Iran on Monday said it was ready to give the International Atomic Energy Agency “full supervision” of its nuclear programme for five years if sanctions are lifted, as it alleged a rise in “sabotage” of its work.
“We have proposed that the agency keep Iran's activities and nuclear programme under full supervision for five years, providing the sanctions are lifted,” Iranian nuclear chief, Fereydoun Abbasi Davani, told ISNA news agency.
Iran is targeted by four sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment amid fears in the West that it seeks to build a nuclear bomb — a charge it vehemently denies.
Mr. Abbasi Davani neither said when the offer was made to the IAEA, nor what he meant by “full supervision”.
Much of Iran's nuclear activities are already under the control of the IAEA, including uranium enrichment — a process which can produce the fuel for a nuclear reactor and also the fissile material for an atomic warhead.
The IAEA said in a confidential report, a copy of which was obtained by AFP on Friday, that it is “increasingly concerned about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed nuclear related activities involving military related organisations”.
These included “activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile”, according to the report, which is due to be discussed by the IAEA's 35-member Board of Governors at a September 12-16 meeting.
But Mr. Abbasi Davani said such allegations are “baseless and fabricated”.
The U.N. watchdog has for years criticised Tehran for refusing to answer a number of questions about its nuclear programme, and for denying access to certain sites, including the heavy water reactor Iran is building in the central city of Arak.
And on Monday the European Union reacted to Mr. Abbasi Davani's latest remarks, saying the Islamic republic must first re-establish confidence for any sanctions to be lifted.
“Iran still has to comply with its international obligations, despite today's announcement,” Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, told AFP.
Mr. Ashton has made a “concrete proposal” to Iran aimed at building confidence over the aims of its atomic programme, said Mr. Mann.
“Unfortunately, so far, Iran has not taken up this offer to enter into meaningful talks,” he said.
Meanwhile Mr. Abbasi Davani, who survived an assassination attempt on November 29 which Iran blamed on arch-foes the United States and Israel, said there had been a rise in Western attempts to sabotage the nuclear programme.
