Tension among political groups here is intensifying over whether Iran will allow more aggressive inspections of its nuclear sites.
The possibility is remote that Iran would sign the additional protocol for the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty before the International Atomic Energy Agency meets on Monday to discuss the issue. The agency could send the case to the UN Security Council if it concludes that Iran's nuclear activities pose a threat.
But the issue has divided policy-makers here into two distinct groups, not necessarily along the lines of their hard-line or reformist affiliations. One side wants to yield to the international pressure and open up nuclear sites to surprise inspections, while the other wants to refuse, despite any consequences.
Opponents of the protocol, who are mostly military or defense officials, see the measure as part of an effort to force Iran to abandon not only its nuclear program but also its ambitious arms program.
Some influential politicians have even suggested that Iran opt out of the nonproliferation treaty.
"Even though they are in the minority, their voice is becoming louder as the international pressure is increasing," one official said.
Under the terms of the treaty, a country that has signed, as Iran has, can declare its "supreme interests" to be in jeopardy and can drop out on three months' notice.
Alireza Akbari, a senior member of the Revolutionary Guards whose rank is equal to that of general and who was deputy defense minister until two months ago, contends that if Iran appears to waver, its other security projects will become the next international target.
"If we retreat every time they put pressure on us, they will continue the pressure and push us farther back until we are completely disarmed and defenseless," he said. "The protocol is only the first step, not the last."
Akbari considers Iran's nuclear energy program essential for the country's development, to serve its growing population.
"The protocol is purely a political issue, not legal, and in line with other conventions that are aimed at keeping weaker countries weaker," he said.
Those who favor signing the protocol, including the Foreign Ministry, warn that Iran, by its delay in signing, is provoking international threats toward itself. Yet it has urged the atomic energy agency not to allow the matter to become overshadowed by political issues and to let Iran sign the protocol in its own time.
The chairman of Parliament's Energy Commission, Hussein Afarideh, a reformist, said last month, "Iran has no intention not to sign the protocol and just wants to examine it well before signing it."
Iran, which has always maintained that its nuclear power program is for peaceful purposes, has said it will sign the protocol only if it has a promise of technical cooperation in nuclear science from other signatory states. It took a step toward signing the protocol last month, after a report revealed traces of highly enriched uranium at one of the country's nuclear sites, and said it would begin negotiations over the protocol.
Iran has repeatedly reminded the West that its nuclear program goes back to a period when it was supported by several Western powers, before the 1979 revolution, which put an Islamic government in power. The country bought reactors from the US, France and West Germany. Iranian scientists were trained in those countries, as well as in Britain.
The authorities have repeatedly said that Iran is determined to pursue its nuclear energy program despite its vast oil reserves. The supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last word on policy, emphasized in a meeting with Iranian ambassadors last month that Iran would not give up its nuclear technology under pressure.
However, during a recent visit to Iran, Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, warned that refusing to sign the program would bring negative results for Iran and that Iran should not expect any rewards for signing. Muhammad Hussein Khoshroo, deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, told parliament on Wednesday that Solana had demanded in private meetings that Iran abandon all nuclear activities.
Under international pressure, Russia recently delayed signing an agreement with Iran to complete a nuclear reactor.
Iran has allowed the international agency's inspectors to visit all its nuclear sites five times since June and to take environmental samples. It has also provided some data requested by the agency, but diplomats who have been pressing Iran on the issue say it must go beyond that and sign the protocol.
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