The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said yesterday he plans to urge Iran to sign the Additional Protocol to its IAEA Safeguards Agreement during a visit scheduled for later this month (see GSN, Jan. 15).

“I would like to discuss with Iranian officials the possibility of Iran joining the Additional Protocol,” Mohamed ElBaradei said in an interview with Reuters.  “That I think would clearly create additional assurance with regard to the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program,” he added.

The Additional Protocol gives the IAEA the authority to conduct more intrusive inspections of a country’s nuclear program.  The United States is concerned that three nuclear sites currently under construction in Iran, including the Bushehr nuclear reactor being built by Russia, could be used for a weapons program (see GSN, Dec. 19, 2002).

Iran has assured the IAEA that the facilities are only for peaceful uses, ElBaradei said, adding that he would visit the sites during his visit.  He also praised Russia’s intention to recover the spent fuel from the Bushehr reactor, saying it would reduce proliferation concerns (see GSN, Dec. 31, 2002).

“(Bushehr) is under IAEA safeguards and Russia is going to take back the spent fuel.  So the question of proliferation per se out of Bushehr should not arise,” ElBaradei said (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters, Feb. 4).

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