Investigation had to be ended as part of internationally agreed deal

Iran has agreed to open its nuclear activities to greater purview for UN experts seeking to revive their probe into suspicions that Tehran might have worked on atomic weapons.

Inspectors from the UN nuclear agency have arrived in Tehran to visit a nuclear facility that has long been off-limits to outside experts, an Iranian news agency has said.

Some evacuees from the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe will have to wait years longer before they can return home after Japan admitted its radiation clean-up in the most contaminated towns is behind schedule.

Iranian and UN officials have held a “constructive” meeting on resuming a probe of allegations that Tehran has worked on atomic arms in talks seen as a test of pledges by Iran’s new president to reduce nuclear tensions.

Russia has warned that a US strike on Syria’s atomic facilities might result in a nuclear catastrophe and is urging the UN to present a risk analysis of such a scenario.

Japan’s nuclear regulator has upgraded the rating of a leak of radiation-contaminated water at its tsunami-hit nuclear plant to a “serious incident” on an international scale.

The US National Security Agency has bugged the United Nations’ New York headquarters, Germany’s Der Spiegel weekly said yesterday in the latest in a series of reports on US spying that has strained relations between Washington and its allies.

Senior officials of the UN atomic agency have left Iran without a hoped-for deal that would have led to the resumption of a probe into allegations that Tehran worked secretly on nuclear arms.

A senior UN official said his team made headway during talks in Tehran meant to restart an investigation into suspicions that the country may have secretly worked on a nuclear arms programme.

Iran is poised to double output of higher-enriched uranium that can be turned easily into the core of a nuclear warhead, the UN nuclear agency says.

The UN nuclear agency has found traces of uranium at Iran’s underground atomic site enriched to higher than previous levels and closer to what is needed for nuclear weapons, diplomats say.

Diplomats from six world powers offered Iran new proposals today to ease international concerns about its nuclear programme, but appeared to reject Tehran’s appeals to ease economic sanctions.

The head of the UN nuclear agency has flown to Tehran on a delicate mission that - if successful – could finally lift the veil on whether Iran is seeking atomic arms while strengthening the Islamic Republic’s negotiating hand in crucial nuclear talks with six world powers later in the week.

The UN nuclear agency chief will fly to Tehran over the weekend to sign a deal meant to allow his organisation to resume probing Iran’s disputed nuclear programme.

The European Union said today that world powers have agreed to a new round of talks with Iran over its nuclear programme, as Tehran gave permission for inspectors to visit a site suspected of secret atomic work.

Iran has said it will allow UN inspectors access to a secret military complex where the UN nuclear agency suspects atomic work has been carried out.

The head of the UN nuclear agency has “serious concerns” that Iran may be hiding secret atomic weapons work and admits he failed in his latest attempt to unearth them.

The US said yesterday that North Korea had agreed to a moratorium on nuclear tests and long-range missile launches and to allow nuclear inspectors to visit its Yongbyon nuclear complex to verify a halt to all nuclear activities including uranium enrichment.

Iran has rapidly ramped up production of higher-grade enriched uranium over the last four months, the UN nuclear agency says in a confidential report.

A United Nations team visiting Iran have no plans to inspect the country’s nuclear facilities but will only hold talks with officials in Tehran, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said today.

Senior UN inspectors arrived in Iran yesterday to push for transparency about its disputed nuclear programme, and several European states halted purchases of Iranian oil as part of Western moves to pile pressure on a defiant Tehran.

UN nuclear inspectors arrived in Iran today in the latest push to hold talks about how far the country’s controversial nuclear programme has come.

Iran has halted oil shipments to Britain and France, the Oil Ministry said today, in an apparent pre-emptive blow against the European Union after the bloc imposed sanctions on Iran’s crucial fuel exports.

The next round of talks between Iran and six world powers on the country’s nuclear program will be held in Istanbul, Iran’s foreign minister said today.

Iran is poised to greatly expand uranium enrichment at a fortified underground bunker to a point that would boost how quickly it could make nuclear warheads, diplomats said.

A UN nuclear team said today that it plans to revisit Tehran “in the very near future”, indicating some progress on its quest to get information from Iran about claims that it has been secretly working on an atomic arms programme.

United Nations inspectors did not visit any of Iran’s nuclear sites, reports say.

UN inspectors did not visit any of Iran’s nuclear sites, reports say.

Iran said it was very optimistic over a visit by UN nuclear inspectors aimed at shedding light on suspected military aspects of Tehran’s atomic work, but suggested Tehran would curb cooperation if the experts became a “tool” for outside powers.

UN nuclear inspectors today began a critical mission to Iran to probe allegations of a secret atomic weapons programme.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has said the world must quickly stop Iran from reaching the point where even a “surgical” military strike could not block it from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Iran is ready to revive talks with the world powers, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said, as Tehran faces tougher sanctions over its controversial nuclear programme.

The EU yesterday imposed an immediate ban on all new contracts for Iranian oil and gave Greece and other importing countries until July to find alternative sources.

A senior UN nuclear agency team will visit Tehran on January 28, with Iran saying it is ready to discuss allegations that it was involved in secret nuclear weapons work, diplomats said today.

The UK has severed all financial ties with Iranian banks in an unprecedented move in response to mounting fears over the country’s nuclear ambitions.

The US and its Western allies bluntly accused Iran today of deceiving the world on nuclear arms, as the UN atomic agency passed a new resolution criticising Tehran's nuclear defiance.

The UN nuclear chief says it is his duty to “alert the world” about suspected work in Iran to develop atomic bombs, as major powers prepared to intensify the pressure on theIslamic state.

US president Barack Obama has said he and Chinese president Hu Jintao want to ensure that Iran lives by “international rules and norms” amid fresh allegations that Tehran is conducting nuclear weapons work in secret.

The UN nuclear agency is reporting “very low” – but higher than usual - levels of radiation in the Czech Republic and elsewhere in Europe.

THE European Union may approve fresh sanctions against Iran within weeks, after a UN agency said Tehran had worked to design nuclear bombs, EU diplomats said.

Iran’s supreme leader has warned Israel and the United States of a tough response if they launch a military strike against it in the row over its nuclear programme.

IRAN won’t retreat “one iota” from its nuclear programme, but the world is being misled by claims that it seeks atomic weapons, president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday in his first reaction since a UN watchdog report that Tehran is on the brink of developing a nuclear warhead.

IRAN is suspected of conducting secret experiments whose sole purpose is to develop nuclear arms, the UN nuclear atomic energy agency said yesterday for the first time.