U.N. Team Views Site of a Nuclear Plant in Iran
The top U.N. nuclear inspector visited the site of a nuclear plant Friday that Iran says will be used for peaceful purposes but that the United States insists is intended to fuel a secret weapons program.
Mohamed ElBaradei, accompanied by two other top officials from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, visited the Natanz nuclear plant, which is under construction at the foot of a mountain in central Iran.
ElBaradei told state-run radio that his visit was to observe Iran’s “peaceful use of nuclear energy” and ensure the safety of its facilities.
“New facilities have been set up in Iran, and I need to visit them to have a clear understanding of Iran’s nuclear program in order to determine the fields the IAEA can help Iran in,” he said.
During a two-day visit, ElBaradei was also scheduled to visit a nuclear facility in Isfahan in central Iran and to meet Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. The two other IAEA officials were expected to tour a nuclear facility in Arak, also in central Iran.
Reporters were kept away from the Natanz site, in the desert about 200 miles south of Tehran.
In December, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said satellite imagery showed some structures at the Natanz plant were being covered with earth, indicating that Iran was building “a secret underground site where it could produce fissile material.”
But Iranian officials said Friday that the walled compound was built partially underground for safety reasons.
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