VIENNA, 17 June 2003 — The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog called yesterday on Iran to allow tougher inspections of its atomic sites amid US claims that Tehran is secretly developing nuclear weapons.
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohammed El-Baradei urged Iran to sign an additional protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to allow the IAEA to inspect all suspect sites, not just those declared by Tehran.
EU foreign ministers issued a similar call, saying Iran should “urgently and unconditionally” sign the protocol because of “serious concern” over its nuclear activities.
Iran, which insists its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, said it would refuse to submit to stricter inspections although officials have suggested the dispute could be resolved.
In a report to an IAEA board meeting on Iran’s implementation of an NPT safeguards agreement, El-Baradei said Tehran had failed to report some nuclear activities, according to a copy of his speech made available to reporters. The meeting at the IAEA’s headquarters in Vienna comes amid an escalating war of words between the United States and Tehran, which Washington accuses hiding a nuclear weapons program.
Iran, which charges that the pressure over its nuclear activities is “politically motivated,” said it would consider signing the protocol only if other NPT signatories fulfilled their treaty obligations related to the transfer of peaceful nuclear technology.
A senior Western diplomat said here however that none of the 78 states which have signed on to the additional protocol to the 188-nation NPT had tried to negotiate conditions. He said El-Baradei’s report was “very thorough and identifies a pattern of behavior which is essentially avoiding the scrutiny of the IAEA in a wide variety of areas and in pursuit of a wide variety of technologies none of which really adds up to what has been declared.”
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, whose country is helping Iran build its first nuclear power plant at Bushehr, also said yesterday he hoped Tehran would allow the IAEA broader scope for inspecting its nuclear facilities.
