Inspections of Iran's Nuclear Program to Resume

Mohammad ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), announced that inspections of Iran's nuclear program will resume at the end of this month. Mr. ElBaradei told reporters in Washington that Iran has agreed to allow UN nuclear inspectors to return to the country on March 27. The Islamic Republic had announced on Saturday that it would indefinitely suspend the activities of nuclear inspectors in response to a new IAEA resolution that strongly criticized Tehran for refusing to provide information on a significant part of Iran's nuclear technology. Before Mr. ElBaradei's announcement of Iran's agreement, the official news agency of the Islamic Republic quoted Hassan Rouhani, the head of negotiations with the IAEA and Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, stating that the postponement of inspections was due to a 'technical problem' that would be resolved. Mr. ElBaradei traveled to Washington to discuss Iran's nuclear program and other global nuclear issues with the U.S. President and congressional leaders. U.S. officials have accused Iran of having a secret program to acquire nuclear weapons, while Iranian officials claim that Iran's nuclear plans are solely for the production of nuclear electricity. Yesterday in Washington, Colin Powell, the U.S. Secretary of State, stated that the international community would not overlook Iran's actions to acquire nuclear weapons.