Agence France-Presse,
TEHRAN (AFP): A team of experts from the UN atomic energy agency arrived in Iran on Monday to agree on a plan for future inspections of its uranium enrichment plant, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
“A four-member technical team of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in Tehran on Monday. They will meet Iranian atomic energy organisation officials this afternoon,” an official, who was not named, told the agency.
The talks are aimed at agreeing a framework for future inspections of the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz in central Iran, the country's most sensitive nuclear site.
“The talks will go on until Thursday. They are supposed to discuss drawing up a working plan for inspections of the Natanz facility within the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,” added the official.
The UN atomic energy agency delegation is led by IAEA official Michio Hosoya while the Iranian side is headed by the deputy head of Iran's atomic energy agency Mohammad Saeedi, the report said.
World powers want Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment activities, which they fear could be diverted to make nuclear weapons. Iran insists that its nuclear programme is peaceful.
A group of UN atomic inspectors last week made their first visit in months to the Arak heavy water reactor, one of the key Western concerns over the Iranian nuclear programme.
Iran is also engaged in ongoing discussions with IAEA deputy director general Olli Heinonen aimed at assuring the agency that its nuclear programme is peaceful.
Iran is expected to host a third session of the talks in Tehran on August 20 following meetings with Heinonen last month at the agency's Vienna headquarters and in Tehran.
