An informed Iranian nuclear official said Friday that inspectors
from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had already
installed cameras at the country's Natanz nuclear complex, the
official IRNA news agency reported.??
A general view shows the
Iranian nuclear power plant of Natanz, 270 kms south of Tehran in
2005.??
The cameras have been installed "in accordance with
Iran's commitments towards IAEA regrading the UN nuclear watchdog's
inspection and control responsibilities," the official told IRNA
reporters.
Referring to some Western media's reports that Tehran has
blocked entry of IAEA inspectors to Natanz plant, the official
termed it as "unprofessional", saying "Iran has not imposed any
restrictions against IAEA inspectors' activities."
"Such news are baseless and just aimed at disturbing and
inflicting distractions in the course of Iran-IAEA cooperation,
Iran's officials have cooperated with the inspectors thoroughly in
the past week," he added.
The official also reiterated Iran's dissatisfaction with the
previous IAEA inspectors, saying "in recent months we have
witnessed the unprofessional conduct of the people that introduce
themselves as diplomatic sources and seem to have no other job,
save for disturbing the process of Iran-IAEA cooperation."
"Not only Iran, but also IAEA officials have opposed such sick
process," he added.
Last month, Iran banned 38 IAEA inspectors to enter the country,
and accused them of "unprofessional and illegal" activities during
their inspections at Iran's nuclear sites.
The Islamic Republic, however, has also promised that Tehran was
fully cooperating with the IAEA within the Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT) on inspection and safeguards supervision, adding the
cooperation would continue.
Under the agreement with the Iranian authorities, the IAEA
regularly took snap inspections on the country's nuclear sites in
the past year.
Since Tehran's relations with the West has exacerbated due to
the nuclear disputes last year, the Iranian authorities has started
to limit the visit to the country's nuclear sites by inspectors
from the UN nuclear watchdog.
The UN Security Council passed the Resolution 1737 on Dec. 23,
2006, calling on Tehran to suspend its enrichment activities while
imposing sanctions on Iran's nuclear and missile programs.
However, Iran rejected the resolution and vowed to install at
least 3,000 centrifuges by the end of March.
On Dec. 27, the Iranian parliament passed a bill obliging the
government to reduce its cooperation with the UN nuclear agency,
which was approved by the powerful Guardians Council immediately
and formally became a law.
(Xinhua News Agency February 3, 2007)
