclear sites.
"Iran will secure transparency and offer constructive
cooperation with the IAEA," the Minister was quoted as saying.
Bureau Report
