Nuclear watchdog chief to visit Iran
But an Iranian opposition group with a proven track record said yesterday Iran was hiding another atomic facility.
The October 31 deadline, set by the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in a tough resolution last month, requires Tehran to prove it has no secret weapons program as Washington alleges, or face possible UN Security Council sanctions.
“We have information about another secret nuclear facility in Iran,” an official from the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an exiled opposition group, said in Vienna. He said the facility has been hidden from IAEA inspectors.
He gave no details about the site, but said the NCRI would provide full details tomorrow.
Tehran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and did not comment on the fresh allegations.
Asked how long Mr ElBaradei would spend in Iran, a spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation said: “He’s arriving Thursday and normally his visits are for two or three days.”
IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said: “We can confirm that Mr ElBaradei has been invited,” but added that he had not yet decided whether to accept the invitation. Fleming gave no details on the reason for the invitation.
UN inspectors arrived in Iran two weeks ago and President Mohammad Khatami has said Tehran would provide whatever cooperation was needed to show its nuclear aims are limited to generating electricity.
Despite such assurances, Western diplomats remain sceptical that Iran will do enough to enable the IAEA to give its nuclear programme a clean bill of health in its next report in November.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr ElBaradei said Tehran had still not provided information needed to show its nuclear programme is entirely non-military. He has warned that if Tehran fails to cooperate fully Iran’s case may be sent to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.
Concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme were fuelled earlier this year when Tehran revealed it was well on the way to enriching uranium. Iran says it needs to produce enriched uranium to use as fuel in nuclear power reactors. But highly enriched uranium can be used to make atomic bombs.
The IAEA has found traces of arms-grade enriched uranium at two sites in Iran this year.
The government said the particles came from imported nuclear equipment that had been contaminated.
