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TEHRAN, Iran – The head of the U.N. nuclear agency arrived Monday in Tehran on akey mission that could lead to the resumption of probes by thewatchdog on whether Iran has secretly worked on an atomic weapon. It would also strength the Islamic Republic's negotiating hand incrucial nuclear talks with six world powers later this week inBaghdad. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano and his twoaides were quickly whisked away after landing at the Tehran airportbefore dawn Monday. They are to meet Iran's top nuclear negotiator,Saeed Jalili, as well as Iran's foreign minister and otherofficials later in the day. The visit — Amano's first since becoming the IAEA chief in2009 — is focused on getting Iran to agree to terms that willallow IAEA probes of suspect Iranian sites, including the Parchinmilitary complex where the agency had reported suspiciousactivities in the past. Tehran denies having worked on atomic weapons, saying Parchin isonly a conventional weapons site. Inspecting Parchin, southeast of the capital Tehran, was a keyrequest made by senior IAEA teams that visited Tehran in Januaryand February. Iran rebuffed those demands at the time. But with both Iran and the IAEA reporting progress in a previousround of talks last week, anticipation ahead of the visit was high.While expressing some optimism, Amano said he could not predictwhether he would clinch a deal that would allow his agency to renewits long-stalled probe. "Nothing is certain in life, in diplomacy," he told reportersbefore departing from the Vienna airport. "But there has been goodprogress. "I really think this is the right time to reach agreement," headded. Amano's one-day trip is significant both for what it can achieve interms of probing Iran's secretive nuclear program and as amood-setter for talks Wednesday in Baghdad between Iran and theUnited States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. The six world powers are at the forefront of trying to persuadeTehran to curb its nuclear program and ease concerns it wants touse it to make nuclear weapons. For its part, Iran will seek tostay looming U.S. and European Union sanctions on its oil exportsat the Baghdad talks. The six will attempt to get Iran to commit to stop enrichinguranium to a level that can be turned quickly into the fissile coreof nuclear warheads, while ignoring — for now — itsprogram of lower enrichment, which would take longer to turn towardweapons-making. Iran insists it is enriching uranium only to produce nuclear fueland for cancer treatment. It denies that it worked secretly ondeveloping components of a nuclear arms program, despite what theIAEA describes as credible intelligence and other evidence that ithid work "specific to nuclear weapons." Parchin is especially significant since the IAEA believes Iran in2003 ran explosive tests needed to set off a nuclear charge. Thesuspected blasts took place inside a pressure chamber. Iran hasnever said whether the chamber existed. As Amano arrived, Iranian lawmaker Heshmatollah Falahtpisheh toldThe Associated Press that Tehran will likely accept moreinspections of Parchin, "if it feels there is good will within the(IAEA) agency." But Falahtpisheh, a member of the influential parliamentarycommittee of national security and foreign policy, warned that thisnew openness will likely come with expectations that the West wouldin return ease international sanctions on Iran. "In opening up to more inspections, Iran aims at lowering thecrisis over its nuclear case," said Falahtpisheh. "But if thesanctions continue, Iran would stop this." A political analyst in Tehran, Hamid Reza Shokouhi, said Iran iscarefully watching to see if the West shows more "flexibility andpays attention to Iranian demands" during Amano's trip. "Then Iran will show flexibility, too," said Shokouhi. ___ Associated Press Writer George Jahn in Vienna contributed to thisreport. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China Seat Frames , Turnover Mechanism Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Seat Slider.
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