Iran agrees to speed up cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog agency

Iran has agreed to accelerate its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog told reporters today in Tehran.

The comment by IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei came after a meeting with Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. He was scheduled to meet President Mohammad Khatami later today.

Mr. ElBaradei said that a team of five IAEA inspectors would visit Iran on 12 April to verify that the country has met its commitment to suspend enrichment of uranium.

Last month the IAEA's Board of Governors adopted a resolution voicing "serious concern" over Iran's omissions in its reports, specifically mentioning a more advanced centrifuge design than previously declared as well as two mass spectrometers used in a laser enrichment programme.

The Board called on Iran to resolve these and all other outstanding issues, while Mr. ElBaradei was asked to report on the matter before the end of May so that it may consider his findings at its June session.