Iran pledges IAEA access to former atomic site

Mark Heinrich, Reuters:

Iran has pledged access for U.N. inspectors to equipment from the former Lavisan military site in a possible bid to avert a crackdown by the U.N. nuclear watchdog (IAEA) next week, a senior diplomat said on Friday.

The diplomat, informed about IAEA affairs but asking not to be identified because of the issue's sensitivity, said Iran made the promise in a fax to IAEA safeguards director Olli Heinonen earlier this week before he took an inspections team to Iran.

Lack of IAEA access to Lavisan equipment has been a burning factor in a U.S.-European Union push to have the nuclear agency's 35-nation board refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council over suspicions it is secretly trying to develop atomic bombs.

Iran tore down a military-linked physics research centre at Lavisan in 2004 and stripped the ground around it before IAEA investigators could test for particles on equipment they believed was obtained by Iran for use in enriching uranium. READ MORE

Iran says it wants nuclear energy only for electricity.

But after 18 years of hiding nuclear work from the IAEA, three years of agency probes stunted by delays and evasions and Iran's January 9 move to restart atomic fuel research, European Union powers called an emergency IAEA board meeting for February 2.

To update board members, Heinonen went to Iran this week to check on Lavisan and seek explanations from Tehran about alleged nuclear black-market activity and a document diplomats said described how to make the core of a nuclear bomb.

"Heinonen received a faxed promise from Iran that his team would get access to equipment used at Lavisan before it was demolished. That was one of the central rationales for his trip," the diplomat told Reuters.

"We don't know yet whether he actually got access, but if so it would be a very positive move and help Iran's case before the board and help it head off tough action," he said.

"BARGAINING CHIPS"

"Historically Iran has given concessions like this just before every board meeting to negate criticism. They hold these things back as bargaining chips, rather than giving full access and getting it all over and done with in one go."

He said that if Iran honoured the promise, it could fulfil a key condition set by IAEA director-general Mohamed ElBaradei to ease doubts that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful. "It would help defuse pressure on Iran."

ElBaradei told Newsweek magazine earlier this month he could not rule out Iran might have an underground atomic bomb project parallel to its declared nuclear energy programme.

But he has rebuffed Western calls to advance a wide-ranging report on alleged Iranian defiance of nuclear non-proliferation rules for the February board, saying he had given Iran until the next regular meeting in March to clear up a broad array of questions.

Iran has threatened to end IAEA snap inspections of its nuclear project and, as the world's No. 4 oil supplier, hinted it would cut crude exports if put in Security Council hands.

Russia and China oppose the Western thrust to refer Tehran to the Security Council, calling it premature, and the EU has been amending a resolution for the February 2 IAEA meeting in search of consensus with key non-Western member states, diplomats say.

An EU diplomat said the text was being tweaked to help meet Moscow's demand that the IAEA only "inform" the Council about Iran and leave a referral motion at least until the March 6 IAEA board, depending on ElBaradei's findings by that time.

"This compromise could still give a clear signal to Iran. While it wouldn't allow an open Council debate, you could play around with it behind closed doors there," said the EU diplomat.

"This would set the stage for referral in March if Iran's behaviour hasn't changed by then."

Russia and China are veto-wielding permanent members of the Council, along with the United States, Britain and France.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani dampened hopes that it was leaning towards a proposed compromise solution to the crisis under which Russia would purify Iranian uranium to prevent diversions to weapons-making.

Larijani said the Russian proposal's "capacity is not sufficient for Iran's nuclear technology. It can be part of a package and taken into consideration within it".

But he added: "It cannot be said that it is a negative proposal. We therefore considered it worthy of studying..."