LONDON ? A team of United Nations inspectors arrived in Tehran on Monday for the second visit of its kind in three weeks, saying its highest priority remained ?the possible military dimensions? that Tehran denies are part of its disputed nuclear program.
The talks between Iranian officials and investigators from the International Atomic Energy Agency coincided with heightening international tensions, pressures and counterpressures over the nuclear program, as Iran claims significant technological advances in uranium enrichment.
The talks are scheduled to last two days. After the previous trip ended earlier this month, diplomats briefed on the discussions said that Iranian officials had failed to address key concerns raised in an incriminating report issued by the I.A.E.A. in November.
The growing tensions were highlighted by an Iranian announcement Sunday that it has ordered a halt to oil exports to Britain and France in response to broader economic sanctions by the European Union due to come into force on July 1.
At the same time, British leaders are trying to dissuade Israel from contemplating a military strike at Iran?s nuclear facilities as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran boasts of enhanced enrichment capabilities.
Over the weekend, William Hague, the British foreign secretary, said that, while the West should leave all its options open, a military strike would have ?enormous downsides? and Britain?s main priority was to ?bring Iran back to the table? through diplomacy and economic pressures.
The five I.A.E.A. inspectors left their headquarters in Vienna late Sunday and the leader of the delegation, Herman Nackaerts told reporters: ?We hope to have some concrete results after this trip.?
?The highest priority remains the possible military dimensions of Iran?s nuclear program, and we want to tackle all outstanding issues,? said Mr. Nackaerts, the head of the agency?s weapons? inspectors.
?This is of course a complex issue which may take a while,? he said, according to a transcript of his remarks made available on Monday by I.A.E.A. officials.
Some of the latest Western worries center on a new uranium enrichment plant at Fordo, which has raised concerns because it is buried deep underground, making it more impervious to scrutiny.
The plant?s construction had been kept a secret until Western intelligence confirmed its existence, forcing Iran to acknowledge the plant in September 2009, just as President Obama and European allies were announcing its existence. The Iranians said at the time that they had always intended to reveal the plant?s existence.
As pressures and threats mount, Western officials seemed divided over whether Tehran is shifting toward a more conciliatory position or playing for time to enhance its enrichment program, which it says is for peaceful purposes.
Last week, in a letter to the European Union, Iran called for new talks ?at the earliest possibility? with the group of six powers that have negotiated the nuclear issue with Tehran in the past ? the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany.
Such protestations have been accompanied by warlike statements that Iran is honing its military capabilities. Iran?s defense minister, Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi said Monday that Tehran had set up several projects to built new and advanced warplanes, Press TV, a state-financed satellite broadcaster, said.
On its Web site, the broadcaster showed a dramatic photograph of what it called a long-range land-to-sea missile called Qader, or, Capable, being fired during war games in southern Iran. The drill by Iran?s elite Revolutionary Guards was now in its final phases ?to further improve the combat preparedness of Iranian armed forces,? Press TV said.
Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=2b7289330360d190733c7f6806354674
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