DUBAI -- A team of monitors from the United Nations nuclear watchdog landed in Iran and started an inspection of a recently disclosed enrichment plant, presenting another big test of Tehran's willingness to cooperate with the West over its nuclear program.
The team from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency arrived in Tehran on Saturday evening and reached the facility, near the holy city of Qom, on Sunday, according to state media. The team will remain in Iran until Tuesday, Iran said.
The inspection will offer Washington and other Western capitals an early indicator of Tehran's good faith amid recent talks over its nuclear program. President Barack Obama has suggested he will give Iran until the end of the year to show progress in talks, before pursuing other options, including new economic sanctions.
Iran has vowed it won't give up its right to enrich uranium for peaceful nuclear energy. Western and Arab powers worry it harbors ambitions to build weapons.
That concern increased markedly after the U.S., France and Britain said last month that Iran was building a previously undisclosed enrichment facility near Qom. Iran had told the IAEA about the plant just ahead of the dramatic announcement by the West. Western officials and analysts said such a small facility, heavily guarded and undisclosed for so long, raised heightened suspicion that Iran was working on a clandestine nuclear-weapons program.
Iranian officials appeared caught off guard. As they prepared to sit down with members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany for talks related to its nuclear program earlier this month, they invited IAEA inspectors to the site to reassure them.
The atomic agency has long complained about Iran's lack of cooperation in information requests related to its nuclear program. If the IAEA inspectors come away from the visit satisfied with Iran's cooperation, it could go some way in boosting confidence in Tehran's willingness to pursue more dialogue. If they come away frustrated, however, the visit could raise new suspicion about Iran's intentions in the talks.
Last week, Iranian negotiators agreed to a deal that would require it to ship out of the country the bulk of its nuclear fuel. The fuel would be further enriched in Russia for a medical research reactor and returned to Iran.
But Iran failed to approve that deal by Friday's deadline. Meanwhile, several senior Iranian officials have publicly criticized the deal.
On Saturday, Iranian parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani said the deal would "deceive" Iran and that Tehran preferred to buy fuel outright, according to state media. Western officials have said, however, they will wait for an official answer from Tehran before gauging Iran's intentions.
