Iran said the tour, which China and Russia also snubbed
after being discouraged by Western officials, aimed to demonstrate the
country's transparency about its atomic program before talks with major powers.
Tehran invited some ambassadors accredited to the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit its nuclear sites. The US,
British, French and German envoys were not asked along, while the EU declined its
invitation, saying it was the task of UN nuclear inspectors to carry out such
visits.
"The EU lost the historic opportunity for further
cooperation with Iran and also visiting its peaceful nuclear activities,"
Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's IAEA envoy, told state TV before the tour.
Analysts said the selective invitation may be aimed at
eroding new harmony among the US and European governments on the one hand, and
Russia and China on the other in next week's talks with Iran, aimed at curbing
its nuclear work.
Alongside the Non-Aligned Movement of developing nations,
the group of seven envoys comprised ambassadors from Egypt, Venezuela, Syria,
Algeria, Oman and Cuba.
The envoys, who will stay in Iran until Monday, toured the
heavy water Arak installation. Later they will also visit the underground
Natanz uranium enrichment site where feedstock uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas
is fed into centrifuges. This is to make material to fuel power plants, which
could, if greatly enriched, be used for nuclear warheads.
Journalists working for foreign media in Iran were not
invited to tour the sites.
The five permanent members of the United Nations Security
Council, China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States - which along
with Germany are known as P5+1 - are due to hold a second round of talks with
Iran on Jan. 21-22 in Istanbul.
Meanwhile, Iran said on Saturday its uranium enrichment
program was progressing "very strongly.”
The declaration by Foreign Minister and atomic chief Ali
Akbar Salehi’s remarks were a reaction to US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton's recent comment that Iran's nuclear program was hampered by
international sanctions.
"The recent sanctions did not create any problems for
our nuclear activities," Salehi told a news conference broadcast on state
television from the central city of Arak.
"Our
nuclear activities are going forward strongly. Our activities, especially in
(uranium) enrichment, are also continuing very strongly." World powers, led
by Washington, want Tehran to stop the uranium enrichment, which they suspect
is aimed at making weapons. Iran denies the charge.
