October 26, 2003	Sunday	Sha’aban 29, 1424

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VIENNA, Oct 25: The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Saturday a team of its inspectors arrived in Iran to verify information Tehran has revealed about its nuclear programme this week.

“They arrived in the middle of the night,” IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told AFP from the UN watchdog’s headquarters in Vienna, adding that the inspectors would remain in Iran for “several days.”

The visit comes after Tehran on Thursday handed the IAEA a report with information about is controversial nuclear programme.

It did so a week before an IAEA deadline to allay international concerns over the programme or answer to the UN Security Council, expires on October 31.

According to IAEA spokesman Mark Gwozdecky the inspections team comprises “half a dozen inspectors” and is led by IAEA chief inspector for Iran Ollie Heinonen.

“We are in a new phase and our first priority is to analyze the declaration (by Tehran) to satisfy ourselves that Iran has come clean,” Gwozdecky said.—AFP