The Iranian government announced Wednesday it had given the formal go-ahead for its representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to sign an additional protocol to the Non-Proliferation Treaty allowing tougher nuclear inspections by the UN watchdog."Last week the government gave its authorisation to the foreign ministry for the representative of Iran at the IAEA to sign the additional protocol," government spokesman Abdollah Ramazanzadeh told reporters.
Iran has been under international pressure to sign the text, amid accusations that the Islamic republic is using a civil atomic energy programme as a cover for secret nuclear weapons development.
The additional protocol gives the IAEA the power to carry out surprise inspections of suspect nuclear sites. Under the original NPT, the IAEA has only been authorised to carry out pre-arranged site inspections.
All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.
Quick Links
SpaceWar
Search SpaceWar
Subscribe To SpaceWar Express
