Iran may limit IAEA access to nuclear sites: MP
September 30, 2008
Agence-France Press
Original Source: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hqTSehMpanAGNVbQiZJDj8VRWWqg
TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran's parliament may limit the UN watchdog's inspections of the country's nuclear sites following a new UN resolution against Tehran over its atomic programme, a senior Iranian MP said on Tuesday.
Iran had generously allowed the International Atomic Energy Agency access to prove its good will but soon the level of the agency's access to our nuclear facilities will be revised, Mousa Ghorbani told the state news agency IRNA.
There are discussions in parliament to apply some new limitations on cooperation with the IAEA, said the conservative MP, who is a member of the presiding board of the house.
The issuing of a new resolution by the (UN) Security Council has raised the question of how long we should continue a useless cooperation with the agency, he said.
The Security Council on Saturday adopted a fifth resolution urging Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, the process at the centre of fears about Iran's nuclear programme, as the enriched product can be used to make atom bombs.
The IAEA has been investigating Tehran's nuclear activities for the past six years, but has so far been unable to determine whether they are purely peaceful as the government claims.
The UN watchdog said in a report this month that Tehran refused to provide access to documentation, individuals or sites which could reveal the true nature of its activities.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei on Monday urged Iran to implement all the transparency measures ... required to build confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear programme at the earliest possible date.
Iran stopped applying the additional protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that gives inspectors broader access to its nuclear sites after the nuclear case was referred to the UN Security Council in 2006.
Despite three sets of UN Security Council sanctions the Islamic republic has vowed to press on with its controversial enrichment work, insisting the nuclear programme is solely aimed at peaceful ends.