Iran pledges to accelerate cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, April 07, 2004

Iran pledges to accelerate cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog

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A top Iranian official pledged Tuesday to accelerate cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and provide quick answers to quell suspicions that Tehran was seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

"Iran and the IAEA want the dossier of Iran to be closed as soonas possible," Iran's Vice President and Chairman of the country's Atomic Energy Organization Gholamreza Aqazadeh told a press conference after talks with visiting IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei.

"We have decided to accelerate the work and to respond to the problems and questions that the agency has," Aqazadeh said.

For his part, ElBaradei said Iran appeared to have "agreed on the need to accelerate the progress of our work in resolving all outstanding issues."

"Mr Aqazadeh committed that Iran will do everything possible to accelerate the process in resolving the outstanding issues, and he had made it very clear that the agency and the international community is very keen that we resolve all the remaining outstanding issues as early as possible," he said.

"We hope during the course of my visit that we will be able to develop an action plan that can have a timeline," ElBaradei added.

But Aqazadeh and ElBaradei disagreed over the scope of how much of Iran's work on the sensitive nuclear fuel cycle should be suspended while IAEA inspectors delve into the country's suspect bid to generate nuclear energy.

ElBaradei urged Iran to delay its resumption of nuclear fuel conversion at a facility in the central city of Isfahan, but Aqazadeh had refused, saying "it is our right to do this work."

However, Aqazadeh announced that Iran would stop the construction and assembly of centrifuges used to enrich uranium as of April 9.

ElBaradei said a team of IAEA experts would arrive in Iran on April 12 for further inspections.

Source: Xinhua

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