By RIA Novosti
Tehran : The head of the UN nuclear watchdog will arrive in Tehran Friday on a two-day visit to discuss Iran’s controversial nuclear programme, Iranian media said Tuesday.
Mohamed El Baradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will meet high-ranking Iranian officials in an attempt to push for further details on Iran’s past and present nuclear activities, the media cited an IAEA spokesperson as saying.
El Baradei said in a report in November 2007 that Iran had been truthful, in general, about key aspects of its nuclear dossier, but noted that Tehran was continuing to work on uranium enrichment, despite persistent international demands to fold the programme.
Western nations suspect Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons. Tehran has insisted it needs nuclear technology to generate electricity, as is its right under the international non-proliferation treaty.
The Islamic Republic is currently subject to two sets of UN Security Council sanctions over its defiance to halt uranium enrichment, needed for both weapons and electricity production. A further round of tougher sanctions has been blocked by Russia and China.
The US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), published Dec 3 last year, stated that Tehran had put a stop to weapons production in 2003, although it was continuing to enrich uranium.
The report contradicted a previous US intelligence assessment in 2005 that said that the Iran was actively pursuing a nuclear bomb.