UN nuclear inspectors seek to lift lid on Iran research

The findings from the three-day visit could influence the direction and urgency of US-led efforts to rein in Iran’s ability to enrich uranium – which Washington and allies fear could eventually produce weapons-grade material.

Iran has declined to abandon its enrichment laboratories, but claims it only seeks to fuel reactors for energy and medical research.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team is likely to visit an underground enrichment site near the holy city of Qom, 80 miles south of the capital Tehran, which is carved into a mountain as protection from possible air strikes.

Earlier this month, Iran said it had begun enrichment work at the site, which is far smaller than the country’s main uranium laboratories but is reported to have more advanced equipment.

The UN nuclear agency delegation includes two senior weapons experts – Jacques Baute of France and Neville Whiting of South Africa – suggesting that Iran may be prepared to address some issues related to the allegations that it seeks nuclear warheads.

In unusually blunt comments ahead of his arrival, the IAEA’s deputy director General Herman Nackaerts, who is in charge of the agency’s Iran file, said he wants Tehran to “engage us on all concerns”.

Iran has refused to discuss the alleged weapons experiments for three years, saying they are based on “fabricated documents” provided by a “few arrogant countries” – a phrase authorities in Iran often use to refer to the United States and its allies.

“So we’re looking forward to the start of a dialogue,” Mr Nackaerts told reporters at Vienna airport. “A dialogue that is overdue.”

In a sign of the tensions that surround Iran’s nuclear programme, a dozen Iranian hard-liners carrying photos of slain nuclear expert Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan were waiting at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport early yesterday.

Iranian state media allege that Mr Roshan, a chemistry expert and director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran, was interviewed by IAEA inspectors before being killed earlier this month in a targeted bomb attack that Iran claims is part of an Israeli-led covert campaign of sabotage and killings.

Mr Roshan was at least the fourth member of Iran’s scientific community to be killed in apparent assassinations.

In Vienna, the IAEA said it does not know Mr Roshan and has never talked to him.

But the IAEA team will be looking for permission to talk to key Iranian scientists suspected of working on a weapons programme.

They also plan to inspect documents related to nuclear work and secure commitments from Iranian authorities to allow future visits.

It is unclear how much assistance Iran will provide, but even a decision to enter a discussion over the allegations would be a major departure from Iran’s frequent simple refusal to talk about them.

In another development, the head of Iran’s state oil company said yesterday that the price of crude will reach 120-150 US dollars (£76-95) per barrel, as officials in Tehran prepare to discuss a ban on crude sales to European Union countries in retaliation for an EU embargo.

Head of the National Iranian Oil Company Ahmad Qalehbani also said that Tehran would expand its capacity to refine crude domestically, instead of selling it on international markets.