UN plea to Iran to allow more nuclear inspections

THE head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency yesterday appealed to Iran to cooperate with additional inspections to prove the peaceful nature of its nuclear programmes.

With reports that Iran may be trying to develop a nuclear arsenal, along with worries about North Korea, experts are questioning whether it’s really possible to stop countries, let alone terrorists, from acquiring such weapons. The week-long meeting of the board of governors of the

International Atomic Energy Agency began 10 days after an internal report claimed that Iran failed to honour promises to disclose its use of nuclear material. The United States wants the agency to declare Iran in violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

In an opening statement, IAEA director-general Mohamed ElBaradei, urged Iran to “enhance the Agency’s ability to provide credible assurances regarding the peaceful nature of its nuclear activities.”

“I also continue to call on Iran to permit us to take environmental samples at the particular location where allegations about enrichment activities exist,” ElBaradei said. “This is clearly in the interest of both the agency and Iran.”

Just before the closed-door meeting began, Iran’s chief representative to the IAEA, Ali Akbar Salehi, said he was optimistic the issue would be resolved, but described US pressure as counterproductive, saying: “It’s very obvious this whole issue has been politically motivated and politically charged.”

US Ambassador to the agency Kenneth Brill described the report as “a very serious and sobering report and we have to deal with it.”

The meeting comes at a time of growing concern for the control of nuclear material. Nuclear weapons expert David Albright said: “We are at a very important time. If the non-proliferation regime cannot solve this problem with Iran, I think the non-proliferation treaty will become not irrelevant, but a place where the good guys show they are good guys, not a real treaty that can be used to resolve tensions.”

Under the treaty, the declared nuclear powers of the 1960s - the US, China, France, Russia and Britain - agreed to reduce their arsenals, ensure nuclear technology was used only for peaceful purposes and stop the spread of nuclear weapons. But it has failed to discourage other nations, such as India and Pakistan, from developing nuclear weapons. Israel is widely believed to have nuclear arms, though it is unconfirmed. North Korea is also suspected of developing nuclear weapons.

Iran insists its nuclear programme is aimed at producing electricity as oil supplies wear down. Those claims prompted ElBaradei to tour Iran’s nuclear facilities in February. The visit was intended to ensure Iran’s nuclear programme was limited to peaceful, civilian purposes and that the facilities were safe.

His tour included a visit to the incomplete nuclear plant in Natanz, 200 miles south of Tehran. At the time, diplomats said he was taken aback by the advanced stage of a project using hundreds of centrifuges to enrich uranium.

The criticism should please the US, which has piled pressure on Iran since ousting Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. On Sunday, Bush openly cheered the Tehran students who have protested for six nights against Islamic clerical rule, the only government most of them have known.

Gunshots rang out overnight near Tehran University but witnesses said the atmosphere was calmer than previous nights when hard-line vigilantes attacked demonstrators who had hurled unprecedented insults at conservative and reformist leaders.