Iran: Iran could not expect to be given an extention to the October 31st deadline for it to prove that it does not have a nuclear weapons programme, Dr Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, said yesterday in Tehran.
"I cannot accept that by the end of the month we will be in a position... that we believe that we have not gotten all the information we require," said Dr ElBaradei. He added that Iran had increased its level of co-operation in recent weeks but said: "The speed is still not the way we would like to see it".
The IAEA has asked the Iranian authorities for permission to examine military sites as part of its investigation, diplomats said yesterday. They added it was very likely that the governing board of the IAEA would report Iran to the UN Security Council in November, though it would almost certainly not press for any kind of sanctions yet.
The diplomats said Iran, which denies having a nuclear weapons programme, accepted the list of sites and agreed to grant the IAEA access. It was unclear how many military sites were on the list, though one diplomat said the list was "short".
"One country in particular said [to the IAEA] that the inspections could not verify anything unless inspectors visited military sites," said a Western diplomat, adding that the IAEA agreed. This "one country" clearly refers to the United States. Until now, the IAEA has been focusing on civilian sites.
Dr ElBaradie is in Tehran "to clarify important questions that are still outstanding about Iran's nuclear programme", the IAEA said in a statement.