UN nuclear chief arrives in Iran to resolve questions about nuclear program

TEHRAN, Iran -- The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog began a two-day visit early today to discuss Iranian compliance with international demands over the country's nuclear program.

Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, was to meet Iranian leaders including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Saeed Jalili, the country's top nuclear negotiator, according to earlier reports by Iranian news agencies.

As head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, ElBaradei has spearheaded more than four years of international efforts to press Iran for full disclosure of its nuclear activities.

The Tehran talks will be the basis for a report on Iran by the U.N. agency's chief that was supposed to be wrapped up by December, but apparently was postponed to March at Iran's request.

The U.S. State Department said Thursday it was important for ElBaradei to try to persuade the Iranians to meet international demands, but stressed it had no great hopes the visit would accomplish that.

"I don't think we have any particular expectation that all those answers will be forthcoming," deputy spokesman Tom Casey said.

Iran is under two sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions for its refusal to freeze uranium enrichment, a potential pathway to nuclear arms, and Washington is pushing for additional U.N. penalties.

But a recent U.S. intelligence assessment that it probably shut down a clandestine weapons program three years ago have led to increased resistance to such a move from permanent Security Council members Russia and China, which have strategic and trade ties with Tehran.

The IAEA has been investigating Iran's nuclear programs since revelations in 2003 that the country had conducted nearly two decades of secret atomic activities, including developing enrichment and working on experiments that could be linked to a weapons program. The U.S. intelligence assessment concludes that Iran stopped direct work on creating nuclear arms that year.

Under a plan agreed to earlier this year with the IAEA, Iran committed itself to answering all lingering questions about its past nuclear activities. That, by implication, included programs that could have weapons applications. But it refuses to suspend enrichment, insisting it has the right to the activity for what it says are purely peaceful purposes -- generating electricity.

Low enriched uranium is a source of nuclear fuel. But at high levels, it becomes the fissile material of bombs and warheads.

ElBaradei's trip also comes at a time of heightened tension between Washington and Tehran following an incident Sunday in the Persian Gulf between the countries' respective navies.

Iran has denied its boats threatened the U.S. vessels, and has accused Washington of fabricating a video.

The United States has lodged a formal diplomatic protest with the Iranian Foreign Ministry through the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, Casey told reporters. The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman could not be reached for comment on the diplomatic protest because it was a weekend day in Iran.