Iran agrees to IAEA inspection of new uranium enrichment plant

TEHRAN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei announced here Sunday that Tehran has agreed to the inspection to its new uranium enrichment plant in three weeks.

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)  Mohamed ElBaradei (L) and Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic  Energy Organization of Iran, attend a press conference in Teheran, capital of Iran, Oct. 4, 2009. ElBaradei said Sunday that the UN nuclear watchdog would inspect Iran's new uranium plant near Qom on Oct. 25.(Xinhua/Ahmad Halabisaz)

Wrapping up his two-day visit to Tehran, ElBaradei said at a joint press conference with Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, that "the UN nuclear watchdog would inspect Iran's new uranium plant near Qom on Oct. 25."

The inspection of the newly-disclosed uranium enrichment facility would be carried out in line with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Safeguards Agreement in Iran, the IAEA chief said.

Last month, Iran confirmed that it is building a new nuclear fuel enrichment plant near its central religious city of Qom. Following the announcement, IAEA asked Tehran to provide detailed information and access to the new nuclear facility as soon as possible.

The IAEA said on Friday that ElBaradei had been invited to Tehran by Iranian authorities and would travel there to discuss with Iran about its second uranium enrichment facility, which is near Qom.

On Thursday, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili who held talks with top envoys from the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany in Geneva of Switzerland, promised that Tehran would soon open its newly-disclosed uranium-enrichment facility to UN inspectors, according to the EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who coordinated the talks.