MP says Iran bars 38 U.N. atomic inspectors: agency

MP says Iran bars 38 U.N. atomic inspectors: agency

Mon Jan 22, 2007 8:27 AM ET
By Edmund Blair

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has barred 38 inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), from entering the country, an Iranian politician was quoted by Iran's ISNA news agency on Monday as saying.
The agency said the move was a "first step" in limiting cooperation with the IAEA, in line with a demand made by parliament after U.N. sanctions were imposed on Iran a month ago over its disputed nuclear program.
IAEA inspectors make routine checks of Iran's nuclear sites. Last year Iran, retaliating for growing Western pressure on it to halt nuclear activity, temporarily denied visas to some inspectors and curtailed the frequency of visits to facilities by inspectors already in the country.
The West accuses Iran of seeking to build atom bombs, while Tehran insists it aims to generate electricity.
"Iran has decided not to give entry permission to 38 inspectors from the IAEA and has announced this limitation to the IAEA officially," the head of parliament's Foreign Affairs and National Security Commission, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said.
"The nationality of those who were barred is not the main basis for us," he told ISNA, without giving any further details.
Iranian government officials were not immediately available for comment. They had said earlier Tehran would continue basic cooperation with IAEA inspections and had no intention to quit the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty over the new sanctions.
IAEA officials said they were checking the report.
EFFECT ON IAEA MONITORING UNCLEAR
It was not clear whether the reported curbs on inspectors might handicap the IAEA's monitoring of Iran's Natanz enrichment plant, where Tehran plans soon to increase fuel production to "industrial scale" from the current experimental operation.
Asked about the report, a senior diplomat familiar with IAEA operations told Reuters, "There is not much of a drama here", but declined further comment.
Diplomats in Vienna, where the IAEA is based, said Iran had the right to reject any inspector it wanted and that such a step was not prohibited by its safeguards accord with IAEA. They said other IAEA member states had barred inspectors in the past.
The U.N. sanctions imposed on December 23 ban transfers of sensitive materials and know-how to Iran's nuclear and missile programs over its refusal to stop enriching uranium, a process that can yield fuel for power stations or material for bombs.
In response, Iran's parliament passed a bill obliging the government to revise its cooperation level with the IAEA.
ISNA described the move announced on Monday as "a first step to limit Iran's cooperation with the IAEA".
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was defiant in a speech to parliament on Sunday, saying the U.N. resolution against Tehran would not affect Iran's nuclear policies "even if they issue 10 more of such resolutions".
Ahmadinejad's firebrand rhetoric has drawn increasing public criticism from his Iranian opponents, particularly since the resolution was passed.
His critics say his anti-Western slogans are driving the country needlessly toward an economically damaging confrontation with world powers and diplomatic isolation.
The president does not have the final say in state matters in the Islamic Republic. This is held by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.