Tehran invites UN agency to inspect nuclear plant
After keeping away inspectors for two years, Iran has invited the UN nuclear agency to a facility linked to a still-unfinished reactor that could produce enough plutonium for up to two warheads a year, the agency's head said yesterday.
After keeping away inspectors for two years, Iran has invited the UN nuclear agency to a facility linked to a still-unfinished reactor that could produce enough plutonium for up to two warheads a year, the agency's head said yesterday.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Yukiya Amano said the agency would accept the offer to visit the heavy water plant in the central city of Arak.
It comes less than a week after a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers.
The invitation for December 8 is not part of the six-power deal, which commits Iran to freeze its nuclear programme for six months in return for limited relief from economic sanctions.
But it shows that Tehran is starting to comply with separate commitments to open previously off-limits sites to inspectors.
The status of the Arak plant had been one of the major issues during talks leading to last weekend's agreement in Geneva.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said some construction would continue at Arak. When completed, Arak could produce plutonium which could be used for nuclear weapons, although Iran insists its programme is entirely for peaceful purposes. Iran had scheduled completion for next year, a timetable described by experts as too ambitious.
US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Zarif's comments did not constitute a violation of the deal, even though Iran effectively pledged to freeze advancement at the facility.
Iran's decision to allow inspectors to visit the Arak heavy water plant will enable inspectors to get a clearer picture of how much material the plant is producing and other technical details.
IAEA employees have had some access to the reactor, 250 kilometres southwest of Tehran.
But they have not been able to inspect the plant on the same site since 2011. Heavy water helps control nuclear activity of the fuel rods used in some reactor types.
Beyond commitments on the Arak reactor under the Geneva nuclear deal, Iran also agreed to limit uranium enrichment.
It pledged to stop enriching uranium to a stage that is only a technical step away from the concentration needed to arm nuclear warheads and to keep its stockpile of lower enriched uranium from expanding.
