August 27, 2003	Wednesday	Jumadi-us-Sani 28, 1424

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TEHRAN, Aug 26: Iran said on Tuesday it was ready to sign up to snap inspections of its nuclear programme, a move demanded by the international community to allay fears that its facilities could be used to make nuclear weapons.

But Iran said it wanted clarification on “the preservation of its sovereignty” under the enhanced inspection programme, a reservation analysts said could still delay signing of the “additional protocol” on inspections.

The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in a confidential report Iran had stepped up cooperation with the agency in recent months, but that it had been unable to confirm Tehran was not enriching uranium.

Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran’s representative to IAEA, was quoted by Iran’s IRNA news agency as saying Tehran was ready to sign the additional protocol. That followed a meeting on Monday with IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei.

But a diplomat close to the IAEA in Vienna dismissed the report and said there appeared to be no change in Iran’s attitude towards the protocol.

Analysts said Iran would have to prove its commitment to inspections by signing the protocol and quickly ratifying it through its tortuous legislative system.

“There will be a lot of delay which will play quite well for the Iranians,” one diplomat in Tehran said.

“It (the announcement) doesn’t tell us much other than you might say they are spinning to people before September’s meeting,” he added, referring to a forthcoming IAEA gathering to discuss the report on Iran.

SOVEREIGNTY ISSUE: Mr Salehi was also quoted by IRNA as saying: “Iran would like to clarify some aspects regarding the preservation of its sovereignty due to the so-called ‘undeclared inspections’ that are envisioned by the Additional Protocol.”

The IRNA quoted Mr Salehi as saying Iran was ready to discuss “all remaining issues” after next month’s IAEA meeting.

The international community has been stepping up pressure on Iran to sign the protocol amid a show of transatlantic unity between the United States and the European Union, which has pursued a policy of engagement with Iran. —Reuters