TEHRAN, Dec 14 (AFP): Iran confirmed Saturday that it has allowed watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to increase the number of inspections it carries out into Tehran's nuclear programme, state media reported.
"We have increased capacity -- it is natural that the number of inspections should also increase," the official IRNA news agency quoted the country's nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami as saying.
"When we carry out nuclear activities, and where we deal with nuclear materials, changing the scale will naturally change the monitoring level," he added.
Eslami's comments came after an IAEA report, seen by AFP on Friday, that Iran had agreed to increased monitoring.
"Iran agreed to the agency's request to increase the frequency and intensity of the implementation of safeguards measures at Fordo enrichment plant" south of Tehran, the IAEA report said.
Last week the UN nuclear watchdog said Iran had revamped Fordo so it could "significantly increase the rate of production of uranium enriched up to 60 percent", close to the 90 percent needed to make a nuclear weapon.
Iran insists on its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and denies it is seeking an atomic weapons capability.
"The IAEA has always had access to monitor within the framework of the safeguard agreement and the NPT, and we have not created any obstacles for it and we will not do so," Eslami said.
Iran confirms increase in IAEA nuclear scans
FE Team | Published: December 14, 2024 22:24:46
Iran confirms increase in IAEA nuclear scans
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