UN nuclear inspectors postpone trip to Iran

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, September 27, 2003

UN nuclear inspectors postpone trip to Iran

UN nuclear inspectors have delayed a trip to Iran as Teheran requested more time to prepare for it, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Friday.

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UN nuclear inspectors have delayed a trip to Iran as Teheran requested more time to prepare for it, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Friday.

IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told reporters that a team of inspectors who had been scheduled to fly to Iran on Sunday would leave sometime late next week.

On Thursday, the IAEA announced that its experts found traces of weapons-grade uranium at a second site in Iran, sparking an immediate warning from US President George W. Bush that Teheran would face worldwide condemnation.

Reports say the origin of the newly discovered traces of enriched uranium at the Kalay-e Electric Co, just west of Teheran, has yet to be identified as the location is only used for housing equipment and has no linkage with Iran's nuclear programs.

Washington, however, accuses Iran of using the site to test uranium equipment for nuclear weapons development.

Iran has denied the allegations that it is secretly making nuclear weapons. Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said on Wednesday that his country is able to mine and enrich its own uranium, but does not have the technology to develop nuclear weapons.

Kharrazi said weapons of mass destruction have no position in Iran's strategy for national defense, adding that his country would not yield to any "gratuitous demand".

Analysts here say that Teheran's persistence on its nuclear program in spite of US warnings and the ensued impasse in its cooperation with the IAEA might be one of the causes that led to the delay of the UN inspection trip.

Earlier this year, the IAEA discovered weapons-grade enriched uranium particles at Iran's plant at Natanz, about 250 km south ofthe capital, prompting strong US lobbying for action.

On Sept. 12, the IAEA governing board passed a resolution, demanding Iran clarify its nuclear programs and suspend all uranium-enrichment activities.

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