Iran has invited UN inspectors to visit its Arak heavy-water production plant on December 8, the first concrete step under a cooperation agreement to clarify concerns about Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme. Yukiya Amano, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, also said the IAEA was looking into how Sunday’s agreement between Iran and six world powers to curb Tehran’s nuclear activity could be “put into practice” concerning the UN agency’s role in verifying the deal.
The IAEA will expand its monitoring of Iran’s uranium enrichment sites and other facilities under the interim accord, reached after marathon talks between Iran and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China. “This will include the implications for funding and staffing. This analysis will take some time. I will consult the board as soon as possible when it has been completed,” Amano told the IAEA’s 35-nation governing board, according to a copy of his speech.
The IAEA’s visit next month to the heavy water production plant near the town of Arak is part of a separate agreement signed earlier this month between the Vienna-based UN agency and Iran.
