- TEHRAN: Tehran said Monday it had banned two UN nuclear inspectors from entering the country because they had leaked "false" information about Iran's disputed nuclear program.
- The ban is the latest twist in Iran's deepening tussle with the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency and the West over its nuclear program.
The United States and its allies warn that Iran's program is geared toward making nuclear weapons. Tehran denies the charge saying its nuclear activities are only for peaceful purposes like power generation.
The IAEA report in question stated that in January Iran announced it had conducted certain experiments to purify uranium, which could theoretically be used to produce a nuclear warhead. Iran then denied the experiments had taken place a few months later.
When the inspectors in May visited the Jaber Ibn Hayan Multipurpose Research Laboratory in Tehran, where the alleged high temperature pyroprocessing experiments were conducted, they said the equipment involved had been removed.
The Associated Press reported the IAEA's concerns in May, citing unnamed diplomats.
Iran, however, maintained in June there were no experiments related to pyroprocessing and no equipment was removed and has called the IAEA report "false with the purpose of influencing public opinion." The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi said on state TV that the IAEA had been informed of the decision to ban the inspectors, whom he did not identify.
