Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., October 29, 2009 Cheshvan 11, 5770 | | Israel Time: 18:54 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Jewish World Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Focus U.S.A. Strenger than Fiction Business Travel Magazine Week's End Anglo File Books
Share |
Last update - 20:41 28/10/2009
UN chief: IAEA inspection of Iran nuke site is a positive step
By Reuters
Tags: israel news, IAEA 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday welcomed as 'a positive step' Iran's decision to allow UN nuclear inspectors access to a recently disclosed uranium enrichment plant in the Islamic Republic.

"I also welcome the draft agreement circulated by the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] related to the supply of fuel for the Tehran research reactor," he said, adding that it would "constitute an important confidence building measure and could set the stage for further advances in the negotiations."

Earlier Wednesday, the semi-official Mehr News Agency reported that Iran's envoy to the IAEA will present Tehran's position on a draft nuclear fuel deal in Vienna on Thursday.
Advertisement

Mehr, citing an informed source, said Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh would personally give Iran's response to Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog. It said Soltanieh would leave for Austria on Wednesday.

Echoing a report by Iranian state television on Tuesday, Mehr said Iran would accept the framework of the agreement but also propose changes, a move that could unravel the plan and expose Tehran to the threat of harsher sanctions.

Under the draft deal hammered out by ElBaradei earlier this month after talks in Vienna with Iran, the United States, France and Russia, Iran would send low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad for further processing and eventual use in a research reactor.

The draft pact calls for Iran to transfer around 75 percent of its known 1.5 tonnes of LEU to Russia for further enrichment by the end of this year, then to France for conversion into fuel plates. These would be returned to Tehran to power a research reactor that produces radio-isotopes for cancer treatment.

Another Iranian news agency, ISNA, quoted a senior lawmaker as also saying Iran would present its position on Thursday.

"Iran will present its response to the [UN nuclear] agency's proposal on Thursday," said Mohammad Karamirad, a member of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, ISNA news agency reported.

Senior lawmakers have said Iran should import foreign nuclear fuel rather than send abroad by the end of this year much of its own LEU stock - a crucial strategic asset in talks with world powers - as the proposal stipulates.

State television said on Tuesday Iran opposed sending its uranium stockpile abroad in one go.

"According to an informed source in Vienna, Iran in its final response to the agency, while accepting the framework, will propose changes," Mehr said in its report on Wednesday.

The European Union's foreign policy chief said on Tuesday there was no need to rework the UN draft and he and France's foreign minister suggested Tehran would rekindle demands for tougher international sanctions if it tried to undo the plan.

Iran says it is enriching uranium only for power plant fuel, not for nuclear warheads. But its history of nuclear secrecy and continued restrictions on UN inspections have raised Western suspicions Iran is latently pursuing nuclear weapons capability.

Understandings on the fuel plan and UN monitoring of a newly disclosed enrichment site under construction were forged at Geneva talks on Oct. 1 between Iran and six world powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain.

Iran's pledges in Geneva won itself a reprieve from sanctions targeting its oil sector but Western powers stressed they would not wait indefinitely for Tehran to follow through.

Senior Iranian MP Alaeddin Boroujerdi said UN experts who arrived in Iran early on Sunday to inspect the new enrichment site about 160 km south of Tehran had left the country, ISNA reported, without giving details.

There was no immediate comment from the IAEA in Vienna.

Related articles:
  • IAEA meeting in Vienna opens, with focus on Iran, Syria
  • IAEA chief: Iran nuclear talks 'off to a good start'
  • Incoming IAEA chief: No evidence Iran seeking nuclear weapons
    • PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
    Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    Rockets target Israel
    Lebanese troops found, dismantled 4 rockets ready for launching near Israel border
    Anti-Semitic joke
    French court fines comedian 10,000 euros after he invited Holocaust denier on stage
      1.   The Byzantine world(s) of Iranian politics 17:23  |  Mark Lincoln 28/10/09
      2.   UN Chief and his view of a positive step 18:59  |  DT 28/10/09
      3.   UN chief 22:58  |  Joshua 28/10/09
      4.   Mark Lincoln - Update I 01:57  |  Persian Kitty 29/10/09
    Special Offers
    Advertisement
    Eldan Rent a Car
    Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
    Date Local Jewish Singles
    Ready to meet your match? Join Jdate today!
    Junkyard
    Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
    More Headlines
    18:50 Gunman wounds two in attack on L.A. synagogue
    18:32 At Rabin memorial, Netanyahu vows to fight political violence
    18:54 Iran hands over response to UN-proposed nuclear deal
    17:37 Qaida-linked group in Lebanon claims rocket attack on Israel
    14:28 Are there 20,000 or 20,000,000 refugees in Israel?
    17:26 Poll: Anti-Semitic views in the U.S. at a historic low
    16:47 73 years later, row erupts over discovery of Beit Shearim caves
    00:10 TV ROUND-UP: Rabin murder commemorated; child abuse suspect extradited
    16:22 Turkey envoy: Good ties with Israel part of our global aspirations
    12:56 Police view alleged child-abusing 'rabbi' as attempted murder suspect
    09:51 Israeli film Ajami takes best first feature at London festival
    17:52 UN to debate Goldstone Gaza report next week
    Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
    | Advert: Recommended Restaurants | Makom: Engaging on Israel
    | Search engine marketing
    Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
    © Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved