Iran agrees to let IAEA inspections resume
Reuters, Tokyo
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator confirmed yesterday that Tehran had agreed to let UN nuclear inspectors back into the country on March 27 without any conditions, ending a freeze that Washington had said was an attempt to hide a covert nuclear weapons programme. "March 27 has been decided as the date," Hassan Rohani, secretary-general of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told a news conference in Tokyo, where he is meeting Japanese officials. "There are no conditions." International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Monday that Iran had informed him it would allow nuclear inspectors to return on March 27. ElBaradei, speaking in Washington, said he regretted the interruption in the inspections but believed the date set for resumption was "still within our time schedule." The UN's nuclear watchdog condemned Iran Saturday for suspending inspections. Iran said it had taken the step Friday to show its displeasure at the drafting of an IAEA resolution criticising it for failing to report sensitive research and development that, the agency argued, could have military use. The IAEA also said it would decide in June how to respond to the omission, which diplomats said kept the door open for a possible report to the UN Security Council and economic sanctions.
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