United Nations nuclear inspectors started a three-day tour of Iran on Sunday in a bid to probe allegations of a nuclear weapons program.
The visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency comes at a time of increasing tensions with the West over fears that the country is enriching uranium to be used in a bomb. Iran claims that it’s nuclear program is purely for civilian purposes.
The purpose of the visit is to “resolve all outstanding substantive issues,” the IAEA said in a statement.
“In particular we hope that Iran will engage with us on our concerns regarding the possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear program,” the head of the IAEA team, Herman Nackaerts, told reporters before leaving for Tehran.
Inspectors are likely to visit key sites, including the underground enrichment plant in Qom, as well as review recent documents. It is not known whether inspectors will also have the chance to interview key scientists.
Iran has accused Western governments of orchestrating assassinations of scientists connected with its nuclear program.
The Wall Street Journal reported that a dozen protesters carrying photographs of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, the scientist who was murdered last month, were waiting for the IAEA inspectors at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport on Sunday morning.
In comments to Mehr news agency, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said that the country would be open about its nuclear program.
“We are very optimistic about the outcome of the IAEA delegation’s visit to Iran. ... Their questions will be answered during this visit,” he said.
“We have nothing to hide and Iran has no clandestine [nuclear] activities.”
However, Iran’s Parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, told state media that the inspection should be “logical, professional, and technical.”
“This visit is a test for the IAEA. The route for further cooperation will be open if the team carries out its duties professionally,” he said.
“Otherwise, if the IAEA turns into a tool [for major powers to pressure Iran], then Iran will have no choice but to consider a new framework in its ties with the agency,” he added.
Earlier this month, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano told diplomats in Vienna that a key priority for 2012 will be “restoring international confidence in the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program.” He called it the most important of the safeguard issues on the agency’s agenda.
