By DPA
Vienna : Iran is slowing down the expansion of its enrichment capabilities at its nuclear facilities at Natanz, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said Monday even as reports of a tunnel complex near Natanz raised new worries.
Speaking to journalists here after a meeting on North Korea, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said his inspectors saw a "fairly marked slowdown" in the process of commissioning new centrifuge cascades and the introduction of nuclear material into the cascades for enrichment.
ElBaradei welcomed this development, happening at a "delicate phase" in the negotiations to end the stalemate over Iran's nuclear programme. There was no need for Iran to expand its activities at this point, he added.
Iran showing willingness to halt its controversial enrichment drive could positively influence further actions by the UN Security Council and also pave the way for a return to the negotiating table. ElBaradei stressed that in his opinion face-to-face talks between Iran and the US could help greatly to resolve the issue.
Enriched uranium, as produced at the Natanz plant, is used to produce nuclear fuel, but if enriched to a higher degree can be employed to build nuclear weapons. Tehran has denied repeatedly that it is secretly pursing this path.
In the US, however, evidence that a major tunnel complex was being built inside a mountain near new fortified buildings connected by roads to Natanz has raised new worries about Iran's intentions, a newspaper report said.
The Washington Post reported that satellite photos have identified the building of a tunnel into a mountainside near newly fortified buildings accessible by road to the Natanz facility, where Iran has been carrying out enrichment of uranium.
Photos of the developments were being studied by governments, intelligence agencies and nuclear experts who want to know if Iran could be trying to thwart possible military strikes on its nuclear processing facility, the Post reported.
IAEA spokesperson Melissa Fleming confirmed that the watchdog agency was aware of the developments, had approached Iran on the issue and had "received clarifications".
US Vice President Dick Cheney had earlier suggested that the US could use force to stop Iran's nuclear programme.
The commercial satellite photos of the tunnel construction were taken June 11 by a private firm DigitalGlobe, the Post reported.