EU May Reject Iran's Nuclear Tour Invitation
VOA News
07 January 2011
The European Union has indicated it will reject Iran's invitation to tour its nuclear facilities this month.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton says the responsibility for inspecting nuclear sites belongs to the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). She commented Friday after meeting with Hungary's foreign minister.
On Tuesday, Iran confirmed it had sent invitations to some EU countries, a group of non-aligned nations and some of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany, a group known as the P5 + 1. However, Tehran excluded the U.S., France, Britain and Germany - key world powers that have been involved in nuclear talks.
Iranian officials suggested the tour would take place on January 15 and 16, ahead of talks on Tehran's nuclear program that are scheduled to be held at the end of the month in Turkey.
Separately, Iranian state-run media say acting foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi and his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, spoke by phone Thursday about the upcoming meeting.
RNA news says the two leaders also discussed regional and international issues.
Western nations, including the U.S., believe Iran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.
The U.N. Security Council has imposed four sets of sanctions on Iran for its refusal to suspend nuclear work. The EU, U.S. and other countries have imposed additional penalties.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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