IRAN: Iran will give the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) less co-operation than in the past after the agency set Tehran a deadline to prove its nuclear aims are peaceful, a senior Iranian diplomat said.
In an interview with state television late on Monday, Mr Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's representative to the UN nuclear watchdog, said Tehran had previously allowed IAEA inspectors to take environmental samples and visit non-nuclear sites "to show our good will and transparency".
"This was beyond our obligations, but from now on we will act according to the current regulations," he said referring to Iran's obligations as a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Mr Salehi said a team of legal experts from the IAEA was due in Tehran shortly for a second round of talks on the technical aspects of the protocol.
The IAEA has said concerns remain about Iran's nuclear aims, and has given Tehran until October 31st to dispel any doubts that it is secretly seeking to develop nuclear arms.
The agency has also called on Tehran to sign and implement an additional protocol of the NPT which would allow snap inspections of any suspected site.
The IAEA said it was stepping up inspections in Iran ahead of the October 31st deadline, and urged Iran to co-operate.
Iran's Economy and Finance Minister, Mr Tahmasb Mazaheri, said his country would fully co-operate with the IAEA if it can receive outside help for its nuclear programme.
He said Iran "hopes to reach an understanding with the agency with a full explanation of our position".
"We have a right as a member to receive help...for peaceful use of the technology. We want the agency not to discriminate, and adopt a single and just attitude towards all members. This has been our whole argument."
Hardliners in Iran argue that signing the additional protocol might open the country to foreign spies, but the reformist government in Tehran has said it is studying signing up to the tougher inspections.
An Iranian court is to try an Intelligence Ministry interrogator for the "semi-intentional" murder of a Canadian journalist in a rare test of the accountability of Iran's powerful security apparatus.
The death in custody of Zahra Kazemi in July led to a diplomatic dispute between Iran and Canada, and highlighted rivalries between Iranian hardliners who control the judiciary and the reformist-controlled Intelligence Ministry.
"The case is going to court now that it has been approved by the Tehran prosecutor's office," a judiciary official said yesterday without giving details.
The state-run Iran newspaper said earlier yesterday a judge had filed charges against the Intelligence Ministry interrogator, but had dismissed the case against a second agent. - (Reuters)