Europe News Desk!! Iran has allowed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to increase inspections of its nuclear sites. The official news agency IRNA reported the news on Sunday, shortly after the IAEA chief’s two-day visit to Tehran. In an interview with IRNA published on Sunday, Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said that the IAEA inspection of Iran’s Fodre Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP) has now increased from eight to 11. Commenting on the report, Xinhua news agency reported that IAEA inspections of Iranian nuclear sites have increased by 50 percent. Kamalvandi said, since uranium enrichment at FFEP has recently started at 60 per cent level, there should be an increase in site inspections as per the agreement on safeguards.
Basically, any increase in the enrichment level or entry of more sensitive material into nuclear facilities leads to increased inspection as agreed by both the parties, he said. Kamalvandi said there was no agreement between the IAEA and the AEOI regarding the installation of new surveillance cameras at Iranian nuclear sites. Kamalvandi also denied unlimited access to the IAEA to three sites where the agency was reported to have detected traces of uranium, saying the international nuclear watchdog had made no such request. In a joint statement issued at the end of the visit of IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi on Saturday, the IAEA and AEOI said they had reached a consensus. Their interaction should be in the spirit of cooperation and in accordance with the full potential.
–IANS
World News Desk!!
SGK