Iran said today it was not clear when UN nuclear inspectors would be allowed back into the country and said the decision to bar them reflected Tehran's anger at an "insulting" resolution on its nuclear activities.
"This was a response to the insulting tone of the resolution. We don't allow them to talk to us in such a way," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mr Hamid Reza Asefi told a weekly news conference. "When and how a new date is set, I do not know."
US officials described the inspections move as "very worrying". But International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Dr Mohamed ElBaradei said he was confident Iran would reverse its decision to block IAEA inspectors from visiting the country.
Mr Asefi said the move reflected a decision taken by Tehran - which strongly rejects US accusations that it is pursuing nuclear arms - regarding its co-operation with the UN body.
He said the resolution on the Islamic Republic adopted by the IAEA's board of governors yesterday at the agency's Vienna headquarters "did not take into account the realities".
Iran feels the resolution focused too heavily on omissions and failures in Iran's communications with the IAEA and failed to highlight its signature of a protocol in December allowing snap inspections of nuclear facilities and its decision temporarily to suspend uranium enrichment.