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Iran Invites Foreign Envoys To Nuclear Sites

January 04, 2011

By RFE/RL

Iran says it has invited some diplomats accredited to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna to visit nuclear facilities in the Islamic republic.

The invitation comes ahead of a new round of talks over Iran's controversial nuclear program.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said those invited included representatives of some of the six major world powers involved in the negotiations.

The six powers involved in the talks are permanent UN Security Council members Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States, plus Germany.

Mehmanparast also said the invitees included envoys from some European Union states and the nonaligned movement of mainly developing countries.

He said the invitation was part of the Islamic republic's attempt to demonstrate "goodwill."

"The new move of inviting the ambassadors of different countries to visit our nuclear facilities has once again shown the goodwill of our country regarding cooperation and peaceful activities," Mehmanparast said.

No U.S. Representative

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei confirmed that China was among the invitees, but gave no further details.

The Hungarian Foreign Ministry, whose country currently holds the EU Presidency, also confirmed receiving the Iranian letter, and said it was discussing the offer with other EU members and the bloc's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton.

A spokesman for the European Commission said its ambassador to the IAEA had received the Iranian invitation, adding, "It is for the IAEA and its inspectors in the first place to have full access to Iran's facilities and do the necessary assessments of the Iranian nuclear program."

Delegates from Russia were also reported to be among those invited.

Asked whether the U.S. representative would be invited, Mehmanparast said the list of the countries invited for the visit would be unveiled "when it is finalized."

Diplomatic sources close to the IAEA were quoted as saying the United States was not among those invited.

In an initial reaction, a U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the invitation was no substitute "for Iran fulfilling its obligations to cooperate with the IAEA."

New Nuclear Talks

The diplomat talking to the Western news agencies said the planned tour would include the nuclear plant at Bushehr and the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz.

ISNA news agency, meanwhile, quoted Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Asgar Soltanieh, as saying the plan was for the foreign envoys to travel to Natanz and to the heavy-water facility at Arak.

Soltanieh also said the visit was scheduled for January 15 and 16, before a new round of talks on Tehran's nuclear program between Iran and the six powers in Istanbul at the end of this month.

No date has been set for those talks.

The previous round of talks, which took place after a hiatus of more than a year, was held in Geneva on December 6-7.

The meeting made little progress toward resolving the long-running dispute over Iran's nuclear activities, which the West suspects are aimed at making bombs. Iran says its nuclear program is purely for peaceful electricity production.

The UN Security Council has imposed four rounds of sanctions on Iran and demanded that it stops its uranium-enrichment program.

Highly enriched uranium can be used in nuclear weapons.

Iranian negotiators have ruled out discussing such demands at the Istanbul meeting.

IAEA inspectors regularly visit Iranian nuclear sites, but the Vienna-based agency has voiced frustration at what it sees as lack of Iranian cooperation.

In February 2007, diplomats from member countries of the Nonaligned Movement, the Group of 77, and the Arab League toured a nuclear facility near Isfahan in a bid by Iran to demonstrate openness about its nuclear program.

written by Antoine Blua, with agency material

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/iran_nuclear_inspection/2266412.html

Copyright (c) 2011. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.