October 17, 2003	Friday	Sha'aban 20, 1424

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TEHRAN, Oct 16: Iran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will “accelerate considerably” in the coming days, a top Iranian official told AFP Thursday.

“In the coming days, the rhythm of our cooperation will accelerate considerably,” said the Islamic republic’s representative to the IAEA, Ali Akbar Salehi, amid a visit to Tehran by the agency’s director Mohamed ElBaradei.

“I hope that we can move past this political and artificial crisis”, he added.

The IAEA has given Iran until Oct 31 to allay suspicions it has been concealing covert weapons development behind its civil energy programme.

A failure to meet the deadline could lead to Iran being declared in breach of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the issue being referred to the UN Security Council. —AFP