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Iran pledges cooperation

Iran pledged on Tuesday to accelerate cooperation with the UN atomic watchdog in a bid to prove it is not seeking nuclear weapons, but also pressed to end UN inspections by June.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Iran had agreed to a timetable for atomic checks and to submit full details of its nuclear program and ambitions to the IAEA in mid-May.

"[Iranian nuclear chief Gholamreza Aghazadeh] committed that Iran will do everything possible to accelerate the process of resolving the outstanding issues," ElBaradei told reporters after talks in Tehran.

The IAEA is seeking clarification of how traces of weapons-grade uranium came to be found at the Natanz enrichment plant south of Tehran and a Kalaye Electric Company workshop.

If enriched to a low level, uranium can be used to fuel nuclear power stations. But further enrichment can make it suitable for use in warheads.

The US accuses Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapons program, but Tehran says its nuclear ambitions are confined to generating electricity. Hawks in Washington are seeking to get the UN Security Council to impose sanctions against Iran.

US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said the US would take a wait and see attitude.

"It's great if they actually live up to their promises, but so far they haven't done that. And really until they do that, this investigation, this process of review by the IAEA, has to continue," he said.

Tehran promised Britain, France and Germany last October it would suspend uranium enrichment and accept snap atomic checks.

The IAEA also wants answers on Iran's omissions of key atomic technology from an October statement that included undeclared research on advanced "P2" centrifuges that can make weapons-grade uranium.

In a show of goodwill, Aghazadeh said Iran would suspend the making and assembling atomic parts from April 9, something it agreed to do by March under an arrangement struck in February.

Aghazadeh said Tehran had asked for inspectors to conclude their work before the IAEA board of governors holds its next meeting in June, where Iran's conduct will be reconsidered.

"Iran strongly expects this case to be closed ... in June," he said.

Iranian hardliners who won a massive majority in February's parliamentary elections have been calling for Tehran to demand a deadline for UN inspections.

Conservative commentator Hossein Shariatmadari, writing in the Siyasat-e Rouz daily newspaper, said Iran should follow North Korea and pull out of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty if inspectors want to work beyond a Tehran deadline.

Shariatmadari was appointed editor of the hardline Kayhan newspaper by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last word on all state matters.

Last month, the IAEA passed a resolution deploring Iran's failure to declare potential arms-related activities. Iran initially blocked UN inspectors after the resolution but said on Sunday a new team would arrive in two weeks.

ElBaradei said the team would arrive on April 12.

Iran said on Sunday it had no nuclear sites hidden from UN inspectors.
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