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U.N. team to visit Iran’s nuclear facility

Atul Aneja

Move dampens U.S. efforts for sanctions

DUBAI: Iran has permitted United Nations inspectors to visit its nuclear facility in Arak as part of an effort to allay fears about its atomic programme. After three days of talks, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has issued a statement that its inspectors would visit the Arak heavy water facility by the end of July.

The agency said that during talks in Tehran between Iranian officials and IAEA Deputy Director General Olli Heinonen “agreement was reached on ... a visit of agency inspectors the heavy water research reactor at Arak by the end of July.”

Heavy water is used as moderator in a nuclear reactor where plutonium is produced. An atomic weapon can either use enriched uranium or plutonium as its explosive core. There have been apprehensions that Iran could be pursuing atomic weapons using enriched uranium and the plutonium route.

Analysts point out that the announcement of a new round of cooperation between Iran and the IAEA is likely to dampen efforts by the United States and its allies to impose fresh sanctions on Tehran. Iran has already been subjected to two instalments of sanctions. A third round of sanctions is presently under consideration by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany.

The Under-Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Javad Vaeedi told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) that a “breakthrough” had been achieved during the talks.

Substantial agreement had been reached that could enable the settlement of IAEA’s technical dispute with the Iranian nuclear programme in 60 days.

The statement also said that Iran was ready to address all questions about its past experiments in the nuclear field which had raised suspicions about its nuclear intentions. An agreement had been reached on how “to resolve remaining issues regarding Iran’s past plutonium experiments,” it added. Besides, the two sides had also finalised modalities to enhance IAEA’s supervision on Iranian uranium enrichment activities and on clarifying “open issues” related to enrichment.

The “open issues” include “uranium contamination found on equipment at a specific location,” the agency said. Traces of enriched uranium had been found at an Iranian military site, raising suspicions about their possible link to development of weapons. The IAEA was also seeking an explanation about “studies related to specific projects.”

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