TEHRAN, 1 October 2003 — Iran yesterday rejected as “unacceptable” a European Union warning over the Islamic republic’s nuclear program, ahead of a visit by inspectors from the United Nations atomic watchdog.

The Foreign Ministry said a warning for Tehran to prove to the International Atomic Energy Agency that it is not developing nuclear weapons was “inappropriate, political and unacceptable”.

It was also “far removed from the principles of cooperation” between the EU and Iran, said the ministry’s spokesman, Hamid Reza Assefi, quoted by the ISNA student news agency. At a meeting in Brussels on Monday, EU foreign ministers warned Iran of costly economic fallout if it fails to come clean on its nuclear program.

A lucrative trade accord could be in danger if Iran fails to meet international concerns over nuclear non-proliferation, global terrorism, human rights and Tehran’s opposition to the Middle East peace process, they said.

“More intense economic relations can be achieved only if progress is reached in the four areas of concern,” the ministers said in a statement.

Assefi, in a reference to Iran’s archfoe the United States, countered that the EU should “act in an independent manner, without account of the climate that has been artificially created.”

Iran is under pressure from the world community and the IAEA to open up its nuclear program to snap inspections. The IAEA has given Iran until Oct. 31 to answer questions concerning allegations that it is seeking to develop atomic weapons, as suspected by the United States.

But Tehran insists that it has no military nuclear program and says it reserves the right to reply to the agency either before or after the deadline.

Earlier yesterday, IAEA head Mohamed El-Baradei urged Iran to provide “full disclosure” about its nuclear program, with the inspectors preparing to begin their mission. “I think this is a decisive moment in our work in verifying Iran’s nuclear program,” El-Baradei told reporters in Vienna. The inspectors are scheduled to leave Vienna today and talks are due to begin tomorrow in Tehran on verifying nuclear sites.

However, to verify Iran’s claims about its controversial uranium-enrichment program, the IAEA says it must inspect facilities that are not officially declared as nuclear sites. “If we cannot have full cooperation, full disclosure, unfortunately I’ll have to say that I am not able to verify the Iranian statements” that their nuclear program is purely peaceful, El-Baradei told reporters.

If El-Baradei tells the IAEA governing board in November he cannot verify Iranian statements that its program is entirely nonmilitary, the board would have to report Iran to the UN Security Council for possible economic and diplomatic sanctions.

He said “No. 1 priority” was understanding the nature of Iran’s uranium enrichment program, which Washington says will be used to purify uranium for use in a nuclear explosive device. Iran denies that is its plan.

Without specifically naming the United States, El-Baradei cautioned against cutting short the inspection process - as Washington did in Iraq before the US-led invasion in March. “We need to complete the process before I come to a conclusion whether it is a program dedicated for peaceful purposes (or if it) has a military dimension,” El-Baradei said. “I’m not in any way going to jump the gun, because we take our job seriously, as we did in Iraq,” he added.