March 06, 2007	Tuesday	Safar 16, 1428

VIENNA, March 5: The chief UN nuclear inspector said on Monday his agency cannot guarantee that Iran's nuclear programme is peaceful despite four years of investigations and that doubts will persist until Tehran decides to cooperate with his experts.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, spoke as board member nations of the IAEA gathered for a session on approving the suspension of dozens of technical aid programs to Iran as part of Security Council sanctions meant to punish Tehran for its nuclear defiance.

Although the issue is not expected to come up until Tuesday at the earliest, the focus of the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board meeting will be on Iran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment activities and linked problems.

Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, Iran's chief delegate to the IAEA, said again his country would ''never give up its inalienable right'' to develop enrichment -- which Tehran says it wants to develop to generate power but which also can produce the fissile material for nuclear warheads.

ElBaradei said the IAEA remains ''unable to provide the required assurance about the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme.''

In opening comments, he said that unless Tehran takes ''the long overdue decision'' to cooperate with the IAEA, it ''will have no option but to reserve its judgment about Iran's nuclear programme, and as a result the international community will continue to express concern.''

''Quite a few uncertainties still remain about experiments, procurements and other (nuclear) activities,'' he said.

Diplomats familiar with the agency's Iran file said before the closed meeting that Tehran continues to refuse IAEA requests to install cameras that would give agency monitors a full view of its underground hall at Natanz, which Iran says will ultimately house 54,000 enriching centrifuges -- enough to produce dozens of nuclear weapons a year.

Growing fears that Tehran might be seeking to develop enrichment capabilities for its weapons applications led the UN Security Council late last year to impose sanctions on Tehran.

Lack of full remote monitoring means the agency cannot keep tabs on all activities at the bunker, said one diplomat, who demanded anonymity because he was not allowed to discuss the issue. Iran continues to assemble individual centrifuges in the hall, he said.

Iran's decision in late January to bar 38 inspectors from entering the country also was burdening relations with the agency, said another diplomat. In taking such action, Iran claimed to have found one senior expert ''spying for his home country'' by using wiretapping equipment to collect information, the diplomat said.

IAEA officials said they would not comment on the claim.

Up for review will be a Feb 22 report from ElBaradei finding that Tehran has expanded enrichment.

The board was expected to approve last month's decision by ElBaradei to suspend nearly half the technical aid his agency provides to Iran. Only North Korea and Saddam Hussein's Iraq have faced such punishment in the past.

The decision would be in line with existing UN Security Council sanctions.—AP