PRETORIA, July 22: Iran softened its position on Tuesday on signing a protocol to allow surprise inspections of its nuclear sites, with Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi declaring in Pretoria that a decision would be made after a briefing by UN legal experts.

“The leaders of Iran will decide on signing this document” after listening to experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) it has invited to visit Tehran, the minister told a press conference.

On Monday, foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said in Tehran that “for the moment, the question of signing the additional protocol is not on the agenda”, but European foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday threatened to revise relations with Tehran failing its “urgent and unconditional acceptance” of the protocol.

“We have been cooperating with the IAEA so there should not be concern from the European foreign ministers,” said Mr Kharazi, in South Africa for a meeting of a bilateral commission.

“We have asked the IAEA to send a team of legal experts to brief us on different aspects of the new protocol, known as 93+2.

“They will prepare a document for our leaders to study and decide whether Iran will sign this protocol or not.

“At this stage we hope that in the next few days the legal experts will arrive to brief us.

“Let us see what happens then. The leaders of Iran will decide on signing this document.”

The European ministers expressed “increasing concern” over Iran’s nuclear programme and warned the European Union would review relations with Tehran unless it cooperated fully with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency.

“Progress in economic and political relations with Iran should be evaluated in parallel,” the text said, adding that the European Union expected Iran to “show full transparency and cooperate fully with IAEA”.

“More intense economic relations can be achieved only if progress is reached in the four areas of concern, namely human rights, terrorism, non-proliferation and the Middle East peace process,” the statement added.

The ministers “decided to review future steps of the cooperation between the EU and Iran in September,” adding that their next moves would hinge on a report by the director general of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, on a visit to Brussels, had warned the ministers that “Iran is threatening the stability not only of the region but of the entire world” with its nuclear programme and the development of a new ballistic missile.

Speaking after the meeting, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said France perceived “a risk concerning (nuclear) proliferation” in Iran.

However, he stressed the importance of continued dialogue with Tehran, telling reporters: “It is not in the interest of the international community to isolate this country.”—AFP