EU agrees to resume nuclear talks with Iran

TEHRAN - The Associated Press

Iran will grant U.N. inspectors access to a military complex where the U.N. nuclear agency suspects secret atomic work has been carried out, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported yesterday.

Tehran had previously banned U.N. inspectors from visiting the Parchin installation, southeast of Tehran, but a statement by Iran’s permanent envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the visit will now be allowed in a gesture of good will. However, it would require an agreement between the two sides on a guidelines for the inspection, ISNA reported.

Inspecting Parchin was a key request made by senior IAEA teams that visited Tehran in January and February. Iran rebuffed those demands at the time, as well as attempts by the nuclear agency’s team to question Iranian officials and secure other information linked to the allegations of secret weapons work.
The latest development comes a day after IAEA chief, Yukiya Amano, expressed growing concern that there was new activity at Parchin. Amano did not specify whether he believed the activity was linked to suspected new weapons experiments or attempts to clean up previous alleged work. The Parchin complex has been often mentioned in the West as a suspected base for secret nuclear experiments, a claim Iran consistently denies. IAEA inspectors visited the site in 2005, but only one of four areas on the grounds and reported no unusual activities.