Iran Offers Greater Nuclear Cooperation but Offers No Environmental Samples
VOA News
21 Jun 2003, 15:55 UTC
Iran has promised to cooperate more actively with U.N. nuclear inspectors, but it has again declined to let U.N. nuclear inspectors take environmental samples from a power plant inside Tehran.
The head of Iran's Atomic Energy organization Gholamreza Aghazadeh, said Saturday that a request by the International Atomic Energy Agency to obtain samples from the Kelaye Electric Company is "illegal and unacceptable," because the site is not a nuclear facility.
At a news conference later, the Iranian official said his country will try to cooperate more than before and voiced optimism that an agreement will be reached with the IAEA. He said Iran will try to ease international worries.
The comments came a day after the IAEA urged Iran to allow full access to facilities to prove it does not have a nuclear weapons program. Inspectors wanted to take environmental samples at the Kelaye plant earlier this month, but were refused access.
In an interview with Reuters News Agency, the I.A.E.A. head, Mohammed ElBaradei voiced confidence that Iran will see that it is in its own best interest to cooperate with his agency. He said the sooner Tehran cooperates the quicker the issue can be resolved. A senior U.S. official says the Bush administration has not ruled out military action against Iran to keep it from building nuclear weapons, but is not considering such a move.
U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton told British radio that president Bush has said repeatedly all options are on the table, but that military action is, in his words, "far, far from our minds." The United States has accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear program is aimed at producing electricity.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.
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