The International Atomic Energy Agency delegation arrived in Tehran early Sunday morning to hold talks aimed at allaying concerns about Iran’s nuclear program.
IRNA reports that the IAEA officials are led by Herman Nackaerts and Rafael Grossi, two senior aides to Yukiya Amano, the IAEA chief.
The delegation will meet Saeed Jalili, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, and the head of Iran’s Atomic Agency, Fereydoon Abbasi.
The delegation is reportedly due to visit the Fordo nuclear facilities near Qom during its three-day trip.
The European Union has challenged Iran’s launch of the Fordo nuclear facilities, saying the uranium enrichment activities in this plant are a violation of the Security Council resolution. Similar concerns have been expressed by the United States.
Fordo is built beneath a mountainside, and Abbasi has said: “The Fordo site is built underground so that the U.S. and its allies will have a hard time trying to destroy it.”
Abbasi added that in the absence of foreign threats, the facilities would have been built above ground.
Iran has indicated that it will cooperate with the IAEA delegation but has also maintained that it will not consider halting its uranium enrichment efforts, which it considers a sovereign right.
Iran has repeatedly held that its nuclear program, despite all international concerns, is peaceful.
